LEADERSHIP Artist of the Year 2025: Kanyenyachukwu Tagbo Okeke

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On April 2, 2025, Kanye, a 15-year-old autistic creation prodigy, unveiled his coating titled “Impossibility Is A Myth” astatine the Eagle Square, Abuja. The 12, 303.87 quadrate metre artwork, featuring an infinity awesome (the awesome of autism) surrounded by multi-coloured smiley emojis, broke the GWR of largest canvas coating by an idiosyncratic held by an Iranian, Emad Salehi.

Born November 17, 2009, Kanye was diagnosed with autism astatine a precise young age. His parents Tagbo and Sylvia Tagbo-Okeke sought respective activities to inhabit his hyperactive nature. They tried shot and swimming, neither of which piqued his interest. That was until idiosyncratic recommended the arts; they enrolled him with an arts teacher, and yet with artiste and manner decorator Kokab Faroukh, who discovered his endowment for coating and offered to mentor him. He was 4 years astatine the time.

Since then, Kanye has been painting. He would postgraduate from his archetypal 4 x 4 canvas to large-scale canvasses. At property 8, helium became the youngest recipient of Austria’s Flame of Peace Award successful 2018 for spreading bid done his art. His paintings are a vibrant show of earthy and vivid colours often featuring cardinal abstract shapes and expressive strokes. His creation is not learnt, alternatively creation gave him the absorption and instrumentality to explicit what laic within.

In March 2019, helium held his archetypal foundation accumulation astatine Our Lady of Guadalupe Center for Children with Special Needs, Abuja, wherever helium displayed his works alongside those of different children with peculiar needs to rise consciousness for autism. The foundation auction would spell connected to go an yearly lawsuit organized by his foundation, the Kanye Autism Foundation. Proceeds raised from his works (which bid a terms scope of N300,000 to N10m) are donated towards the proviso of escaped therapy sessions for children with disabilities, who are either adopted oregon surviving astatine orphanages, and for those whose parents cannot spend the rather costly treatment. Proceeds from Kanye’s Guinness World Record feat besides went to Zeebah Foundation, a Nigerian-based non-profit focused connected providing enactment to radical connected the autism spectrum and their families.

To recognize the value and interaction of Kanye’s art, 1 has to recognize autism. Autism is simply a neuro-developmental upset that affects a person’s societal and connection abilities. Reports bespeak that 1 successful a 100 radical successful the UK are autistic, portion 1 successful 59 children successful the US are diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is simply a spectrum upset due to the fact that the grade to which a idiosyncratic is impaired ranges from debased enactment needs to precocious enactment needs. Those connected high-support needs are mostly not capable to work, whitethorn not beryllium capable to instrumentality attraction of themselves, and necessitate a batch of assistance. Whereas those with debased enactment needs (aka Asperger’s Syndrome) whitethorn beryllium capable to unrecorded independently, they whitethorn inactive person occupation with societal interaction. People successful the autism spectrum person definite behavioural and connection symptoms. Some person spoken language, others are non-verbal. Those with spoken connection mightiness find it hard to clasp conversations similar each different person, and person occupation knowing the conception of tiny talk, jokes oregon sarcasm. Some persons with autism whitethorn person trouble with sensory experiences specified arsenic sounds, textures, odor oregon touch. The smallest dependable oregon clang tin aggravate them particularly successful unfamiliar environments. They whitethorn often necessitate attraction and enactment successful learning, connection and physiotherapy.

Kanye falls wrong the precocious needs spectrum. Thus, erstwhile his parents discovered his emotion for the arts, they had to transportation astir canvas and coating materials wherever they went, truthful Kanye could overgarment astatine immoderate time, adjacent astatine night.

Not galore Nigerian parents recognize oregon are adjacent alert that their children are autistic. Consequently, immoderate are either ashamed of their autistic children and support them locked up astatine home, oregon they isolate them from radical for fearfulness of their children being stigmatized.

The blasted can’t beryllium placed wholly connected the parents/guardians of radical with autism, arsenic the Nigerian nine — from the acquisition to wellness institutions — deficiency inclusive facilities and services for persons surviving with autism oregon different disorders. Thus, a immense brunt of the enactment lies connected the shoulders of parents, of which the little privileged ones cannot afford.

Kanye stands retired arsenic a awesome against the stigmatization of persons with disabilities, and the anticipation that determination is quality successful immoderate disability. He represents the value of creation arsenic a instrumentality for therapy and for the improvement of a child’s mind. He shows that thing is impossible, and that obstacles are challenges to beryllium surmounted with love, the close attraction and support. Through his art, helium is providing escaped diagnosis and attraction for children similar him whose parents cannot spend it.

By November 2019, he...

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