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  • Comment: After this was declined for inadequate sourcing, the very next edit to it was to resubmit it (with no improvement to the sourcing). This is a waste of reviewers' time. Hoary (talk) 22:26, 5 September 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: The subject of this article seems to be notable. However, there are still a decent number of unreferenced claims in the article. This is a WP:BLP article so all statements and claims should be backed up with an inline citation to a reliable source. Unverifiable information should removed. InterstellarGamer12321 (talk | contribs) 12:06, 21 May 2023 (UTC)
  • Comment: Every claim/statement should be backed with an inline citation for verification. See WP:V. Best, Reading Beans (talk) 08:32, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

Tayo Fatunla

Tayo Fatunla (born 1961), often stylized as TAYO, is a UK-based Nigerian cartoonist, storyteller, comic artist, and illustrator with over four decades of producing comics, illustrations, caricatures, and socio-political commentaries in publications across the globe. He is a member of several professional cartoon organizations, including Cartoon Arts International, Cartoon Movement, Global Cartooning for the Peace movement, and an active member of the Cartoonist Association of Nigeria (CARTAN).[1][2] Fatunla was the first international student from Africa admitted to the art school, The Kubert School in Dover, New Jersey, where the Joe Kubert and other professionals taught him.[3] Fatunla is arguably the most popular Nigerian cartoonist in the diaspora. He has held exhibitions and cartoon workshops in the U.K., Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, Finland, France, Ethiopia, the U.S., Egypt, Ireland, Israel, Belgium, South Korea, Algeria, and Italy.[1] He has produced cartoons, illustrations, and magazine covers for several clients, including the award-winning digital comic for the BBC World Service titled Hooked; illustrated students’ worksheet on Africa Kingdoms for the British Museum;[4][5][6] and the illustrated histories of cities focusing on Lagos State of Nigeria for the Guardian.[7]

Early life

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Tayo Fatunla was born in Wimbledon, London, in 1961 and has drawn cartoons for over three decades. He is the son of Marcellina (nee Abosede) and Emmanuel Fatunla. When very young he had a great interest in comic magazines, which his mother bought for him. These included Buster, Battle, Beano, Tiger, Jack and Jill, and Roy of the Rovers comics. Later in primary school, he came across Marvel superhero comics, the first being Mighty Thor. Fatunla attended Lagos Baptist Academy Secondary School, Obanikoro, Lagos, Nigeria, between 1973 and 1978. He published his first cartoon while at school in the children's magazine Apollo, owned by the Nigerian second republic executive governor Olabisi Onabanjo.[1] Soon after, he started producing illustrations and cartoons for different mass media outlets in Lagos.

Education and career

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Having worked in Nigeria for several years at several print media organizations, including the Daily Times, Daily Express, Lagos Weekend, Evening Times, Concord and The Punch newspapers, he drew the back page social critic cartoon character column, "Omoba". Fatunla decided to learn art formally and went further to study cartooning at the Kubert Art School in Dover, New Jersey, in the early 1980s, becoming their first international student from Africa.[8] After his studies in the US, he worked briefly as an editorial/political cartoonist in Nigeria before moving to the United Kingdom during the military era when it became highly unsafe for cartoonists critical of governmental anomalies.[9] He was a resident artist for the Pan-African weekly West Africa magazine for over ten years designing the covers and producing cartoons for it every week. Afterwards, his mentor Jerry Robinson, creator of The Joker offered to syndicate Fatunla's editorial cartoons and Our Roots educational feature in the US through Cartoonists and Writers syndicate which he (Robinson) had founded in 1984.

Fatunla's illustrated book, Our Roots,[10] chronicles the history and achievements of black people globally. The book compilation is a best seller and has won him several awards.[11]

Tayo Fatunla in his UK Studio

Fatunla is an active member of the Cartoonists Association of Nigeria (CARTAN), National Union of Journalists U.K., Cartoon Movement, Cartooning for Peace and France-Cartoons and Cartoon Arts International.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Jimoh, Ganiyu. "Interview with Tayo Fatunla: Nigerian Cartoonist in the Diaspora". Africa Cartoons: Encylopedia of African Political Cartooning. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
  2. ^ Olatunbosun, Yinka. "New Executives for Cartoonists Association of Nigeria CARTAN". Thisday. Retrieved 2023-01-12.
  3. ^ Kraiger, Michael. "Talent from The Kubert School". The Kubert School. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  4. ^ "Hooked – Part 2". BBC News. 2015-05-18. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  5. ^ "TAYO Fatunla". United Sketches. 2019-04-30. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  6. ^ Lucas, Gregory. "The wealth of Africa Great Zimbabwe - Students' worksheets - www.britishmuseum.org". www.readkong.com. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  7. ^ "No place does me like Lagos' – a cartoon by Tayo Fatunla". The Guardian. 2019-02-12. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  8. ^ Kraiger, Michael. "Talent from The Kubert School". www.kubertschool.edu. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  9. ^ Jimoh, Ganiyu (2011). The Role of Editorial Cartoons in the Democratisation Process in Nigeria. Universal-Publishers. p. 24.
  10. ^ Fatunal, Tayo (2004). Our Roots: Black History Sketchbook. Folta Ltd. ISBN 9780953935710.
  11. ^ "Honour for Nigerian cartoonist in Philadelphia". The Nation. 2018-05-23. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
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Further reading

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Category:Nigerian cartoonists Category:Graphic artists Category:People from Wimbledon, London Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people)