After decades of suffering neglect, the National Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, seems to be at the verge of salvation.
This is courtesy of the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Deposit Money Banks that have disclosed their plans to transform the monument.
The CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, disclosed this on Monday during the Creative Nigeria Summit in Lagos.
The banks are expected to officially declare the project on Wednesday.
The theatre boasts expansive facilities not seen anywhere in Nigeria.
Apart from the expansive land that surrounds it, it flaunts several standard halls, with the joker being the revolving stage in the pinnacle, long abandoned for lack of care.
Various governments had made some interventions, but most of them were riddled with suspicion, insincerity and corruption.
The latest initiative is, thus, one that many stakeholders will applaud.
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According to ‘The Punch’, Emefiele said at the event that the intervention was geared towards liberating the creative industry.
He said, “This was the critical reason behind the CBN and the Bankers Committee decision, following our annual retreat in December 2018, to set up the Creative Industries and Financing Initiative.
“Using the 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 startups 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 Theater Iganmu in Lagos 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 Theater including giving the Theatre itself tremendous facelift; thereby reopening the touring potential the National theater offered during the FESTAC 77 arts culture.”
Following the deployment of the pilot scheme in Lagos, he said, the banks intended to set up similar parks in Kano, Port Harcourt or Enugu.
