The 42-year-old national monument is set to rebound with the planned intervention of the Central Bank and deposit money banks.
MONDAY’S announcement by Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele that the apex bank and Deposit Money Banks would transform the National Theatre, Lagos into a creative industry park and give the edifice a facelift might well be the end of its atrocious neglect.
In a keynote speech at the Creative Nigeria Summit themed ‘Finance for Growth’ held on September 30 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja GRA, Emefiele unveiled plans that were sweet music to the ears of players in the creative sector. He disclosed that the CBN and banks would release N22 billion to the creative industry while the National Theatre is the pilot for the Creative Industries Park that would also be sited in Kano, Port Harcourt or Enugu.
Emefiele explained that the initiative was part of the banking sector’s efforts to harness the innovative and creative energy of the youths to enable them to engage in productive ventures that would support improved wealth and job creation in Nigeria.
He said: “Using the Agri-Business/Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Scheme fund AGSMEIES fund through which the banks set aside on an annual basis five per cent of their profit after tax, our goal is to support start-ups and existing businesses in the creative industry space, as well as the development of a creative industry park across three major cities in Nigeria.
“With the kind support of the Federal and Lagos State Governments, the National Theatre is expected to serve as the initial pilot for the Creative Industries Park. Our plan is to develop a 40- acre Creative Industry Park around the National Theatre, including giving the Theatre itself tremendous facelift; thereby reopening the tourism potential, the National Theatre offered during FESTAC 77. Following the deployment of the pilot scheme in Lagos, we intend to set up similar parks in Kano, Port Harcourt or Enugu.
“So far, the CBN and the Bankers Committee intend to support this creative venture with N22bn of initial funds. Part of our efforts in the music and movie industry will be to support young entrepreneurs in the development of digital content at the park.”
For the thousands of Nigerians in the creative industry and particularly those whose means of livelihood is tied to the National Theatre, Emefiele’s disclosures were a balm to their wounds.
Lost glory
Inaugurated in 1976 ahead of the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC 77) that it hosted, the National Theatre bustled with creative activities until the 90s when it fell on hard times due to the failure of successive administrations to properly maintain it. The edifice gradually decayed until the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo administration decided, in 2001, that the best option was to sell it.
Players in the culture sector vehemently opposed the sale and held several protests to tell the government that wasn’t the best option.
During the tenure of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, the tune changed from outright sale to private-public-partnership. Naturally, the culture community still resisted, and the debacle continued into President Goodluck Jonathan years. But unlike his predecessors, progress was made during Jonathan’s tenure with roadshows held in Lagos, London, Dubai and Johannesburg in 2014 to attract investors for the planned concession.
Towards the tail end of the Jonathan administration, the management of the National Theatre then headed by Kabir Yusuf informed journalists that preferred and reserved bidders had emerged for the fallow land of the Theatre. He had earlier disclosed that the main theatre complex was not part of the concession arrangement.
It later emerged that the so-called concession process was not transparent, with Yusuf and his then supervising Minister, High Chief Edem Duke working at cross-purposes. They both backed different concessionaires and created a peculiar mess such that the succeeding Muhammadu Buhari administration wisely ignored the exercise when it came into power.
Evil destruction
Meanwhile, the major opposition to either outright sale or concession of the National Theatre was artists who occupied a part of the Theatre managed by the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) called Artists’ Village.
At dawn on Saturday, January 23, 2016, Yusuf appeared to exact his pound of flesh against his traducers when he led a demolition team to the Artists’ Village and destroyed offices as well as artworks running into millions of naira. An artist, Smart Owvie, was shot in the leg by one of the heavily armed policemen that accompanied the demolition team.
In his defence, Yusuf claimed to have acted on the orders of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that shanties around the National Theatre should be pulled down. Mohammed himself visited the scene of destruction later that day and promised that the Federal Government would compensate the affected artists. Three years after, they are yet to be compensated.
The battle for the soul of the edifice and its adjoining piece of real estate subsided with successive General Managers, including the late playwright, Dr Stella Oyedepo, working hard to the right the listing ship. But the damage was already done; the mortal wound of neglect too profound for palliative measures being applied to have a significant impact.
Hope springs eternal
This was the state of affairs until Monday when Emefiele brought glad tidings with news of the CBN and bank’s interventions, assuring that the edifice would rise again.
“This is a positive development,” began artist MufuOnifade, one of those who suffered losses when the Artists’ Village was destroyed three years ago. “Some of us had fought against the concession or sale of the National Theatre. We resisted all attempts by past governments to sell it off to those whose interests were merely anti-culture and ravenously pro-business. The National Theatre as an edifice is a Nigeria’s landmark symbol of culture. It’s our national cultural legacy and should be preserved as such for the future. So, I am delighted at the government’s intervention through the CBN.”
President, National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), Israel Eboh is of the same opinion. He said: “The Federal Government’s intervention through the CIFI managed by the Central Bank of Nigeria is a welcome development. This intervention will be a catalyst for growth and expansion. It is the government’s acknowledgement of the giant strides the creative industry has made both as an economic contributor and a promotional tool for the Nigeria brand. Well managed and made available to the real industry players, this fund will grow capacity of the practitioners, create more jobs, open up the market and further raise the standard and quality of works from Nigeria to be able to compete for more globally. The terms and conditions must be industry-friendly for the industry players to be able to access the funds, to achieve an impactful contribution to the sector. It is naturally expected that part of this intervention funds must go into developing infrastructures. We cannot talk of an industry growth only on the strength of loans for products but also because the facilities to help develop and distribute these products are also invested upon. If part of developing the creative industry’s infrastructure is investing in the facelift of the National Theatre and the surrounding environment, then it is a positive statement of intent. After all, the National Theatre is the symbol of our creative and entertainment industry.”
Veteran theatre and media practitioner, Edmond Enaibe, is however not very enthusiastic about the intervention. He said, “on the surface, it appears sound but are we sure it’s not a ploy to finally privatise the Theatre? They will acquire 45 acres of land to build a creative industry park and then give the Theatre a facelift. What they are saying is not new. The statute establishing the National Theatre provides for five-star hotels among others around the monument. It’s all there in the Culture Policy lying fallow for 30 years but which successive governments have failed to implement.”
Though the full details of the intervention are still being awaited, artists and other interested parties are cautiously optimistic that the lost glory of the Theatre would soon be restored.
and then