Oseloka Osadebe, Member of Pioneering Nigerian Art Movement “Zaria Rebels”, Dies at 89

Yinka Olatunbosun

A pioneer member of the famous Zaria Art Society also known as the Zaria Rebels, Professor Oseloka Osadebe, has passed on.

Osadebe died on Wednesday, December 27, in Jackson Mississippi, United States of America, where he had been based since 1998.

The sad news of his death was disclosed in a statement issued on behalf of the Osadebe family, by his nephew Nn’emeka Maduegbuna, confirming the death.

Osadebe, who had been residing in the USA since 1965, returned to Nigeria for the first time in 2018 to present a retrospective exhibition of rare works he created from 1960 to 2014. The exhibition that was titled “Inner Light” was held at the National Museum, Onikan, Lagos, received rave reviews.

Born in 1934, he was an outstanding artist, playwright, theatre director and teacher. Osadebe grew up in Onitsha, Anambra State, and, from an early age, distinguished himself as a brilliant draughtsman, eventually earning acceptance into the prestigious Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology, Zaria.

Buoyed by the intellectual energy at the institution, he joined a group of dynamic students who were seeking to express a fresh perspective on classical art – a perspective which embraced their rich African traditions.

Those forward-thinking art students, of whom only Demas Nwoko and Bruce Onobrakpeya, are still alive, formed the Zaria Arts Society.

They became known by the popular name “Zaria Rebels” would later become the fathers of the contemporary art movement in Nigeria.

Osadebe graduated from Zaria in 1962 with painting and sculpture as his areas of specialisation. He proceeded to teach art at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka from 1962 to 1965, during which period he featured prominently in the Nigerian art scenes of the decade. Thereafter, he left the country on an Aggrey Fellowship for African Students to pursue graduate studies in the USA.

He graduated with a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1967, and he received a second master’s degree in 1973 from the Goodman School of Drama, Chicago, specialising in scene design, lighting, and directing.

He completed his doctoral work at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois in 1981, specialising in Western and African theatre and drama and spent years teaching theatre and set design at numerous universities, including Spelman College, Jackson State University, Northeastern Illinois University, Tougaloo College, and Central State University.

Osadebe retired in 2007 and spent the last 16 years of his life on his passion for visual art at his studio in Jackson, Mississippi.

Details of his burial would be released in due time.