Aiko

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Edward Aikobua was born on Saturday 7th January 1984 in Jinja (UG) to Elizabeth and James Dramani from Maracha Clan. Pennamed "Aiko" [shortened from Ayiko meaning "Happiness" in Lugbara], he is a Black Ugandan Artist who believes in GOD (JESUS is the Way). His childhood aspiration of becoming a Footballer like Romario failed, but now he plays with words and pictures through an atelier named "AikoGraphics" since Sunday 2nd February 2003 on Mt. Wati Road (in Arua). Aiko dropped out of the Fine Art class during Senior 5 at Makerere College School because of constantly deteriorating grades (Average deficit of 7 percent annually since S1 at SMACK) and tried to join the Technical Drawing class instead, but was rejected. With teary eyes, he decided to teach himself how to draw cartoons inspired by Enrique Badia Romero plus started writing the name GOD in all caps. Aiko chased after financial papers by becoming a committed logo designer, portrait artist, poster maker, mural painter, editorial cartoonist, blogger since 2008, book illustrator, videoman, researcher, etc while another goal is to make machines learn Lugbara. As a flexitarian, his favourite food is rice, beans and chapati. Aiko's Best Athlete is Michael Jordan since 1992 and became a lifelong Arsenal fan during the 1998 FA Cup Final, Messi fanboy around 2009 plus loves many other people. Notable artworks include: UCIFA (2007 logo); theatrical backdrops for KADS Uganda (2007, 2009, 2012); The Casual (2008 Maisha Filmlab short film); Procurement Initiatives Asia-Pacific (2011); Arua Citystate (2016) emblazoned on the 2021 Arua Central Market; Block Owners (2017 crest); Maracha View (2018); Lugbara Translate (2019); Ojapi Converter (2024); etc. His advice to people who want to do Art is: Pray, sketch, polish, share, rest; repeat...