By Jimoh Babatunde

The turning of the sod for the reconstruction of the burnt 400-seater Lagos State Theatre located in the Oregun area of the state was performed Monday by the State Commissioner for Tourism, Art and Culture, Mrs Toke Benson-Awosika.

Mrs Benson-Awosika said the new Lagos Theatre Arena, Oregun will serve the youth, creatives and the community.

While thanking the State Governor, Babajide Sanwolu, for buying into the idea of upgrading the burnt theatre, she decried the destruction of the theatre by protesters during the EndSARS agitation.

“It came down as a result of youthful exuberance because when our youth attack public infrastructure, which was developed for their use, it is not out of a good mindset. But I would say it is probably out of ignorance because this place is to serve the youth. It is to serve the creatives. It is to serve the community.”

The Commissioner explained that the community would benefit from the theatre, as most malls in Ikeja overflow during festive periods.

“ During the festive seasons, the malls around are overflowed. Most times we would call agencies of government to shut down the city mall because of the risk of a stampede and some other dangers that we foresee.

During any festive period, the entire Ikeja environs throng to the city mall. And we thought, okay, if we can bring this place up to standard as well, the community will benefit from it here.”

She said that the new structure at Oregun under the Theatre Development Project is not the conventional Lagos theatre as it has a cinema and other appurtenances that the creatives would love, “so this would be the replica that we would also put in Ikorodu for the people of Ikorodu to have.”

She added “We’ve spoken about traffic impact assessment. But I’m sure that the people of this community are eager. I can see there are new developments here. So it is for the children and the kids in the neighbourhood to stroll into this edifice.

Mrs. Benson-Awosika urged the consultant to expedite work on the project, saying “I’m just going to plead with the Thespian Family Theatre and Productions that we want this edifice completed before the exit of this administration. We want it to be a landmark achievement for this administration. And we promise that we’re going to support you.”

She then reiterated the Governor’s love for the youth and entertainment noting that the youth demography in Lagos is 60-70% of the population, “and we have seen that the creative industry is where our youths have been centred right now.

“Yesterday, we were at a program where information technology has been infused with Nollywood and the creative industry. So we have a young lady who showed us her work using AI to produce a movie, the first one in Africa and she has been acknowledged worldwide.

“So we decided as a government to also encourage her, admit her into the fold of creatives and the governor promised that he would admit everybody and anybody with such works who is ready and who has innovation and innovative ideas.”

Responding, the CEO of Thespian Family Theatre and Productions, Mrs Ayo Jayesimi, promised they are going to deliver as promised.

“We’re very proud of this project. We will make Lagos State proud and we promise to provide an edifice that all the people within the community will find as an edifice that’s their home and they will be proud of.”