By JAPHET ALAKAM

In his first meeting with Art writers in Lagos, the new Artistic director of National Troupe, Akin Adejuwon promised to reinvigorate and reposition the national troupe for effective and efficient performing art service delivery. Few months in the saddle, after due consultation, the Ekiti born artist, realised that for such enviable heights to be achieved, there is need to meet with the stakeholders in the industry.

*A cultural performance by the National Troupe of Nigeria

This was what informed the convening of the stakeholders forum , the first since the establishment of the troupe and as would expected, leading theatre practitioners gathered at the Banquet Hall of the National Theatre, Lagos to chart a new roadmap on how the troupe can become more proactive and productive.

One thing that caught the fancy of those present was the number and caliber of people that attended, and that goes to prove that people has been yearning for such opportunity to be part of the change. They include; Oba Sonuga, Prof Duro Oni, Sir Peter Badejo, Ben Tomoloju, Ali Mahmoud-Balogun, Prof. Sunday Ododo, Larry Williams,Prof. Gbemi Remi Adeoti, Mrs Bridget Yerima, Kabir Yusuf, Efe Eboigbe , Steve James and others.

On ground to do justice to the topic was the Head, Department of Theatre Arts, University of Maiduguri and SONTA president, Prof Sunday Ododo who spoke on The Performative Expression In A Conflict Environment and as expected, the seasoned theatre scholar did not disappoint the audience.

Earlier, in his opening remarks, Chairman of the Governing Board of the National Theatre/National Troupe of Nigeria, Chief Markus Ishaya who was meeting the AD for the first time advised him to carry every body along and work to better the record of the immediate past Artistic Director, Mr Martins Adaji. According to him, “you cannot do it alone. Everybody in the troupe has a role to play, and you should take everybody as a stakeholder. Both you and General Manager of National Theatre should work together for good.”

Relying on his experience in the public service, Ishaya pointed out that those who want to succeed always make effort to encourage broad and active stakeholders’ engagement in the planning, monitoring and evaluation process of their programmes.

In his keynote address, Prof Ododo who came all the way from conflict ridden Maiduguri did a grand job as he expressed in-depth analysis of the ills and needs of the industry. Ododo who gave instances of countries where arts based projects has been used to address conflicts and transform them from negative to positive contexts stated that the troupe’s performative expression for conflict resolution and transformation must as well address the structural injustice and structural oppression that underlie people’s misery and powerlessness in Nigeria. He observed that underlining all these issues are the nagging questions of ethical decay, social injustice, inequality and false sense of nationalism. All these questions, he said, require urgent attention if contemporary Nigeria is to be reoriented with fair sense of socio-political relationships, distribution of national resources and reward system by all levels of government in Nigeria.

Ododo recommended that beyond the present stakeholders’ forum, NTN should bring experts in theatre for development and conflict transformation to articulate for NTN a realistic and result-oriented blueprint of action. According to Prof. Ododo, performative expression for conflict resolution is not the conventional type the artistes of NTN are used to because it has its modus operandi, adding that workshops must be organised to train the artists who will act as change agents who must be motivated too and emboldened to key into their new role as change agents.

Continuing, he said that NTN in all her activities should keep faith with the Nigerians and should be careful not to become a propagandist agency for government. ‘Wherever the government is doing well, tell us; wherever they are failing, tell them; if they refuse to listen and change, tell us. NTN should also be run as a laboratory of artistic experimentation that should yield something new for the Nigerian theatre and indeed the world theatre,” he noted.

He also urged NTN to return to mobile open auditions for the recruitment of artists in order to boost confidence in its recruitment process. NTN should begin to develop performances in Nigerian languages and through them connect with grassroots indigenous artistes.

Prof. Ododo also tasked the NTN to begin to package productions that genuinely interrogate the socio-political system, leadership and followership, national questions and integration, denied freedom and injustice in the country, and presented to the generality of Nigerians, NTN would be failing in her mandate to ‘ensure that productions of the Troupe are geared towards national aspirations’.

Apart from the talks, the interactive forum also featured drama presentation by Crown Troupe of Nigeria, National Troupe of Nigeria (Ajoyo) and the Footprint of Africa.

On his part, Artistic Director, National Troupe of Nigeria, Akin Adejuwon told the audience of the troupe’s mission and promised to intensify efforts aimed at popularising the rich cultural heritage of the country through performances that are of high artistic standard. “We are poised, even though we are often being stretched to the limits due to limited resources, to execute productions as and when due. We are also to be theatrically responsive to pressing national and international issues and to provide a vibrant forum for citizens to brainstorm and re-generate topical issues on the performing arts.”

“To this effect, we intend to direct our products towards identifiable major clients, the Federal Government. As Ministries, Departments and Agencies), the private sector, and the general public; an expansion of this dovetails into the key arm of the Federal Government, the Armed Forces. The present security situation in the country brings the import of this arm of government to the fore. We will represent this importance through our performative expressions and promote same.