The Governing Board of National Theatre has refuted claims of an alleged takeover of the theatre by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
In a memo seen by BusinessDay and signed by Agbo Ita, the boards’ secretary, the board said there is no iota of truth that the National Theatre has been handed over to the Central Bank of Nigeria or the Lagos State Government by its bona fide owner, the Federal government of Nigeria.
That’s opposed to what the board said were rumours, fabrications and falsehoods trending about the matter in prints, electronic and social media.
Recall that Godwin Emefiele, CBN governor, had earlier this month, said the apex Bank in collaboration with the Bankers’ Committee, requested for approvals from the Federal and Lagos State government to take over the National
Theatre, in what he says “the edifice is too important to the nation to be allowed to go to waste”.
Emefiele along with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; Deputy Governor Lagos, Obafemi Hamzat; the Chairman, Body of Bank CEOs, Herbert Wigwe and other top government officials in the state,who paid an assessment visit to the National Theatre in Lagos, noted that in two years’ time under the watch of the bank, would be so transformed that it could be able to rival the best convention centres in the world.
Emefiele who later announced that the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee had received approval from President Muhammadu Buhari and the Lagos State government to take over the National Theatre and transform it into a creative industry park as part of their Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI).
According to the board, neither it of its management received prior notice regarding this visit to the theatre by the Bank’s governor or the Lagos State government hence, the need for its members to discuss the likely implication the unscheduled visit would have on the theatre.
“We call on all stakeholders in the creative and entertainment sector and workers to remain calm as the status quo ante remains and nothing has changed,” Ita said in the note on behalf of the board.
MICHAEL ANI
