By March of 2023, the N65 billion National Theatre rehabilitation project, which is being funded by the Bankers Committee and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), would be finished. This indicates that the main bowl of the National Theatre will be finished three months after the first phase of the project is finished.
At the official inauguration of the project’s first phase on Tuesday in Iganmu, Lagos, CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele made this disclosure.
“We are really proud to be part of this project and we want to commend the Bankers Committee for funding this initiative. This is just phase A of the grand plans we have. We will be completing the Theatre in March 2023 where we will have the main bowl which will take about 5000 people capacity,” he said.
The National Theatre will rival anything else seen worldwide, according to Aishah Ahmad, deputy governor, financial system stability directorate, who was speaking on his behalf.
He asserts that four industries—including information technology (IT), fashion, music, and movies—will offer the necessary platforms for young Nigerians who are exceptionally creative to fully express their originality.
“I look forward to coming back here to have all sorts of exciting events coming up. There are three cinema halls within this room, you can enjoy the cinema or come here for an art exhibition. Once the tech space is ready, you could go in there for hackathons, the possibilities are endless, and I think it is a befitting monument to just how much Nigerian arts or the Nigerian creative industry has pivoted itself to the world,” Emefiele said.
The Secretary General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Zurab Pololikashuili, declared during his remarks that the UN will establish universities of tourism on the African continent within the next two to three years, with one campus in Nigeria.
He urged African countries to integrate tourism into their country’s school curricula.
The younger generations, who will continue to be the industry’s future, must receive the necessary tourism education, according to Pololikashuili, in order to improve the African tourism sector.
“We are here to promote and support new projects, we hope for a better education for young people through schools. We have to start by bringing tourism to schools across Africa,” he said.
According to Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, the Federal Government would keep building the infrastructure required for Nigerian tourism to thrive.
He claimed that the tourism industry sectors were producing enormous amounts of revenue each year in accordance with the revenue numbers produced in 2021 following COVID-19.
He mentioned that Nollywood brought in N170 billion, Nollywood generated N300 billion, and fashion generated N2 trillion.
“As a government we will continue to provide the education and infrastructure necessary for the industry to thrive and as Nigerians we must all work in peace and unity. I am proud to say that Nigeria has attracted a lot of investment in the area of digitization, I encourage young people not to bury their talents,” Lai said.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who performed Asake’s “organised” hit music to inspire the gifted youth, commissioned the completed phase one project.
