The Chairman of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners, FCT chapter, Olukayode Aiyegbusi, has urged the Federal Government to engage key industry players as a means to develop the arts and creative sector.
He made the call in an interview on the sideline of a theatre event to mark the 2024 World Theatre Day on Wednesday in Abuja.
The event held at the Cyprian Ekwensi Cultural Centre, had in attendance stakeholders in the arts, culture, and creative space, theatre groups, university students, and theatre enthusiasts.
According to Aiyegbusi, as Nigeria looks for alternatives to its revenue mainstay, the arts and creative sector is an option that can bring economic prosperity if well managed.
He said the government at all levels need to show political will and leadership to ensure that industry practitioners are involved in programmes and policies for the sector.
“Our local theme for the World Theatre Day is ‘Unbundling the Creative Economy for a Sustainable Future’, and this is very apt and deliberate.
“The President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has been so gracious to give us a ministry of culture and creative economy, but how do we move forward from there?
“We need to find how to effectively use this ministry to drive the sector, create and empower our young people for a better future.
“The ministry needs to sit with practitioners, not theoreticians, people who are in practice, who are on the field, who know what is going on, and ask them questions.
“Government need to ask them how do we enhance this industry, what are the limitations, why are you not at your optimum and what do you need?
“There must be a conscious, concerted effort on the part of government by calling industry players to the table and ask for their inputs on how to move the sector forward.
“We must involve the right people and then have plans on what this country wants to achieve in the next 10 years and then you must start planting the seed now,” he said.
The NANTAP helmsman further noted that theatre was a major source of income and job creation, besides its recreational value to society.
He therefore called on the government at all levels to encourage investment in building theatres across the country for job creation.
“Theatre offers a lot of opportunities; for a production, you are talking of over 10, 20, 30 people involvement and you have the director, scriptwriter, actors, scenic designer, costumier, among others.
“You are talking of creating empowerment for our teeming young people who are just idling away and getting involved in all kinds of vices because there is nothing to do.
“This theatre is the only purpose-built theatre in Abuja, but if you have a situation where every community like Bwari, Kubwa, Gwagwalada, and the rest has a theatre, you don’t need to come here.
“It will not be just the theatre, there will even be ancillary services; the woman that sells popcorn, the one that sells water, the food and even artworks,” he said.
(NAN)