Tag: Artistes

As the Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Artists met at the Artistes’ Village, Iganmu, Lagos last week to deliberate on the way forward concerning the quit notice given to them by the Federal Government, Edozie Udeze takes a closer look at the issues involved and the stand of the artists

Last week, the Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Artists held a press conference to state their own side of the story pertaining to the quit notice given to them to vacate the premises of the National Theatre, Lagos. The notice, which came from the presidency and was signed by the Minister of Culture, Tourism and National Orientation, Edem Duke, stated in part, that some portions of the complex have been earmarked for new building projects that will form part of the Theatre environment.

However, artists have demonstrated that the purported arrangement is at variance with the idea of a total culture and art environment. They argued that it was improper for government to wake up one day and decided to mortgage the soul and conscience of the Theatre without due and proper consultation with artists and other core stakeholders in the sector. They wondered thus: “In 2011, at Eko Hotel, Lagos, the president himself met with us soliciting for our votes. There he also made so many promises to us on how to grow and develop the culture sector. Now, he wants to uproot us without our consent. Today, he sees us as nobody – people whose trade and profession do not matter. Is that proper?” the association asked in a statement.

Beyond the strong argument that a lot of people will be rendered jobless and hopeless in the new set-up, Biodun Olakun, a seasoned artist and a trustee of the Professional Guild of Nigerian Artists (GFA) said: “yes, even if government wants to make a move as serious as what we have here now, it should first of all dialogue with us the practitioners. More so, some of us have been inhabiting this environment for more than thirty years.”

In as much as Olakun is not opposed to laudable ideas to make the sector grow, he is indeed irked that most public office holders behave as if the country in their personal property. “You see, there is a Yoruba proverb that says, you can’t cut my hair without my consent. How can you understand my pressing needs without talking to me? Government has always said that people should be self-employed, self-empowered and that is what we have been doing. So, those of us who have found space to empower ourselves and even in the process alleviating the situation of other artists, thereby helping them to grow, should we just be dislocated like that?”

Olakun’s grouse, just like most other artists, is hinged on the fact that government policies most times are anti – people. “What will happen to thousands of students being sent here by their institutions to do their Industrial Training. All of us have extended responsibilities and obligations. Nigeria is for all of us. It is not anybody’s father’s estate. In the first place, what legacies are public office holders leaving behind? Now we complain that the nation is not making progress and the little we have achieved so far, they want to scuttle it,” Olakun wondered.

Uche, a photographer whose office is located at the Artiste’s Village within the same premises, posited thus: “Each time government comes here, they tell us that the Theatre is not working. Up till now the 1988 National Policy on Culture has not been implemented or made public. When you go to find out who ran the Theatre down, it is still government people. Now, we are afraid it is the same people who ran it down that will now buy up the spaces. After that, what will be the fate of the artiste? Government is not even making temporary or permanent arrangement to resettle us. And this is a sub-sector that contributes over N1 billion to national economy every year. Every year, artists from all over the world visit this place and they go to all the corners of the Theatre to commune with us. Since we all own this country together, we should all be part of the decision to make it work,” Uche said.

But in his own reaction, Steve Ogundele, the Secretary-General of National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) said: “First of all I am not making an official statement on this issue. Anyway, when you consider the level of development in this area now, especially with the presence of the rail terminal, government might be right in catching in on it to make the Theatre a better place. Be that as it may, as a practitioner, I am not against the place being turned into a haven of some sort. What I am particularly worried about is the sincerity of government. Is what they are going to do be for the benefit of our economy, our practice as artistes, and for the over all development of the people of Nigeria? I don’t really want to pre-empt government, but let them follow due process in this regard.”

What the coalition of artists is saying is that government has to be fair to all. If there has to be this sort of arrangement, the government should provide a permanent artistes’ village somewhere else. “There has to be a place for us while the development is going on. Or does government want to turn all of us into refuges and destitutes, people who have no home but live under the bridge. If that is what they plan to do, then we are set to reason it out with them that it will not work, it can’t be encouraged, not in the least.”

Government should reconsider its decision in such a way that these army of artistes with offices in and around the Theatre do not have reasons to feel out of place in their own land. Olakun’s last words surmises the general feeling of the people affected thus: “Government has to look inwards and when this development is over, where are they going to put us and while it is going on, where will they resettle us so that we can continue to practice our art?”