The Federal Government has officially handed over the National Theatre Complex in Lagos to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the country’s banks under the aegis of the Bankers’ Committee to renovate and upgrade it to a world-class event and creative industry centre.
The complex which was officially handed over by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, to the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, is expected to be fully renovated in 18 months.
Emefiele said that the renovated National Theatre and the complementary facilities including the creative industry centre and other facilities that will be built along will help in unleashing the creative talents of Nigerian youths across multiple sectors.
The CBN Governor added that the Creative Centre, which comprises of music, movies, fashion and ICT hub can be a key source of growth for the economy creating up to 1 million jobs for the teaming youths. He noted that towards the realisation of this objective, the Bankers Committee intends to support the creative venture with about N25 billion of initial funding.
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In his remarks, Mohammed described the development as a win-win for every stakeholder as the National Theatre in a few months will be restored to its old glory. He assured workers of the safety of their jobs. According to the Minister, no one is hijacking the National Theatre as it remains the country’s national heritage.
President Muhammadu Buhari had in October 2019 approved the renovation of the building and its premises, a task to be undertaken by the Bankers Committee, which is a body of the Chief Executive Officers of commercial banks, some CBN officials with the apex bank Governor as the chairman.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
