119th Inaugural Lecture: DELSU VC Hails Edewor’s Brilliant Use Of Fine Arts To Mirror Nigerian Society

By Ese Umukoro

Vice Chancellor of Delta State University (DELSU), Professor Samuel Ogheneovo Asagba has hailed Rev’d Canon Professor Uyoyou Nelson Oghenefejiro Edewor’s brilliant use of fine arts to mirror the Nigerian society.

Professor Asagba made the remark at the 119th in the Series of Inaugural Lectures of the University which took place on Thursday, February 5, 2026 AT THE &50 Lecture Theatre A, Site III.

Professor Asagba also lauded the uniqueness of the Nigerian arts which the Westerners carted away and kept in their museums.

He commended Professor Edewor for using his art works to depict the sufferings of the people of the Niger-Delta region in Nigeria,

ALSO READ: Edewor Makes Case For Ekpekpo, Faults Militarised Responses To Niger Delta Grievances

Professor Asagba while concluding said that the inaugural lecturer through arts has carved a niche for himself which is an uncommon feat among practitioners in the field of fine and applied arts.

In his inaugural lecture titled: Where God and Mortals Meet: Nelson Edewor’s Odessey of Recontextualised Ivri Corpus in a Nation Soiled in Oil, Rev’d Canon Professor Uyoyou Nelson Oghenefejiro Edewor argued that arts is not only human but divine.

The Professor of Sculpture and Arts History further contended that the divinity of arts was seen in the biblical book of Exodus Chapter 31 verses 1 to 6 where God instructed Moses to engage the services of Bezalel and Oholiab who had divine powers of creativity and artistic inclinations.

He equally alluded that divinely inspired human art works existed in Ancient Roman and Greek societies which Socrates confirmed when he said that the artists in their works were not just recreating the world as they see it but they were channelling a force beyond themselves, something divine.

Professor Edewor disclosed that the Ivri Corpus which is mostly wood carvings, is a paradox of peace and prosperity atop a raging beast.

ALSO READ; Edewor Makes Case For Ekpekpo, Faults Militarised Responses To Niger Delta Grievances

He went further to argue that it is in the control of the aggressive tendencies that man can attain mental and physical wellbeing, which produces wealth and development.

Rev’d Canon Professor Edewor also stated that his odyssey as a sculptor was found in the modern Ivri which began in 1998.

He contended that his odyssey expresses the woes (suffering and violence) and dreams of the Niger-Deltan people since the discovery of oil in Oloibiri 70 years ago. The discovery of oil in the region according to the Professor of Sculpture and Arts History has brought untold hardship instead of prosperity. He enumerated some of the woes to include pollution, hunger, incarceration of the voices against the oppressors such the continued detention of Professor Arthur Ekpekpo, a Professor in the Department of Physics in the University and death in extreme cases.

Rev’d Canon Professor Edewor concluded by calling on the government and other critical stakeholders to better the lots of people of the Niger-Delta area.

Other highlights of the 119th inaugural lecture were the decoration of the inaugural lecturer, Rev’d Canon Professor Uyoyou Nelson Oghenefejiro Edewor, with the prestigious medal of inaugural lecturers of DELSU by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Samuel Ogheneovo Asagba, special musical rendition by the Department of Music, photo sessions of the inaugural lecturer with principal officers of the university as well as with family and friends and a special reception organised by the inaugural lecture for his invited guests within and outside the university.

Dignitaries present at the 119th inaugural lecture included Vice Chancellor of DELSU, Prof Samuel Ogheneovo Asagba, Chairman of DELSU Governing Council, General Alexander Ogomudia (Rtd), wife of the Vice Chancellor, Dame (Mrs) Elizabeth Olabimpe Asagba, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration), Professor Edmund Aviedo Atakpo, Deputy Vice Chancellor (Academic), Professor Hilary Ijeoma Owamah, Provost of Oleh Campus, Professor Austine Atonuje, the University Registrar, Mrs Rufina Ufiofio, the University Bursar, Mrs Otimeyin Ekakitie-Omajuwa, the University Librarian, Dr Josephine Eruterio Onohwakpor, former Vice Chancellor of DELSU, Professor Eric Arubayi and his wife, Professor Diana Arubayi (Retd), former Vice Chancellor of DELSU, Professor Victor Peretomode and his wife, Dr (Mrs) Otaroghene Peretomode, Rector of Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara, Professor Emmanuel Ufuophu-Biri, Rector of Delta State School of Marine Technology, Burutu, Professor James Okoro, and Librarian of Federal Polytechnic, Orogun, Dr (Chief) Edwin Achugbue.

Others were His Royal Majesty, King Monday Obukohwo Whiskey, Udurhie I, the Ovie of Idjere Kingdom, representatives of the Ovie of Oruarivie-Abraka and Umiaghwa-Abraka Kingdoms, members of the clergy, Provosts, Deans, Directors, Professors, staff and students of the university, friends and family members of the inaugural lecturer including his wife, Dr (Mrs) Akpezi okiemute Edewor, his children as well as others.