Lagos (AFP)

When in 2019, Julius Agbaje, Nigerian artist-painter decided to paint President Muhammadu Buhari as Joker with a brush, he did not imagine that a year later his canvas would become a symbol of protest brandished by demonstrators in the streets of Lagos, Nigeria's sprawling megalopolis.

"The Watered Sprinkler," a caricature of the former general, depicted with a red nose, white make-up on face and the terrifying smile of Batman's clown, has become a leading image of the anger of Nigerian youth that rocked the south of the country last October.

"This portrait of the president, it was a joke at the beginning, a provocation. But it resonated months later with many young people", explains, very proud, Julius Agbaje from his tiny workshop nestled in a popular district of Lagos.

At 28, Julius Agbaje has a promising fate among Nigeria's vibrant new cultural scene.

He is also one of its most committed artists.

"I've always liked to provoke, and I see art as a way to fight injustice and change society," said the puny boy with mischievous eyes.

- Chimpanzee nun with cleavage -

Nigeria, with its 200 million inhabitants, may well be considered the largest democracy in Africa, it has hardly turned the page of its past of military dictatorships.

More than twenty years after its democratic transition, the country remains plagued by a corrupt political system, rampant poverty, and serious violations of basic human rights.

Between acrylic pots and worn brushes, Julius Agbaje unrolls his canvases on the tiled floor of his studio.

"Social satirist", as he likes to present himself, the young plastic artist dares everything.

Like this portrait of a nun painted in the guise of a chimpanzee, nose piercing, tattoo on the arm, and plunging neckline, in this land so fervently believing, where blasphemy can be seen as the worst of sins.

"I wanted to denounce the hypocrisy of religion in Nigeria", launches, acerbic, the artist, himself however, the son of a pastor and a teacher.

The strength of his caricatures, as funny as they are shocking, is also based on great technicality.

A know-how learned in the oldest art school in Lagos, the Yaba college of technology, from which he graduated in 2017.

It is with dexterity that he paints for example with the help of knives the portrait of two other monkeys, police helmets on the skull, and sign "duplicity and theft" or "murder" around the neck.

This diptych, entitled "good cop, bad cop", produced long before the youth movement #endSARS, is on display in his school's museum.

“People stop in front of this canvas. It attracts attention and provokes discussion,” says his former teacher, Dr. Odun Orimolade.

- "Anger" and "trauma" -

"I started painting about police violence before the #Endsars movement, because it is a central problem in Nigeria, and many of us have been victims of it," says Julius Agbaje.

So when the army bloodily suppressed this movement - by shooting on October 20 at one of its rallies in Lagos and killing at least 10 people, according to the NGO Amnesty International - the artist naturally resumed his brushes.

From this "trauma" and "this anger" were born three paintings.

Far from the register of caricature, they are perhaps his most successful, in any case his most poignant.

Blood-red background on one of them, a shirtless black man raises his fist.

Instead of his face, the artist painted a target riddled with bullets.

On the ground, overturned plots recall those of the Lagos tollbooth where the army fired on these peaceful demonstrators.

"The government denies any responsibility (...) so for posterity it is necessary to paint what happened", he said.

These are the "evils of his society" that the young painter wants to fight with his art.

"Despite the fear", yes, he admits.

In Nigeria, there is an abundance of artists who criticize the political system, but many use the abstract, and very few do so frontally.

Among his influences, Julius Agbaje cites the Nigerian performer Jelili Atiku, who has denounced extrajudicial executions for years, and whose work resulted in him being arrested in 2016, and imprisoned for three days.

“To be honest, I'm scared, but for me it's a duty,” Julius confesses.

"Others before me sacrificed themselves so that I could enjoy a little freedom today."

© 2021 AFP