Seasoned administrator, not privatization, solution to National Theatre’s problems, says practitioner

A theatre art practitioner, Peter Badejo, on Sunday called on the Federal Government to appoint seasoned and tested theatre administrators to manage the National Theatre so that it could boost its operations and become lively again.

Badejo told newsmen that the National Theatre would be restored to its pride of place with seasoned administrators as its head.

“It is not about privatizing it that will bring about efficiency.

“Rather, it is through the vision, mission, national and international experiences of the calibre of those appointed by the Federal Government to handle the complex that will bring about the needed change there,’ Badejo said.

NAN reports that Badejo is a recipient of Queen Elizabeth II’s Order of the British Empire (OBE) award for his promotion of African and Nigerian Dance, art and music in the United Kingdom.

Badejo, one of those that participated in FESTAC 77, however, said that he was sad with what the edifice had been turned into at present.

He said this was not the dream of the founding fathers when they built and inaugurated the edifice for use during the second Black Festival of Arts and Culture, popularly called FESTAC 77.

“I am not happy with the present condition of the theatre. The word `not happy’ may not be the right word to describe the present state of the National Theatre.

“Its present state poses a lot of challenges to us as a nation. It is a shame that both structurally and administratively, the National Theatre is not functioning well as it should be.

“People in leadership here, are they doing what they are supposed to be doing?’’

Badejo advised the current leadership of the National Theatre to research into the purposes of erecting the structure then and re-enact such purposes now for posterity sake.

“ All of a sudden, we seem to be losing the focus of what the complex is meant to serve and achieve,” he said.

According to the theatre instructor, the National Theatre is supposed to be the `Alpha and Omega’ the beginning and the end of theatre activities in Nigeria.

He said that privatisation would not be the answer to solving the challenges currently facing the National Theatre.

“However, there must be a bridge between the governmental function and the administrators of the National Theatre.

“What is the focus of the present leadership of the complex to improve on the legacies left behind by the past managements; what are we doing with this edifice at present, why is it lying there like a dead elephant?

“Because it is not functioning; that is why people are making all sorts of suggestions as the solutions to the problems confronting the edifice. That is the basic thing, “he said.

Badejo said that once the National Theatre starts to function properly and effectively, Nigerians love to recreate, they will patronise it.

“Beef up security in and around the complex, tidy up the environment, provide constant power supply to the complex, it will boost up patronage there.

“The complex can stand on its own with the right policy and right leadership in place, ” Badejo, teacher of African theatre art, dance and music in the United Kingdom, the USA , Cuba and South Africa said.

The post Seasoned administrator, not privatization, solution to National Theatre’s problems, says practitioner appeared first on Vanguard News.