NANTAP holds leadership workshop

As Professor Mabel Evwerhoma calls for rejig of cultural policy

Admin l Saturday, October 23, 2020

LAGOS, Nigeria – For two days, the virtual platform, zoom was besieged by art and culture practitioners – writers, actors, theatre directors, movie producers, dancers, and other allied art practitioners – under the auspices of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP)

Those were two days of experience based impartation from some of the best resource persons within and outside the country as NANTAP, in collaboration with the National Institute for Cultural Orientation (NICO) and with support from the Goethe Institut Nigeria, British Council Nigeria an National Film and Video Censors Board hosted creatives to a capacity building workshop with thetheme: Artist to Administrators – Bridging the Transitional Gap.

In his welcome address, President of NANTAP, Mr. Israel Eboh, fta reiterated the spirit behind the concept of this important workshop, he explained is to improve the business and management skills of practitioners, to enable them make optimal use of their skills and be able to compete favourably with their counterparts around the world.

He said “we want to further build the capacity of practitioners within the art and culture space, beyond the exhibition of talents, but have a better idea of how to successfully run their businesses, theatre companies and other art related agencies whenever they are called upon.”

The opening ceremony of the workshop was graced by the Director-General and CEO of the National Council for Arts and Culture, Otunba Olusegun Runsewe, OON; Country Director of Goethe Institut Nigeria, Ms. FriederikeMoeschel; newly appointed General Manager of the National Theatre, Prof. Sunny Ododo; former President and Secretary of the NANTAP Board of Trustees, Mr. Mahmoud Balogun, fta; and the Executive Secretary, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, Mallam Mohammed Yahuza, who was represented by Mrs. Bridget Yerima as the Chief Host.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Mr. Bridget Yerima who represented the Executive Secretary of NICO reiterated the institute’s commitment to capacity building efforts like this. “considering the mandate of NICO, I can assure you that this is only the first in the series of workshop of this nature to come. We are committed to energizing the various cultural agencies in Nigeria to move from mere practitioners to administrators.” She concluded, as she declared open the workshop.

With participants drawn from NANTAP chapters across the country and institutional participation from the likes of NCAC, NICO, National Theatre, Lagos Council for Arts and Culture among others, a total of seven sessions, with seasoned resource persons were held. It was such a well spent two days that got the participants asking for me, each day.

Barrister Elvis Asia set the ball rolling as he took the participants on an eye opening session where he delivered a lecture on ‘Entertainment Law and Ethics’, admonishing participants to begin to take contractual agreement serious, either as the ‘contractor’ or the ‘contractee’, as this legality help ensure some level of professionalism in the sector. He gave an overview of performance rights, image rights, copyrights, piracy and other related rights within the entertainment industry.

Professor Duro Oni`s session on ‘Leadership and Administrative Skill’, was a practical summation of the entire workshop. It was more like a review of the life of the lecturer himself, who had transformed over the years, as a young artiste, into becoming one of the major cultural administrators in Nigeria today. In advancing his thought, the Chairman of NANTAP’s Board of Fellows identified some core attributes of creative management such as self-awareness, strong communication, and learning ability. He posited, “there is one thing that has propelled my life and career, and that is self-improvement efforts. How much are you improving yourself towards the leadership goal.  Productivity, focus and mentoring is important in all of these.”

Day one was rounded off by Mercy George-Igbafe of Leantor, who took the participants through social media training with focus on Instagram as we looked at ‘Performing Arts and the Social Media in Marketing and Advocacy. It was a fun and interactive learning moment with key focus on participants engagement, which helped in gauging participants knowledge of Instagram.

It was a fresh perspective on Day two. The participants were in the study room much earlier than expected which was an evidence of the quality of transfer of knowledge received on Day one.

Dr. Patrick Fohl, a German Cultural Diplomacy specialist from Goethe institute, Germany, was on hand to deliver his presentation on ‘Art as a tool for cultural diplomacy’.Dr. Fohl’s lecture elicited some feeling of frustration from the Nigerian participants as he reeled out some aspect of Germany’s cultural policy and how this policy shapes Germany’s diplomatic policy around the world. Frustration in the sense that it exposed Nigerian government`s inactions in the cultural sector which is starved of the manner of investment and planning evident in Dr. Fohl’s Germany.

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He said “In Germany, art and science, research and teaching are free. Free in the sense that cultural institution in Germany enjoys a lot of funding from the government. Culture is deliberately created and funded down to the grassroots. And this includes the huge investment into infrastructural development, which is considered especially important in preserving and promoting cultural heritage.”

One thing his lecture brought to the fore is the fact that culture is particularly important. The understanding that the larger society is developed through art and culture is the spirit behind the German cultural policy, and of course what every Nigerian culture practitioner dreams of but which has remained elusive, as the Nigerian cultural policy has remained in the pipeline for years.

Weighing in on the discussion, Professor Mabel Evwerhoma of the University of Abuja reinforced the need to enhance cultural community. She argued that this would help to arouse cultural consciousness in the people, hence, growing the community.

“Development need to start at the local level. Issues of culture are beyond tourism and profit. Hence, there is need to rejig the cultural policy along this line. This impetus, is what would help internationalise our culture.” She posited, adding that, post-COVID, Nigeria needs empathetic leadership, especially in the culture sector.

The session on Business was quite stimulating and engaging. Speaking on the topic Business and Financial Strategies for Marketing Nigerian Arts Locally and Globally, Joseph Edgar, a theatre entrepreneur and investment banker – popularly known as Duke of Shomolu and producer of Emotan and Aremu which recorded box office successes had a lot to say.Drawing from practical experiences, Edgar took the participants through strategies that appeal to investors, corporate partners, advertisers and sponsors. He systematically navigated the participants through the world of theatre business urging, them not to focus primarily on sponsorship money which he described as ‘prostitute money.’ This session elicited a lot of reactions from many participants who better understood the need to engage experts in the business of marketing entertainment.

Professor of Theatre and Communication, from the Nasarawa State University and Nigerian President of the International Association of Theatre Critics, Professor Emma Dandaura, soon took his turn, and in his lecture titled ‘Overview of Cultural Administration in Nigeria’, through which he highlighted administrative challenges as one of many adversaries of the cultural sector in Nigeria.

While referencing the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo as the only one who came close to understanding the needs of the cultural sector in Nigeria in terms of funding, policy development and management, he also called out the National Assembly whom he said play an unhealthy role in the management of fund. “I can tell you categorically that each time you see N10m being voted to a cultural agency, they hardly have access to N2m of such amount because of the interference of the members of the National Assembly in the name of constituency project”

To him, Nigeria’s emphasis on the economic ends of the cultural sector is in itself a challenge, hence he posited “as far as culture is concerned, we need to develop those humane feelings in us, and then the economic angle would be taken care of.”

The plenary session was quite stimulating. With three practitioners who have consistently maintained a high level of sustained success in their practice sharing their experiences with the participants. The likes of Mr. Joseph Omoibom, Producer at BAP Productions and General Manager of Terra Kulture; Mr. FusiOlateru-Olagbegi, head of Programme at the British Council, and of course, Mr. Femi Odugbemi, fta,  founder and CEO of Zuri24 Media, known for his many ground breaking productions such as Tinsel and Battle Ground.

This session had a lot in common, given that the resource persons weretalking from practical experiences and the issues raised resonated with the participants. Joseph Omoibom, drawing from his experience at the Terra Kultureand BAP Productions emphasised the need to ensure corporate governance and record keeping. Mr. Femi Odugbemi corroborated the need to ensure corporate governance and advised participants against running their companies as ‘family’ entities, while FusiOlateru-Olagbegi who has been one of the brains behind the success of the Lagos Theatre Festival schooled the participants on what grant giving organisations are looking for whenever they call for grant applications.

When the workshop was done with, there was just one song on the lips of most participants, and that is the need to do this more often.

The workshop was anchored by Uju Ukwu of the NICO Training School and veteran journalist and culture activist, Jahman Anikulapo.