General Manager/CEO

I am very happy to be in this building of historical importance.  I want to begin to say that God is the author of time.  It pleased Him that this moment He appoints my humble self to head and direct the affairs of the National Theatre of Nigeria.  When in 1985 I had a rear privilege to appear on the National Theatre stage to perform under the Open Theatre programme of the National Theatre, I had never known that one day it will be my lot to direct the affairs of this magnificent monument of historical relevance.

Indeed, when many of my friends, colleagues, well-wishers said to me ‘welcome back home’, my mind went back to that historical period.  I have come and it is my prayer and wish that I will see clearly and that I will also conquer.  With God helping me and with you hardworking Directors and Staffs cooperating with us to actualize our vision for the National Theatre, I am confident that I will change the narrative of the National Theatre.  

I am an incurable optimist, I like to look beyond the immediate challenges, of course challenges are meant for men to conquer, working together as one family, we will emerge victorious, we will be conquerors.

Please this is a new beginning.  I am not part of your story before this arrival so let us begin to write our new story of excitement of success, of development of good things in the National Theatre on the world map of successful National Theatres in the world.  

I don’t have much to say today because this job, this assignment is not for me alone.  I am essentially to give direction. By the time I seat with you the Management staff, together we would fashion out the road map that will take us out of the woods.  I am open to objective and workable ideas.  One tree does not make a forest, so let us create this orchard of beautiful flowers with our different knowledge, experiences, contributions.  A leader is as strong as his followers.  Please follow me genuinely with open heart on this journey of our decision to recreate a National Theatre of our dream.

Thank you very much. 
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Prof. Sunday E. Ododo, fsonta, fta, fsna, fana, fnipr,faan, FNAL
2nd September, 2020

The Directors and Management Staff of the National Theatre
Board Members of NT and NTN
The Consultant, Brooks Consolidated Investment Ltd
The 2018 NNOM Recipient, Prof Olu Obafemi
The Erstwhile DG of CBAAC, Prof Duro Oni
Dear Participants
Gentlemen of the press
Ladies and Gentlemen.

It is with great pleasure I stand before you. Let me begin by registering my profound gratitude to God Almighty, who makes all things possible and for His pleasure for sending me on an assignment to the National Theatre, Nigeria and for making this day possible. I thank profusely the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Mohammadu Buhari, GCFR, for this rare privilege of being appointed to contribute to nation-building as General Manager/CEO of our National Theatre. Let me also thank very specially the Honourable Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed under whose direct supervision I have been discharging my assignment.
The event today is The Capacity Building Workshop for the Management and Staff of the National Theatre. It is the first in the series of turnaround programmes we have earmarked for the National Theatre. This workshop is aptly titled Repositioning and Marketing the National Theatre in a Post Covis-19 Era. It is designed to unveil our vision and action plan for the National Theatre and to equip the National Theatre Workforce to conveniently key into that vision.

Our thinking envisions:
A National Theatre that yields optimal commercial value to both government and the creative industry players while establishing itself as the centre of gravity for Nigeria’s creative and performative endowments.

Action Plan
a) Upscaling the Commercial Viability of the National Theatre: The
first mandate of the National Theatre as contained in the act (No 47, 1991) establishing its board, is to ensure that the National theatre is efficiently run as a Commercial Concern. This we shall do in line with prevailing realities, but most importantly along the lines of entrepreneurial partnerships that will enhance maximal utilization as against shrewd economics that may isolate us.
It is pertinent to remind the general public that our mandate at the  National Theatre is to among other things:
i. ensure that the National theatre is efficiently run as a Commercial Concern;
ii. serve as a physical structure for arts/cultural exchange for bilateral cultural relations between Nigeria and other countries;
iii. make the National Theatre Complex a tourist destination;
iv. make the national theatre a rallying point for both national and international artistes;
v. provide an up to date integrated facilities and venue for National and International activities like musical concerts, dramas, film shows, symposia, exhibitions, conventions, workshops and even sports;
vi. Provide an unequalled hospitality, relaxation and recreation centre for family, efficient security system and expansive parking space like nowhere else in the country;
vii. approve the use of the National Theatre Complex and its facilities for the presentation and promotion of arts, culture and other activities.;
viii. preserve, present and promote the arts and the rich culture of Nigeria., etc.
b) We shall give impetus to our national economic development as our theatre, culture, Literature and civilization are thriving revenue generating industries.
c) National Theatre to once again become a beehive of arts and culture programmes and activities: In view of our mandate, we shall work out collaborations with relevant agencies of the Federal Government, the States and Local Governments to ensure that we are inclusive and robust with the agenda of the presentation, preservation and promotion of the arts and cultures of Nigerian peoples. We shall collaborate with cultural units of foreign missions, independent artists, scholars, and the corporate world to ensure that the National Theatre is not only a beehive of arts and culture programmes and activities showcasing our rich diversity and its advantages, but also, through deliberate and innovative programming, providing an enhanced platform
that revivifies the performing arts as a vehicle orchestrating avenues to navigating our common contemporary challenges as a nation and signposting our way to the future. We will courageously, within the allowable limits of our mandate, experiment with new ideas that will provoke creative thinking in our national life.
d) Skills Acquisition Programmes: We shall initiate programmes for Creative Skills acquisition for our teaming youth, women and children so that they can find fulfilment through their latent talents and also contribute to the national economy.
This Action Plan is anchored on the desire to contribute meaningfully to the strategic priorities of the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration for the Culture and Tourism sectors, which are:
1. to build a thriving and sustainable economy, and
2. to enhance social inclusion and reduce poverty.
While paying tribute to the roll of those who have held this office before me, we humbly recognise their achievements which of course are the blocks upon which we will build. I am confident that I will continue to win the support of the hardworking staff of the National Theatre and other players in our creative industry. The National Theatre under my watch and stewardship will be a home to all. We will beam a ray of hope in our national unity from here for others to see and take bearing. I invite all stakeholders and vested interests to come to us and we shall reason together.
I therefore urge our dear participants to take keen interest in this repositioning and marketing workshop which I believe will set the tone for the success we intend to record in the next few years.

Thank you.

Professor Sunday Enessi Ododo, fsonta, fta, fsna, fana, fnipr,faan, FNAL
General Manager/CEO, National Theatre, Nigeria

It is with profound gratitude and immense joy that I welcome you all to the maiden National Theatre Special Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement on Corporate Partnership for National Theatre Programmes, Products and Services. My gratitude is for your understanding and co-operation with National Theatre over the years. We have long standing mutually beneficial relationships with some here present and for you all to be here today, we appreciate the longevity of our corporate relationship.

My joy is that we have present here the crème de la crème and top echelon of carefully selected corporate bodies and individuals who we have identified as important to the new thinking of the Management of the National Theatre and its vision for a new modern National Theatre we can all be proud of.

This Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement is not by mere chance; it is the product of a well thought out blueprint which I delivered during the National Theatre Workers Capacity Building which held last year. So, having identified the major challenges of the most popular and iconic architectural master piece in Nigeria- the National Theatre- we devised ways of overcoming them for mutual benefits of the public- for whom we hold the National Theatre in trust- and the corporate world- for whom we believe there are numerous opportunities of collaborations and pecuniary partnerships.

We are here for an obvious reason as we are all probably aware that the National Theatre edifice is presently undergoing much needed revamping, rehabilitation, and restoration, else we would not be having this event in Ikeja. This Roundtable is a prelude to the new National Theatre to come and what we are doing here today is visionary as the partnerships and collaborations we forge here today and in the near future are the arteries to supply the much-needed impetus that will fuel our operations in the new National Theatre.

You have been invited to hear presentations, to get a mental picture of the multitude of possibilities available in the National Theatre, creative and entertainment industries. To be presented is a buffet, a potpourri of programmes, events, creative and artistic contents that you can choose from as presented; and they can be garnished to become tailor made for your organization(s).

One thing we are certain of is that on the menu list there is something for everyone and in most cases more than enough to go round as we have identified the present opportunities and benefits as well as the most likely trajectory of the creative cum entertainment industry.

What you have is an opportunity to help shape that trajectory in a profitable and reciprocally beneficial way while contributing to the development of Nigeria’s economic diversification in one master stroke.

If this is a Play acted on the Stage of the National Theatre, then this would be Act 5. The first act was the Workers Capacity Building workshop which held for 2 days on November 30^th to December 1^st, 2020, the second act was the First National Theatre Festival of Unity which held from Dec. 18 to Dec. 20, 2020 and the third act was the Public Play reading which took place on August 24^th, , 2021, followed by the 4^th act- a Theatre Technology training which held on August 25^th, 2021.

This is why the aforementioned trainings and events make this the 5^th Act of this “Play”; we started with the retraining of our Workforce as they are critical in the service delivery process, then we opened our gates to the public in the first ever National Theatre Festival of Unity and a Public play reading-this was to launch our new thinking that the National Theatre is now more than an event centre, it is also the home of artistic creations- then we trained our workforce again- so as to prepare them for the outcomes of this Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement holding today- these all show Plot, Direction and well thought out sequence of actions leading to a profitable climax.

On this note, I heartily welcome you to this Special Stakeholders’ Roundtable Engagement on Corporate Partnership for National Theatre Programmes, Products and Services. It is our belief that the ripple effects of today’s presentations, deliberations and agreements on corporate partnerships will have positive reverberations across Nigeria and Africa at large.

Thank you.

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YouTube: National Theatre ROUNDTABE event reportage