People do not recognise that there’s a lot of talent; a lot of energy that go into putting up a production. - Peju Layiwola

At Uniben, the university employed guild casters from Igun street as studio hands to assist students with bronze casting projects. Establishing an art school requires a whole lot of equipment and facilities, purpose built studios with proper ventilation, proper staffing and lots of space. In many of the art schools I have been to in the West, they constantly change their equipment to the most up-to-date facilities to catch up with modern trends in the world of art. The availability of materials and opportunities that their students have sometimes makes one green with envy. I look forward to such a time.

Rising to become a full professor of the visual arts at the University of Lagos bestows upon me added responsibilities. It has given me the unique opportunity of shaping lives. Many of my students have become really successful artists, some now professors in their various institutions and are able to hold their own – a few of them whom I am very proud of, and taught at either undergraduate and post graduate levels are Jude Anogwih, Tobenna Okwuosa, Nelson Edewor, George Edozie, Jelili Atiku, Bolaji Ogunwo, Ganiyu Jimoh and Alao Lukman.

There are several challenges facing education generally in Nigeria. There has been a steady decline in standards in the visual arts, as in other disciplines. These problems are multifarious and overwhelming! At the University of Benin art school, graduates of the college up till 1988 continued to speak glowingly about the crop of seasoned lecturers we had- Pa Omo Osagie, Osi Audu, Iro Eweka, Ademola Williams, Sammy Laye, Kweku Mensah, Akpo Teye, Ademola Williams, Emmanuel Ifeta, Irma Francis, Mr. Onemu, Norman Rosen etc. As students, the university provided materials for our art projects and we had great facilities and adequate studio spaces.