The Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has lauded the wisdom of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration in handing over the upgrading of the long-abandoned National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos, to the Bankers Committee, through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), as a visionary step and ideal privatisation model worthy of emulation.
The group noted that by going into a public-private partnership on the project the Federal Government aims to revitalise a national heritage that has remained dormant over the years, including the 16 years of PDP administration. The group upbraided the PDP for turning privatisation into a mercantile trade where their cronies cornered our collective patrimony to themselves, thereby impoverishing the masses.
The group observed in a statement signed by its Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke, that the Buhari administration, as a responsive government, had heeded the several representations and protests made to government on the need to preserve the edifice for posterity, as it is done all over the world.
“Following these representations the Federal Government, under President Muhammadu Buhari, decided to set machinery in motion to resuscitate the facility.
“Apart from the facility creating thousands of jobs for Nigerian youths, the project, on completion, will regenerate the neighbourhood and provide opportunities for creative minds and recreation. From available analysis, the National theatre will on completion provide about 6000 direct jobs for Nigerian youths”.
The group stated that “by handing over the national asset to the Bankers Committee to turn it around under a public-private partnership, the creative industry in Nigeria will reap enormous profits as youths will be offered opportunities in ICT, performing arts, social development and popular music festivals.
“The hubs to be created in the centre will comprise fashion, music and film-making. The centre will also have semi and outdoor entertainment spaces including an amphitheatre for performances”, the statement added.