'Our messiah' - Nigerian man uses waste drink cans to create Peter Obi's portrait

A young Nigerian man, Chibuike Ifedilichukwu, went viral days ago when he shared a video of a Peter Obi's portrait, he made with drink cans.

In an interview with Legit.ng, he talked about his passion for art and why he chose the materials he used for the portrait.

Chubuike's background

The young man revealed that he was born in Enugu in 1986 and he is currently based in Anambra state. He got a diploma in 2012 from Institute of Management and Technology in Enugu. Chibuike has had over 20 art exhibitions shows, one of which was the October Rain Art Exhibition, Resilience, Lagos Nigeria 2020.

On why he used cansHe revealed that cans are just some of the many materials he uses as an artist. Two reasons he cited for going for cans is that they do not decay and recycling them takes them away from places where they become environmental hazards.

From apprentice to owner of SLOT, the untold story of Nnamdi Ezeigbo

For the numbers of cans he used for the Peter Obi's portraits, he said:

"30 - 50 cans and 30 days minimum. Some of my art even take year(s) depending on size of piece."

About Peter Obi's portrait

The brilliant Nigerian artist titled the work Obedient Rock, saying the artwork depicts the image of a being who is coming to save people from their struggles.

He said: "The art portrays image of our political messiah who is willing to comply with the positive commands, orders, or instructions of people if elected into authority. This artwork mated with aluminium and stitched with copper wire shows the solidify nature of Nigeria as a strong nation."

Chibuike went further to say that the colours on the portrait represent different things. The green and blue colours represent growth and love for Nigerians.

For the patches of gold and black on the artwork, he revealed:

"The reflection of Gold and black signifies his indigenous golden mind and motives to make life worth living for everyone."

Exploring wastes for their values

According to Chibuike, environmental wastes could be recycled into meaningful things.

He is chasing after a future where wastes of what is described as building "human equilibrium ecology by recreating waste objects like plastic packaging strap (PPStrap), aluminium and copper wire."