By Annabelle Macford

The pride of a nation has become the shame of the nation. Courtesy of government insincerity and policy summersault, the 37-year-old National Theatre located in Iganmu in mainland Lagos is rotting away and there appears no hope of redemption for the cultural edifice that has captivated the imagination of Nigerians of all ages in its days of glory.

The theatre was built in 1976 by the General Olusegun Obasanjo military government as the marquee centre for the performing arts in Nigeria. It was built as a prelude to the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) hosted by Nigeria in 1977.

By any standard, it is still an architectural masterpiece with its exterior shaped like a military hat. The multi-foyer piece of architectural splendour boasts a 5000-seater Main Hall with a collapsible stage. In addition it has two 700-800 capacity cinema halls all equipped with facilities for simultaneous translation in diverse languages. Approached from any side, the theatre commands your attention and almost seduces you to come ‘discover more’.

In its glorious days, it was the foremost destination for holiday-makers, performing artists and a horde of artistes. It was your ideal paradise for the very best of family outing with cinemas, live shows, eateries and all sorts of culinary adventures awaiting visitors. At festive periods, both Muslim and Christian festivities, the theatre was the first port of call. In those days, if you visited Lagos and never had a feel of the theatre, you were deemed to have committed a faux pas, a social offence too grave to defend. Then the National Theatre was our Disney World: enchanting, majestic and engaging.

But all the glamour is gone. During the last Muslim festival (Eid El Fitri), this reporter visited the theatre and what was once a beehive has turned to a ‘busy’ graveyard. There was no activity in the whole edifice save for a Hip-Hop show that may have got the organisers wondering if they did not make a mistake picking the theatre as venue. And for want of activity inside the national monument, visitors in their hundreds turned the expansive and surprisingly well manicured ambience into one huge park – a bustling playground for the ‘rough and tumble’ acts. Children regaled themselves in the moment with photographers making quick cash.

Perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of the lull in business inside the theatre were the food vendors outside the huge building. And talk about smart marketing, Nigerian Brewery has taken advantage of the location of the theatre and its significance to brand all the food vending outlets strewn around the theatre. Not just that, all the food vendors are mandated to sell only Nigerian Brewery liquor. And wow, it was good business for both the brewery and the food vendors. Visitors were all over the Nigerian Brewery-branded food stalls eating, drinking and chatting.

Nobody seemed to mind the unusual high cost of the food and drinks. A bottle of water which sells for N50 in regular stores sold for N100. Ditto for other drinks namely beer, malt (strictly Amstel and Maltina).  A waiter at one of the food pavilions told Political Economist that they are forbidden from selling other drinks that are not from the brewing plants of Nigerian Brewery. “If they catch you selling other products your restaurant will be sealed and you will pay fine in millions of Naira before you are allowed to reopen”, she said.

But the National Theatre was not conceived to be a food vending outpost. It was conceived as a primary cultural centre for the propagation of Nigerian cultures, folkloric trademarks and building of local capacities in entertainment particularly in performing art.

Though the theatre had been a victim of public sector incompetence, its final descent into the ignoble hall of shame of failed public institutions started in 2001 when the Obasanjo civilian government served notice of its intent to privatize the monument. Converting a public institution into a successful private enterprise has never captured the fancy of Nigerians. Many of such previous attempts at privatization of public institutions have failed and the case of the National Theatre was not different. Between 2001 and now, the theatre has remained a mere ball for government ping-ponging. It is yet to be sold or concessioned, worst still the federal government which is the original owner of the facility is behaving as though it is the least of its worries: unserious.

A staff of the theatre told our correspondent that the employees are more confused than anybody. ”We don’t know our fate. Today we hear they want to privatize it and build a 5-star hotel here, tomorrow we hear a different story. This is confusing and it is affecting our morale and commitment because nobody, not even our senior staff can say categorically that this is the true situation of things.

“We believe the management of the theatre is doing this deliberately to give the impression that the theatre cannot function effectively if left in the hand of government. We believe it is a cheap way to arm-twist government to sell the national pride. But some of us have travelled far and wide and we have seen equivalent institutions in other countries being managed by the public sector and they are efficient”.

Our investigation showed that the theatre has become a victim of power play orchestrated by the Tourism Minister, Edem Duke, in concert with the General Manager of the Theatre, Mallam Kabiru Yar’Adua both of whom, stakeholders allege, are intent on disposing of the national monument for peanuts. The Theatre, they argue, was set up by a decree just like the National Troupe and other parastatals of the Ministry of Tourism and they see no reason why it should be sold off on the whims of a minister and a manager. They cited the case of the United States where certain monuments are still held in custody of government.

For instance, the United States government enacted a law in 1846 to support and preserve the Smithsonian Institution and its 19 museums across the country. In UK, the Royal National Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company are publicly funded theatre outlets and they are still relevant till this day. The case of the National Theatre cannot be an exception, they warned.