Home, as the saying goes, is where the heart is. This oil onboard painting by Jimoh Akolo pays homage to Samaru Village, the site of Ahmadu Bello University’s main campus, where the artist studied in the late 1950s. For Akolo, Samaru was more than a setting — it was a place of inspiration and belonging. His affection for the land and its people is palpable. It was, in many ways, his artistic home.
Samaru holds a special place in the story of the Zaria artists of Akolo’s generation. The village was woven into the daily lives of the university’s students. For the young artists in particular, it carried a certain enchantment. Bruce Onobrakpeya often wandered there to sketch cows, while others drew inspiration from its rural rhythms. For many, Samaru became both a muse and a home away from home.
In Samaru Town (1971), Akolo transforms this collective memory into a deeply personal tribute. The painting depicts two young figures — probably children returning from daily errands — balancing pots gracefully on their heads. Their presence recalls the everyday sights of the time: children leaving or returning from the farm, the stream, or the market. Instead of presenting the wider landscape, Akolo narrows his focus on these two figures. This choice lends the work intimacy and tenderness. It is a simple memory of the town that conveys its essence — not the houses, the stream, or the cattle, but two children on their way somewhere, their young faces hopeful. This was Akolo’s Samaru: a place of wonder, expressed through its children.
Rendered with his trademark movement and textural flow, the figures are painted with a sensitivity that reflects both observation and affection. Whether drawn from memory or from a sketch, the painting reveals Akolo’s mastery of visual storytelling and his ability to draw empathy from the viewer. Samaru Town is both a heartfelt recollection of a place that shaped him and a timeless homage to the everyday lives that gave the village its soul.