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Tag: NATIONAL THEATRE

  • “Abe igi’ in mourning mood over death of National Theatre’s GM

    “Abe igi’ in mourning mood over death of National Theatre’s GM

    `Abe Igi’ the popular drinking spot at the National Theatre in Lagos on Wednesday closed shop to mourn the demise of Dr Stella Oyedepo, the General Manager of the complex.

     

    A NAN correspondent who visited the spot noticed that none of its operators was attending to potential customers as it used to be the tradition.

     

    The kiosks forming the drinking joint were quiet devoid of its hustling and bustling.

     

    NAN also visited some of the offices within the NT to ask how the staffers felt about the untimely death of their Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

     

    Most of those seen displayed low and somber moods.

     

    A cleaner who refused to give her name was sobbing because of the unfortunate incident.

     

    When NAN approached her, she described the late Oyedepo as a good woman.

     

    “She used to treat everyone as equal not minding where you are from.

     

    “She renovated several offices and infrastructure within the theatre. She was fast at doing them as if she knew she would soon die,” she said.

     

    “May she rest in peace, and God protect her family,” she said.

     

    Also, Mr Augustine Agada, the Chairman of RATTAWU at the NT, said that everyone was sad at the untimely death of Oyedepo.

     

    NAN reports that Dr Stella Oyedepo was born in 1954. She was a playwright.

     

    The deceased GM who assumed duty in April last year died on Easter Monday, April 22, 2019 in an auto crash along the Shagamu-Benin Express way.

     

    Oyedepo wrote over 300 plays during the course of her career; and 30 out of them had been published. (NAN)

  • Sad! National Theatre GM ,Stella Oyedepo dies in auto crash

    Sad! National Theatre GM ,Stella Oyedepo dies in auto crash

    Stella Oyedepo, popular playwright and the General Manager of National theatre has passed on.

    The 65-year-old playwright died in an accident on Easter Monday on her way to Lagos along Ijebu, Ogun State.

    Dr. Oyedepo is a foremost Nigerian playwright, who was appointed as National Theatre’s GM in April 2018. Oyedepo has written over 300 plays over the course of her career as a playwright with 30 published for the public.

    Her first play, ‘Our Wife is Not a Woman,’ was written in 1979 and a large number of her plays were commissioned for specific occasions.

    The late Oyedepo was an ex-director of the Kwara State Council for Arts and Culture. In 2001, she wrote ‘Brain Has No Gender’ for the Kwara State Ministry of Education for Women-in-Science Programme. One of her highly acclaimed plays is ‘The Greatest Gift,’ which contrasts the life of a family destroyed by the father’s drunkenness with the life of a successful family. The play was written and performed in 1988.

    In a report by J. Yeseibo, Oyedepo was described as arguably one of the most visible practitioners of theatre in Nigeria with plays that include ‘Survive,’ ‘We Will,’ ‘The Missing Ingredient,’ ‘The Rebellion of the Bumpy-Chested,’ and ‘Brain has no Gender.’ It was further reported that Oyedepo’s feminism strongly informs her work, which centres around the many ills, perversions, and misplaced social values she perceives in Nigerian society.

     

    Kwara State Governor-elect AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has condoled with Dr Hezekiah Oyedepo over the death of his wife, Stella.

    Dr Oyedepo is a prominent leader of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara state

    Mallam Abdulrazaq described the death of Stella who was the General Manager of the National Theatre before the demise as one loss too many to the state and Nigeria as a whole.

     

    “We are devastated by the sudden death of this Amazon who had not only served our state meritoriously as executive director of the Kwara State Council for Arts and Culture but was on a national assignment to revive the iconic national theatre, Iganmu,” according to a statement by AbdulRazaq’s media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye.

    “The development is sad and devastating but I urge the family to take solace in the eventful life of the deceased who was known for her sterling record as an authority in her field,” according to the statement.

    “I pray the Almighty God to repose her soul and comfort the family. My special condolences go to the elder statesman Dr Hezekiah, the widower, who has been at the forefront of the clamour for good governance as his membership of our Transition Committee shows. I also especially commiserate with the children and pray God to grant them the fortitude to bear this huge loss.”

  • Civil servants have no business running National Theatre, says Lawal

    Civil servants have no business running National Theatre, says Lawal

    A thespian, Pelumi Lawal popularly known as “Pelumi Baba’’, on Friday said that the Federal Government should hand-over the running of the National Theatre in Lagos to the organized private sector (OPS).

     

    He said that through that, it would quickly yield returns on investment, arguing that civil servants had no business in the running of the outfit.

     

    “For the National Theatre to boom, be vibrant in Nigeria, it should not be run by civil servants. It should be handed over to a private company.’’

     

    Lawal, a poet, an actor and a rapper, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the theatre would open for business when civil servants were closing for the day’s work.

     

    According to him, this is why the National Theatre is degenerating into what it is today.

     

    ` It is in the night that people patronize the theatre to recreate.

     

    “All over the world, the theatre business is done majorly at night,’’ he said.

     

    Lawal said that those saddled with running its affairs should be ready to run shifts, adding this was not part of the orientations of most civil servants.

     

    “An event that will run till midnight or beyond, will the civil servants be willing to stay long to handle such things, so civil servants have to change their orientation if they want run the National Theatre.

     

    “They must also be taking proper care of their workers’ welfare such as paying their overtime as and when due aside their normal salaries as part of their motivations,’’ he said.

     

    He said that there must be constant supply of electricity with generators serving as back–up when there would be power outage.

     

    Lawal, however, said that theatres all over the world were not charging artistes before they would perform.

     

    “They don’t tell you to come and pay N1millon for a Cinema Hall; they programme you for the shows.

     

    “Artistes that are programmed to perform are settled based on percentage of gate takings, and ticket sales or for theatre sake to entertain people.

     

    “But in Nigeria, they will want you to pay for diesels, pay for hall, pay artistes, pay for the use of the air-conditioners,’’ he said.

     

    Lawal advised the government to see the success of theatre as based on a collaborative effort mean to provide entertainment for the people.

     

    “The funding of theatres is jointly done by government and private bodies across the world so that can continue to serve the citizens by entertaining them and providing job for artistes and others,’’ he said.

     

    He also said that government was expected to enact policies that would guide and regulate the activities of the theatre.

     

    “Different organizations and banks can join efforts to produce a play that can run for months in the theatre,’’ he said.

     

    NAN reports that Lawal received his initial training from Ajabgela, a theatre company with the Association of Nigerian Arts Practitioners (ANTP).

     

    He also received further training from the Goethe Institute; French Cultural Centre and the British Council through workshops and seminars organised for artistes.

  • NUJ condemns call for sales of National Theatre, NTA, VON, others

    The Nigeria Union of Journalists ( NUJ ), Lagos State Council, has condemned the call by a serving senator that some federal agencies should be sold.

    The union’s condemnation was contained in a communiqué it issued late Saturday night after its December monthly congress held at the Ladi Lawal Press Centre, Ikeja.

    The union during the congress deliberated on issues affecting its members as well as the state of the nation.

    In the communiqué signed by its chairman, Dr. Quaseem Akinreti said, “The Congress condemns in totality the call for the sales of some national commonwealth such as the Nigerian Television Authority( NTA) the National Theatre, Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria(FRCN) and the Voice of Nigeria,(VON), as canvassed by a member of the National Assembly.

    “The congress calls for the appropriate funding of these National Assets and other MDAs so that they will continue to generate employment opportunities for the nation.’’

    On beat associations, it urged owners of media houses to pay their staff as and when due to ensure decorum in the journalism practice.

    It condemned situations whereby some media owners owned their staffers several months of unpaid salary arrears.

    The congress also called on the NUJ at the national and state levels to always monitor activities of beat associations with a view to sanctioning those found to be involved in unethical conducts.

    On issues affecting members, it advised that all relevant stakeholders in the media industry should always be involved in taking unanimous decisions before such decisions were implemented.
    “It calls for a reorientation of members on proper conduct at assignments and the remodeling of beat associations in the line of professionalism.’’

    The congress, however, kicked against corrupt tendencies among members, while calling for the enforcement of rules guiding against unethical behaviours within the profession.

    The congress also decried the abandoning of the pursuance of the minimum Wage/Media Enhancement Bill by the national body of the union.

    “It promises to take the lead by submitting to the Lagos State House of Assembly a Media Enhancement Bill that will stipulate the guidelines to be adhered to by intending media owners in the state regarding salaries for their would-be workers.’’

    The congress also frowned at the upsurge of fake journalists in Lagos State and planned a review of journalists’ biometrics in 2018 to curb the menace.

    It also decried the incessant harassments of journalists by security operatives while on lawful duty in the communique.
    The congress said that it would through its state executive inaugurate a security chapel for public relations officers from the armed forces and other security agencies to forge cordial relations between the two organisations.

     

  • Jide Kosoko lauds FGs move to renovate National Theatre

    Veteran actor, Jide Kosoko has commended both the Federal and Lagos State Governments’ moves aimed at refurbishing the National Theatre in Lagos to its glorious status.

    Kosoko said the theatre had been the pride of the entertainment and Nollywood industry over the years. He said that the government moves was a right step in the right direction.

    Recall that Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Minister of Information and Culture, had on Jan. 28 restated the Federal Government’s commitment in collaboration with the Lagos State Government to restore the National Theatre to its glorious height.

    Lai stated this in Lagos when he inspected the complex in company with the representative of Lagos State Government, Prof. Adegbola Abbas.

    Kosoko bemoaned the poor conditions of the national heritage and pride, saying that such conditions were not encouraging.

    According to him, the theatre by now, is supposed to be the giant stride for creative industry where foreigners and neighbouring countries are supposed to be learning and showcasing their talents to the world.

    “The theatre should be the pride of Africa. It is a huge valuable asset for the government,” he said, adding that government should do the needful so that the edifice would fetch it huge revenue.

    ” For government to realise huge revenue from the old edifice, it needed to upgrade the theatre to international standard. Doing so will attract an influx of foreign counterparts, tourists, visitors and investors to the place,” he said.

    Kosoko expressed his dissatisfaction at the management of the theatre over the years by their contempt and non-challant attitudes toward the complex.

    He, however, affirmed that the government’s recent moves and commitment to renovate the theatre would promote the entertainment industry and attract investors.

    The veteran actor urged the government to fix the toilet facilities and ensured they worked properly, lighting up its surroundings, beef-up security surveillance and equipped the halls to modern standard.

     

     

  • The National Theatre depresses me- Chris Ihidero

    Chris Ihidero is the founder of TNS and also an excellent filmmaker and film critic.

    Chris recently attended Kunle Afolayan’s dad’s remembrance event held at National Theatre, Lagos.

    In his article titled, Why I Left Kunle Afolayan’s Father’s Remembrance Event Sad, he talks about the need for Nigerian filmmakers to think of preserving our film history, saying the National Theatre depresses him.

    According to him:” The National Theatre depresses me. My roots are in the theatre, where I worked for ten years before moving to film. Every visit to the National Theatre depresses me because it is an edifice that symbolises this country’s huge potentials and continued failures.”

    He aslo reveals the things he learnt at the remembrance event.

    Hear him:” Yesterday, I attended the 20th-anniversary remembrance event of the legendary Ade Love at the National Theatre, organised by his children, including actor Gabriel Afolayan and respected filmmaker Kunle Afolayan. It was important to hold such an event not only for the children but also for the filmmaking community.”

     

    The highlight of my time there, before I had to rush off, was the documentary produced by Kunle Afolayan’s Golden Effects and screen at the event. Watching that documentary again brought to fore how much work we have left undone in our industry.

     

    “Many of today’s younger filmmakers will know of Ade Love perhaps in passing, at best. I grew in Lagos and his works were an integral part of my childhood. I never actually saw any of his films in the cinema but he was a conspicuous presence. I knew of his singing, of his tenacity as a filmmaker and his huge popularity.”

     

    “I knew nothing of his influence on the great Hubert Ogunde. To find out, thanks to the documentary, that he was perhaps the major influence that made Hubert Ogunde switch from travelling theatre productions to film. This is major. Hubert Ogunde stands as the reference point in the travelling theatre to film movement in our film history. To learn that Ade Afolayan influenced that move is important.”

     

    “And this is part of why I left the event sad. We still know too little about our own film history. Many of today’s filmmakers have never seen the works of the likes of Ola Balogun, Eddy Ugboma, Ade Afolayan, Moses Olaiya and of course, Hubert Ogunde. For decades Ade Afolayan’s family did not have access to his films. Thanks to the heavens for someone like Babatunde Raji Fashola. Through his intervention, three of Ade Love’s classics: Kadara, Taxi Driver 1 & 2, have now been digitized and will be screened in the cinemas this December.”

     

    If we were a serious country that understood the need for archiving cultural productions, this is a task to be treated with utmost importance.

     

    “The National Theatre depresses me. My roots are in the theatre, where I worked for ten years before moving to film. Every visit to the National Theatre depresses me because it is an edifice that symbolises this country’s huge potentials and continued failures.”

     

    “Kudos to Kunle Afolayan and his siblings for making the effort to restore an integral part of our cultural history. You have not only done this for yourselves, you have done it for us all. I am looking forward to watching those films in the cinemas soon.

     

    We all need to do better.”