Our Company
Gaskiya’s Compound is owned and operated by SUCCESS, I&I (in business since 1982.) To date programs have been provided at universities, churches, schools (elementary, middle, & high school), recreation centers, juvenile justice centers, prisons, public and privately owned companies, non-profit facilities, etc.

Vision Statement
Learning and being taught are delicate journeys between the student and the teacher. At Gaskiya’s Compound we accept the responsibility to instruct and guide today’s youth…to encourage their love and respect of themselves…to assure their recognition of the contributions made on their behalf by their parents…their parents’ parents…and all that have made available to them their current privileges. We are prepared to transfer to them the knowledge and wisdom of our elders in the various artforms of Afrika.

We as adults can no longer afford to point fingers…the parents cannot blame society, the television, or the schools…The schools can no longer blame the parents, the times, or the friends…It is our collective responsibility to teach and to educate our youth to appreciate and respect their heritage…for in learning to appreciate their heritage, they will in turn learn to appreciate and respect themselves and others. Our curriculum shall be Afrikan conscious and built around the arts: music, dance, the visual and performing arts and creative writing. Our process emphasizes the Afrikan frame of reference in which knowledge is brought forth from the individual.

We as “conscious” adults must accept and appreciate the wisdom of our ancestors and the obligation we have to share this with those that will soon stand on our shoulders. We acknowledge that every youth is every adult’s responsibility…and in the words of those that paved the way for us we must recognize and teach our youth the “wholistic” consciousness of Afrika which says that…

We can and will save our children by teaching them truth of their culture for Gaskiya (truth) lives forever.

Nahsechay Dipo
Founder & CEO

Alao Samson Dipo

Education: Graduate of Ekiti Parapo College, Nigeria 1980

Work History:

• SUCCESS, I&I, Independent Art Educator, Dallas, Tx.
• 10 years office work as a civil servant (Nigeria)
• Art teacher at Nike Center for Art and Culture (Osogbo, Nigeria)
• Independent commercial artist since 1985

Art Exhibitions: Texas Fine Arts Association, Arlington, Tx.

Arlington Museum of Art, Arlington, Tx.

Biblical Art Museum, Dallas, Tx.

Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Tx.

Art on the Blvd, Dallas, Tx.

Bucannan Art Gallery, Dallas, Tx.

American Airlines, Ft. Worth, Tx.

Plano Art Center, Plano, Tx.

African American Museum, Dallas, Tx.

Dallas Visual Art Center, Dallas, Tx.

Stephanie’s Gallery, Dallas, Tx.

Linda Ninu’s Art Gallery, Ft. Worth, Tx.

Alad Art Gallery, Nigeria

National Museum of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria

Nike Center for Art and Culture, Osogbo, Nigeria

Dizyners Gallery, Philadelphia, PA.

Exhibitions of Dipo’s work have been held in a variety of places within and outside of Africa, the United States and Europe.

Nahsechay Ola Dipo

Nahsechay’s Corporate/Management employment experience includes department store management @ Montgomery Wards and for K-Mart Apparel Corp. where she managed a staff ranging from 20 – 25 employees. Additionally, Nahsechay has worked as Merchandise Support Assistant at the corporate office of the J. C. Penney Company, and Account Executive Assistant in the Presidents office in the Dallas County Community College District’s downtown campus.

Conscientiousness about the importance of education has yielded numerous awards and certificates to Nahsechay including listing on Who’s Who Among Students in American Junior Colleges, listing on the Presidential Honor Roll and the National Dean’s List on several occasions. The Dallas County Community College District bestowed an Associate degree upon Nahsechay but her joy comes from what Nahsechay calls her "MASTER’S degree" from God who gave her the desire and the talents to do the work she has committed her life to doing. Through diligent research, study, interviews, internships and international travel, Nahsechay’s company is constantly improving and adding to the programming availability in Afrikan adornment. Current core classes include Afrikan beading, weaving, knitting, and symbolism of adornment arts.

As a collegiate Fashion Design student, Nahsechay became aware of the lack and discrepancy of information existing on Afrikan cultures regarding traditional adornment. This was the catalyst to the development of SUCCESS, I&I a company specializing in the design and development of programs teaching the various art forms indicative of traditional Afrikan adornment. Through SUCCESS, I&I to date Nahsechay has provided educational programs for Texas Youth Commission, Rochester Arts Council, Texarkana Regional Arts and Humanities Council, Southwest Arkansas Arts Council, City of Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Dallas Neighborhood Touring Program, South Dallas Cultural Center, Dallas Parks & Recreation, Tarrant County Junior College (Southeast Campus), the African American Museum (Dallas), Navarro Council for the Arts, Corsicana State Home, Texas Commission for the Arts, Young Audiences, Dr. Pepper Company, HOPE Fdn., Ft. Worth Arts Council and many more.

ARTS IN EDUCATION PROGRAM

The strength of Nahsechay’s work and programming is its versatility. In the educational arena Nahsechay’s programs are inclusive of core curriculum components including reading, language arts, math, and science. Her beading program for example includes the development and maintenance of a notebook on the region of study, listing of families found in the region, mapping of countries of the region, as well as design and development of a piece of beadwork indicative of the region being studied. (Beads used in projects reflect the type of beadwork found in the region being studied. i.e. Region 1 projects would include simulated silver, amber, coral, and amazonite) Expectations of the students and teachers are "very" high. Students are expected to be respectful of themselves and others. Projects are given which encourage group work and responsibility but that also yield individual success projects. Teachers are expected to be a partner in the educational process and to be open to new information. Teachers are also encouraged to share comments and suggestions regarding program strengths and challenges. The artist quite naturally provides in kind what is expected of the students and staff.

As stated by Malcolm X, “If you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they’ll create…programs(s), and when people create a program, you get action, -- action to improve our condition as a nation, action to ensure an optimistic future, one of self-determination and self-preservation. When people are informed, they do the right thing; for it is when we are not informed that we become slaves, pawns and hostages to racism and self-destruction.”

Gaskiya’s Compound specializes in Afrikan centered educational art programs The NIA (Purpose) of Gaskiya’s Afrikan studies program is to allow participants an opportunity to pursue an interdisciplinary study of the cultural and historical experiences of Afrikans and to acquaint them with the cultural contributions of Afrikan culture to world society through her various artforms.