Nigeria Content Online

Nigerian theatre
practitioners have called on government to demonstrate a commitment to
the arts by providing cottage theatres across the country.

The call was made
during the annual Convention of the National Association of Nigerian
Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP), which held in Lagos last week. Ben
Tomoloju, a veteran journalist, theatre director and playwright,
spearheaded the demand, as a way for federal, state and local
governments to aid the development of live theatre and complement other
social amenities.

Between sport and theatre

“While I commend
Governor Raji Fashola for his giant strides, I wish to state here that
he should make it a point of duty to establish theatre cottages across
the state, while the same should be extended to every part of this
nation,” he said. “Stadia are currently being built across this state,
but everyone cannot be a footballer. Our profession is capable of doing
more for the image of this country than football can ever do, yet we
don’t get the kind of attention and funding that football gets.” He
cited the example of such cottages in Germany; and suggested that the
proposed cottages or mini-theatres should be of various sizes, with 99
to 250 persons’ capacity.

Anchor of the CORA
Stampede session, Toyin Akinosho, had a slightly different view: “While
it is good to have these theatre cottages, I would rather prefer that
the government make a policy which excluded buildings that housed
theatre space from tax as well as grant such buildings land charges
exemptions.” Tomoloju’s call was backed by actor Dejumo Lewis, who
played Kabiyesi in the classic television series, ‘Village Headmaster’.
“This is the only way we can ensure the democratisation of the
theatre,” Lewis began. “We cannot x-ray democracy if we cannot achieve
the democratisation of the theatre which is our own immediate
constituency. We should not leave theatre in the hands of (just) Wole
Soyinka, Ben Tomoloju, Femi Osofisan, Ahmed Yerima or restrict it to
the National Theatre. No! Each local government in this country should
own a mini theatre. As thespians, we are the conscience of the people
and so our mission should not be limited to the centre, just as
carrying them out in those local areas becomes a challenge without at
least a mini-theatre,” he posited amidst thunderous applause and cheers
from delegates.

Funding the arts

The agitation for
an endowment fund for the arts came up for discussion during the
convention, as practitioners lamented the damage done by lack of funds
on various projects. Delegates drew attention to the fact that most
theatrical, artistic and cultural activities in Nigeria are funded by
foreign agencies from US, UK, Japan and most recently, the Chinese. “It
is pathetic to note that we still leave the funding of our cultural
activities in the hands of the West. I don’t believe in our going
cap-in-hand to beg these organisations for funding. We should begin to
look inward. We should become our own cultural ambassadors and move our
profession forward,” said one theatre artist.

President Goodluck
Jonathan’s recent announcement of a $200 million grant for the
entertainment industries, also came under the radar. Greg Odutayo,
NANTAP’s National President, cautioned that care must be taken for the
money not to be hijacked, as he reiterated the industry’s dire need for
government support. “While we must commend the president’s gesture, the
$200 million grant for the entertainment industry is not the same as
our demand for an Endowment Fund for the Arts,” he declared. Another
member was of the opinion that the announcement was only a political
move by the president to curry favour from the entertainment industry
ahead of the 2011 election.

Credible elections

Ben Tomoloju
however charged all thespians at the interactive session to see
themselves as important agents in the quest for free, fair and credible
elections. “As theatre practitioners, we are stakeholders in the
Nigerian project and we have to play our role assiduously. Rather than
standing by the wings, we should put our profession to work to
conscientise and inform the people on the need for a violence-free
election come 2011,” he advised, adding that the election process
requires a lot of public awareness and INEC or government alone cannot
do it. “With small drama sketches, radio drama or television drama
series, we can make a lot of difference,” he concluded.