Terra Kulture, Nigeria’s first privately owned ultra-modern theatre, has become a household name among people who love theatre. On its stage, several actors, writers, musicians and dancers have found their voices and shared their hearts and art with the world. Historical tales have been reimagined and re-lived time and time again. Shows such as ‘Oluronbi the Musical’, ‘Saro The Musical’, ‘Wakaa The Musical’, ‘Moremi The Musical’, ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens’ and Fela’s ‘Republic and The Kalakuta Queens’ won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
The founder of Terra Kulture is Bolanle Austen-Peters. At 52, she has conquered both film and theatre and has rightly earned the title, ‘Queen of Nigerian Theatre’ by which she is fondly referred. Under Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions, all of the six stories she has told through theatre have been applauded by fans and critics, receiving both local and international accolades. Her first known work under Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions, ‘Saro the Musical’ received nods from international media houses including the BBC and Sky News. Her second work, ‘Wakaa the Musical’ became the first Nigerian Musical to be staged in London’s West End. It also recorded a historic sold out show at the Shaw theatre London from July 21 – 25, 2016. With ‘Fela’ and ‘The Kalakuta Queens’ musical, she produced one of the biggest shows out of West Africa with over 120,000 people watching it in Lagos, Cairo and down south in Pretoria between 2017 and 2020.
Her impact on the film industry is also undeniable. She co-produced 93 Days, a feature film on the Ebola outbreak in Nigeria. The film was selected for premiering and viewing at The Toronto International Film Festival, The Chicago Film Festival, The Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles, The Johannesburg Film Festival, The Africa Film Festival in Cologne/Germany, and RapidLion Award. With 13 nominations, it became the highest-nominated film at the Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards. It also received seven nominations at the 2017 African Movie Academy Awards.
Less than five months after retelling the story of ‘Oluronbi’ in a beautiful and elaborate MTN-sponsored musical, Austen-Peters made good on her assertion, “We are going to bring you stories that are authentically Nigerian.” Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions, partnered with the MTN Foundation to bring ‘Death and the King’s Horseman’, a play written by the erudite Professor Wole Soyinka in the mid 1970’s while on exile, to the Terra Kulture stage. The play was praised by the audience and critics for its brilliant production, stage design, costume and acting. But no one was surprised at the amazing quality of the work because that’s precisely what BAP is known for.
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The concessionaires complained of poor cooperation from state governments who mostly delay in meeting their own part of the agreement, for instance in the area of land provision.
Another major challenge they emphasised was the lack of narrow gauge rail lines in and out of the dry ports which they noted was important to make the operation of the ports efficient.
They added that access to funds also remained a major issue even as banks and foreign investors make unreasonable demands for assets and bank bonds before the release of funds.
The concessionaires unanimously stressed the need for the ports being constructed to be given the status of port of origin and destination and also to be registered with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) upon completion.
In view of the delay in execution, the concessionaires stressed the need for a new agreement, pointing out that an agreement started in 2017 between them and the NSC but it was yet to be cleared by the Federal Ministry of Justice on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
They however commended the ICRC for its intervention and also appreciated the NSC for their support so far, noting that they were confident that under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the contracts will be sorted out.
The concessionaires pledged their commitment to see the concession to conclusion and the ports operational even as two of the concessionaires, Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd for the Katsina ports and Dala Inland Dry Port for the Kano Ports declared that their ports will commence operation before the third quarter of 2022.
Managing Director of Equatorial Marine Oil and Gas Ltd, Mr Usman Iya Abbas, informed the ICRC team that the Funtua port was already at over 85 per cent completion and was ready to launch before the end of the second quarter of 2022.
“We hope to commission this project before the end of the second quarter and the ports will become functional immediately. We are lucky to have great relationships in the shipping industry and with major shipping lines.
Managing Director, Dala Inland Dry Port Ltd., Hon. Ahmed Rabiu, concessionaires of the Kano Inland Port also hinted that the construction of the container depot was already nearing completion.
He assured that the company was working assiduously to ensure project completion and take off before the end of March 2022.
On his part, ICRC’s Director of Contract Compliance Department, Dr Ewalefoh who chaired the technical session of the meeting assured the concessionaires of the continuous support of the Commission, charging them however to send a detailed update of the contract status reports to the ICRC.
The Ag. Head, Media and Publicity of ICRC, Manji Yarling said he further enjoined the other four concessionaires who were yet to make remarkable progress in their contract execution to emulate the milestone recorded by the other two who were finalizing their constructions, so that the ports can yield the economic benefits for which the concessions were granted.
While thanking the stakeholders for honouring the invitation of the ICRC, it was resolved that going forward, there will be periodic meetings to ensure that the projects are speedily completed.
and then