Etso Ugbodaga-Ngu

Etso Clara Ugbodaga-Ngu, known as Ugbodaga-Ngu (1921–1996), was a Nigerian artist and teacher. Her art featured vibrant colours and portrayed strength and purpose. Her geometric style evolved from earlier works such as "Market Women" and left a lasting mark on Nigerian culture and politics. She was the first Nigerian and the first woman to become a professor at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology (later Ahmadu Bello University) and the first female Nigerian artist to have a solo exhibition in London, England.

Early life and education Etso Clara Ugbodaga was born in 1921 in Kano, Kano State, Nigeria, to parents from Edo. She was educated at missionary schools in Kano and Zaria, and later taught in those same schools from 1945 to 1950. During this time, she taught children from eight different tribes who had no common language, so she developed the use of art as a teaching and communication method. She was awarded a scholarship by the colonial administration in Nigeria in 1950, which gave her the opportunity to study at the Chelsea School of Art in London, England. She graduated with a diploma in design and painting in 1954. In 1955, she earned a teaching diploma from the University of London.

Career Ugbodaga-Ngu returned to Nigeria after qualifying in London. She became the first Nigerian and the first woman to become a professor at the Nigerian College of Arts, Science and Technology (later Ahmadu Bello University) in Zaria. She was member of the faculty between 1955 and 1964, but met opposition from colonial white British colleagues there.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Commonwealth Institute Art Gallery, London, 1958

The labourer's song (1963) which had previously been sold through Galerie Leandro, Geneva and owned by Solomon G. Odia, was offered for sale on 8 October 2025 by Bonhams.

The University of Birmingham holds Abstract (c.1960) as part of the Danford Collection of West African Art and Artefacts. and Nigeria Modernism at Tate Modern (October 2025 – May 2026).

Personal life Ugbodaga met Victor Anomah Ngu, a Cameroonian surgeon, during her time studying in London and married him in 1960, adding Ngu to her surname. The couple had four children. In September 1962, they moved to Boston, Massachusetts, for a year when Victor was awarded a Rockefeller fellowship.

Ugbodaga-Ngu died in Cameroon in 1996.