/ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT/ARTS-NIGERIA: Plans To Sell Off National Theatre Criticised

By Toye Olori Reprint | | Print |

Toye Olori

LAGOS, Feb 27 2001 (IPS) - “It’s all rumours. Government cannot sell off the National Theatre. It’s not possible,” says a staff at the National Theatre, which is located in Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos.

More than 300 workers and thousands of artistes and theatre goers, who frequent the National Theatre, have voiced their disagreement with the proposed plan to sell the monument.

At a press conference last week, the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) described the proposed decision to sell the theatre as ill-advised.

“The theatre complex has for the past quarter of a century remained a symbol of the nation’s cultural institution, and a constant reminder of that historic and magnificent event of the coming together of all black peoples of the world in 1977,” says Peter Adekunle, NANTAP President.

“The complex should not be sold on the cheap excuse that it’s not generating funds,” he says. At least 10 prospective buyers have expressed interests in the complex.

Tony Okoroji, former president of the Performing Musician Employers Association of Nigeria (PMAN), told the privately-owned Guardian newspaper: “The National Theatre is a national monument. I believe it was not set up as a money-making venture. Its purpose is the projection and protection of our national heritage, and I think that that is more important than whatever amount of money that would be made from the sale.”

The complex offers diverse facilities. It has four main entrances, a main hall equipped with 5,000 seats, two cinema halls, each with a capacity for 700 persons, a Conference/Banquet hall that can seat 1,500, a state-of- the-art audio system capable of simultaneous interpretation of eight languages, and a 1,830-square-metre Exhibition hall, with a capacity for 1,500 spectators.

The theatre, an architectural masterpiece, is collapsing. Its air- conditioning system, the 350 toilets and 150 urinals, and lifts, as well as electric generator are non-functional, or ineffective, due mainly to lack of maintenance.

Femi Osifisan, general manager of the National Theatre, has announced that rehabilitation work, on the complex, has begun. The government has approved 800 million naira (about eight million dollars) for it, he says.

“The complex’s main problem is its roofs … they are leaking badly. The theatre is, in fact, a sinking ship. The battle is now to keep it afloat, and to make sure it does not sink,” says Osifisan, formerly head of department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, Western Nigeria.

Bookings for the use of the complex were cancelled at the end of December.

The theatre needs about two billion naira (about 20 million dollars), according to NANTAP, to get it back into shape. “We will raise money to carry out appreciable part of the repairs in a year, beginning with the roofs,” says Osifisan.

The funds are expected to come from financial institutions, firms and private individuals, who would be approached to refurbish parts of the complex such as the halls, which would then be named after them, according to Osifisan.

“We must restore the place to what I believe it was meant to be – a house of the arts and a home for artists. It should be a primary tourist attraction in Lagos and even in the country,” he says.

The theatre was built to complement the Glover Hall, one of the first monuments built in Lagos to promote art and culture through staging of plays and dances. The hall also has been the venue of important social occasions like the reception of the Prince of Wales in 1925.

The theatre, located in the heart of Lagos, covers an area of about 23,000 square metres and stands well over 31 metres tall.

The idea to construct the theatre was mooted in 1973. The design was taken from the Palace of Culture and Sports in Varna, Bulgaria while contracts for its construction was awarded to Technoexportsroy, a Bulgarian firm. It was formally opened by General Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s current President, in September 1976.

Since then, it has hosted a number of national and international activities, which include musical concerts, dramas, dances, film shows and art exhibitions.