Ex-American army officer, Prince Maduekwe, has showcased the power of spirituality on brushes and canvas at a recent exhibition in Lagos.

Maduekwe’s artwork had, in the past, spanned different themes, culminating in a prestigious exhibition at the Pentagon. However, the COVID-19 pandemic’s devastating impact – marked by loss of lives, lockdowns and widespread depression – profoundly shifted his artistic focus to those with spiritual themes.

Maduekwe explains: “Why I did this work was when Jerry (the man of God) opened that prayer platform, which I never knew would get to this point. That time, in the United States, everyone was trapped at home. No one was going out. People in Nigeria had it better. It was horrible in the States. We could neither go out nor do anything. There was a complete lockdown.

“Not only the shutdown, it brought a lot of uncertainty. In the U.S., if you don’t go to work, you are not sure of the money to pay the next bill. In Nigeria, you have a lot of social support. It’s not like that over there. You were lonely too. Most times, you only have the opportunity to meet people when you go to work.”

According to him, the children were scared because they did not understand what was happening, and everyone was fighting against depression until the pastor
“I was thinking of my children. They didn’t go to school again. They didn’t see their friends. They just talked at home with me. And they were like, Daddy, what’s going on? They were scared. And that got me scared, though I didn’t want to show it. We were fighting not to be depressed introduced the ministry. “So, I remember, it was the time I did this work,” he said.

The painting depicts the horrors of the pandemic – the deaths, the depression and the medical crisis. It also shows the hand of the prophets God sent to provide succour.

Maduekwe added: “You can see; these were people that died. These were toe tags in the mortuary. Every day in the news, we were seeing, especially in Italy and U.S., body bags. So, this illustrates that experience of the 2020 epidemic.

“I saw the pandemic as something that was sent to exterminate mankind. But out of the eater came something to eat. It was like the Lord came to swallow what came to swallow us. That was exactly the message then. It was a pandemic that actually came to cause this destruction. But out of it, something positive came out.”

At the exhibition, Maduekwe also showcased dozens of other paintings showing the interconnectivity of the divine in the affairs of humans.

How did the artist become a devout Christian? He replied: “When growing up doing arts, even when I started my art course in college, I was not that spiritual. I was not even going to church. My grandmother would call me and tell me, ‘It’s either God decides for you or the devil decides for you. So if you’re not going to church, I’m going to build a shrine for you.’ “That’s the first thing that made me start going to church. I was just going to church to please my grandmother.

“Later, if you are my friend and you invite me to church, I would join you. I wanted to dive in and know what was happening there. I was searching for God. That was how I went to Eckankar, Church of Latter-day Saints, read their Book of Mormon, read their doctrines and covenants. I was just reading. But then what kind of gave me a deep connection to God and, in fact, took my art career to another direction was this praying platform and NSPPD. It was Pastor Jerry’s ministry that changed everything for me,” he said.