The Federal University Lokoja is to establish an institute of African heritage and museum studies.
The institute, to be named the Nike (Okundaye) Institute of African Heritage and Museum Studies will be a research centre and will issue diplomas and post graduate certificates in African Heritage and Museum Studies.
It is being named after Nigeria’s foremost batik artist, Chief (Mrs) Nike Okundaye who is collaborating with the university on the project.
The Project Coordinator, Rev Father (Dr) Kolade-Paul Tubi said Okundaye was being accorded the honour because of her commitment and the pivotal role she has played towards the realisation of the project.
The iconic artist, who hails from Ogidi, in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State, has through her works popularised the batik art platform all over the world.
She is the proprietor of the famous Nike Art Gallery chain in Lagos, Abuja, Osogbo and Ogidi.
Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo will on Monday, February 9, 2026, inaugurate the Nike University Gallery at FUL’s Felele Campus in Lokoja as part of the legacy projects of the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Olayemi Akinwumi whose tenure ends of Friday, February 13, 2026.
Also at the event, Ododo will flag off the establishment of the Nike Institute of African Heritage and Museum Studies as well as
perform the ground breaking of the university’s museum of archaeology and anthropology.
The Kogi State Chief Executive would, in addition, lay the foundation stone of the university’s ethnographic workshop.
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The outgoing Vice Chancellor said the institution decided to establish the Nike Institute as a way of drawing new attention to heritage matters among Nigerians.
He said at a time when the more advanced nations of the world were focusing on their heritage and history, many Nigerians consider it unimportant to delve into the nation’s past.
The institute, he said, was meant to redirect national attention to the past and thereby activate the long overdue Nigerian renaissance.
Akinwumi also said the decision to name the institute after Okundaye was an easy one for the university’s management as she funded the construction of the physical structures of the centre and had furnished it with expensive and important art works.
Naming the institute after Nike Okundaye, he added, was the least the university could do to demonstrate it’s appreciation of her commitment.
