Mama Nike story glows with power, pain and cultural pride

Mama Nike story begins not with gallery lights or applause, but with thread, loss, and quiet grit.

Born on May 23, 1951, in Ogidi-Ijumu, Kogi State, Chief Dr. Nike Davies-Okundaye; fondly known as Mama Nike, emerged from a life of struggle to become one of Nigeria’s most revered cultural icons.

Her parents lived modestly: her father, a traditional beadmaker; her mother, married off without ceremony.

By six, Nike lost her mother. At seven, her grandmother. Raised by her great-grandmother, she was introduced to Adire, a Yoruba indigo-dyeing craft that would later define her destiny.

By age ten, Mama Nike story was already being woven; literally.

She was a recognised weaver. But poverty pushed her into early servitude, working as a housemaid for £1 a month.

In her quiet hours, she stitched hope into fabric.

One evening, a reverend sister noticed her embroidery and bought a piece; igniting her journey as an artist.

At 14, she was married off to famed musician Twin Seven Seven.

It was a harsh marriage, shared with 14 other wives, often in conflict over food and water.

But Mama Nike refused to be bitter. Instead, she empowered her co-wives through craft.

“I showed them we could use our hands; not to fight, but to feed ourselves,” she said.

Her departure from that marriage didn’t mark an end; it birthed a movement.

She began training women, one thread at a time; from fellow wives to roadside hawkers.

“If Adire took me to America,” she said, “let it take you too.”

Yet, that generosity met resistance.

Authorities arrested her, falsely accusing her of profiting through unlicensed training. Still, she persisted.

There is beauty in the struggle, and power in the hands that create.

Exporting her work was another battlefield. Nigerian laws demanded 10% levies and called even new artwork “antique.”

She adapted by blending art with function, making usable yet meaningful objects.

Eventually, she and other artists challenged the system, lobbying then President Olusegun Obasanjo, who advised digitising their prices; a move that helped lower the export fee.

Mama Nike also spotlighted how Nigerian creatives struggled with local perceptions.

She recalled Aba shoemakers branding goods “Made in Italy” because Nigerians rejected their own.

Even when requesting bank loans, artists were dismissed for lacking collateral; because banks didn’t see value in their cultural contributions.

Despite that, Mama Nike story soared internationally.

Her works now sell for up to $500 each abroad.

But the journey wasn’t free of drama. On her first international trip, she was arrested; accused of smuggling a loom to the U.S.

Her Osogbo home was searched. No crime was found. It was just another day in the life of a woman society didn’t quite understand.

Personal challenges followed. Her first husband, often harassed for his dreadlocks, was jailed frequently. They raised four children in paint-stained clothes, living in the studio more than a home.

Later, she bore two more children for a white man who believed in her art but left abruptly.

When harassment from police worsened, she married a Commissioner of Police; turning the system that once chased her into a protective shield.

“He told me why they always arrested us,” she revealed. “If not for him, I’d still be running today.”

Today, Mama Nike stands tall; not just as an artist, but as a teacher, a survivor, a legacy.

Her galleries across Nigeria are temples of identity and resilience. She’s trained thousands. Inspired more.

The Mama Nike story is not a fairytale. It is fire stitched with faith and fabric.

From the loom in a dusty village to global acclaim, she showed that there is dignity in handmade work; and power in persistence.

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And as she said to us recently, when we visited her in the company of ECOWAS officials:

“There is beauty in the struggle, and power in the hands that create.”

Rtn. Victor Ojelabi

Ojelabi, the publisher of Freelanews, is an award winning and professionally trained mass communicator, who writes ruthlessly about pop culture, religion, politics and entertainment.