wole soyinka meets media and stalkholders on the pre-emptive bulldoder at fredom park
Tuesday, 26 January 2016
REPORT ON THE INVASION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ARTS AND CULTURE ARTISTS’ VILLAGE ON SATURDAY 23RD OF JANUARY, 2016
REPORT ON THE INVASION OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR ARTS AND
CULTURE ARTISTS’ VILLAGE ON SATURDAY
23RD OF
JANUARY, 2016
(Presented on Tuesday, January 26, at the Press Conference called by the
Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka to address the Demolition of the Artists
Village)
On Saturday, 23rd of January, 2016 at about 6:00
am, the General Manager of the National Theatre of Nigeria Kabiru Yusuf Yar Adua invaded the National
Council for Arts and Culture Artiste’
Village which houses Arts Studios, Workshops, Dance studios and some service
contractors with a caterpillar from
CCECC and two truckloads of Armed Policemen.
The padlock and
chain used to lock the gate were broken and Kabiru entered the premises with
his Demolition Squad. The noise generated by the forceful entry attracted the
attention of the Residents who watched
as Kabiru and his team which included ‘thespians’ such as Steph Ogundele
and Biodun Abe, ordered the demolition of Arts and Dance Studios, Galleries and
restaurants servicing the community. Some of the demolished structures belonged
to the NCAC whilst others built by Artists had approval of the NCAC.
The NCAC is one of
the parastatals in the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture and the NCAC
Artists Village is one of her flagship projects. The NCAC policy that
established the Artists Village has turned out to be one of the best policies
to have come out of the Public
Sector in Nigeria because it clearly demonstrates trickledown of Government
Spending in the Arts. This is critical because Research Grants, Travel Grants
and Support for New Work and Productions from Government have all but dried up.
The Resident Arts
practitioners who represent some of the best in practice in the Nigerian
Culture scene had no prior notice of the exercise and our landlord, the NCAC
was not informed. Kabiru carried out his vindictive demolition without allowing
the Artistes and Business owners the opportunity to salvage artworks and belongings
and as a result caused extensive damage to property and valuables.
One of the Artists
Mr. Smart Ovwie a sculptor who arrived the scene later and saw the destruction
of his properties lamented to Kabiru asking what he did to be oppressed this way,
in response, the policemen harassed him and fired shots which sent bullets that
got Mr. Ovwie in the leg.
It was truly tragic
to see Government officials who have been statutory responsibility to promote
and develop the Arts and Culture brutalizing Artists and destroying Government
property with impunity. It was indeed a clear manifestation of the misrule that
Nigerians have been subjected to in recent years
Later that day, the
Honorable Minister for Information and Culture came to address and reassure the
Resident Artists of the NCAC Artists Village. He promised that the injured will
get support for their treatment in hospital and that those who are legitimate
residents will be duly compensated for damage done to their structures. The
Honourable Minister confirmed that he asked Kabiru to demolish shanties at the
back of the Artists’ Village along the canal that has been a route for
miscreants and not Arts Studios and structures in the NCAC Artists’ Village.
We wish to use this
opportunity to thank the Honourable Minister for demonstrating a remarkably
responsive leadership and for his assurances. We feel a lot better after the
trauma of the experience and we have him to thank for that. We are taking
active steps to deescalate tensions in the environment in our belief that due
and just process will take its cause.
It is important to
inform at this point that Kabiru hid behind the orders of the Honourable
Minister to settle old scores with a Community of Artists that stood staunchly
against the plans of the last Administration to privatize or concession off the
Management of the National Theatre of Nigeria.
Our Prayers
1. That the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture makes good
on his promise regarding injuries to affected Residents and damages to property.
2. That temporary accommodation be provided for artists whose
structures have been demolished pending compensation and rebuilding of such
structures. The offices of the National Film Corporation (NFC) and the Centre
for Black Arts and Africa Civilization (CBAAC) at the National Theatre are
vacant. We implore the Honourable Minister to use his good offices to relocate
the displaced Artists and their materials and works to these offices.
3. That the Honourable Minister takes active steps to stop Kabiru Yusuf
Yar Adua from further preventing the National Council for Arts and Culture from
carrying out her statutory obligations to Artists and the Arts Community.
4. That the Honourable Minister should as a matter of urgency, remove
Kabiru Yusuf Yar Adua from office as he has become an embarrassment to the
current Administration. The Nigerian Culture Sector is already in deep crisis
as a result of a lack of leadership and direction from the Public Sector.
Kabiru must be prevented from further demonstrating vestiges of misrule which
characterized the last Administration.
Thank you.
Aremo Tope Babayemi
Coordinator,
NCAC Artists’ Village
26 01 2016
Photospeak
Below, the man that
runs the Nigeria’s National Theatre of Nigeria and his goons….a bull in the
china shop!
.
K
Gunshot wound suffered by Sculptor Smart Ovwie
Kurio
K
Monday, 25 January 2016
Qudus Àdérémi Onikeku writes on The Art of Bulldozing Culture in Nigeria.
While we are still on
matter. #AfricaIsACountry
asked me to come up with something more
expansive. So I wrote.
The Art of Bulldozing Culture in Nigeria.
The Artistes Village, which is annexed to the
Nigerian National Theatre, witnessed a demolition in the early hours of Saturday, 23rd January 2016. This news came at a time when we were rejoicing with Jelili Atiku, on his release from Kirikiri prison, a world renowned performance artist who was arrested on the order of the king of Ejigbo, who thought monarchy still meant a thing in the modern world, stuck in his own delusion, thought it was his ancestral right to alter or allow a performance in Ejigbo. Nonsense.
The news of the Artistes' Village came through eyewitnesses, who reported that Mr Kabiru Yusuf, the Director General of the @National Theatre Lagos, in company of a battalion of fully armed policemen, came to the Artistes' Village with bulldozers at exactly 5am and started demolishing workshops and legal structures that housed veteran actors, painters, sculptors, drummers, dancers, musicians etc.
The DG ordered that anyone obstructing this move should be shot. An artiste, Owie Smart, was shot in the leg by policemen during the demolition and was rushed to the hospital. In fear of the reaction of the angry youths at the village, the DG brought out a pistol, shot in the air, before escaping from the scene. The ugly incidence have rendered a lot of the artistes mentally homeless and destroyed their priceless intellectual properties.
Here, I take a deep breath, and the thought of Ayo Sogunro's recently published book comes to mind "Everything in nigeria will kill you", and I complete the phrase, "Even a Director General of the National Theater will kill you." The irony of this general is that he forgets that he is supposed to be the bridge between the artistes' community and the Federal Government, that the lack of conversation and the blockage of information and funding had already placed him in the front page of our bad books, now he adds salt to injury all by himself.
Let it be on record before the battle begins, that the DG (Mr Kabiru Yusuf) of the National Arts Theatre in Lagos, has become a complete nuisance to the Artists community. And since he is a representative of the federal government, his recent action further tells us that this present government has taken their art of bulldozing arts and creative expressions to a different height.
I, like many others began our careers in this village, this is a very sad news for us, for we still got our memories imbued in those demolished edifices, and the destruction of that space may lead to trauma and a creative discontent which the state is not willing to go into with its creative citizens. This madness is becoming a norm, and as you know, when some shy lucks are given power, they misuse it and become tyrants to the society. This is the case of the DG of the National Theatre. He has called for a battle and artistes community is prepared to take him up beyond his wildest imagination.
The symbolism of constant menace to the artists in our society, should makes one worry at the level of inconsideration that is yet to hit many within the larger society. In the name of advancement, cruelty is becoming the proposed weapon here. I am highly worried because obviously this is an order coming from the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Muhammed who visited the edifice two weeks before the action.
In his words during a visit to the venue after the demolition "The last time I came here I said I do not want to see any shanties around here, because such do not add value to this place as an entertainment hub.
"The government is doing everything possible to transform this area and harness its tourism potential. For now there is nothing here.
"We are looking for N800million ($4million) to achieve our goal. So, we should be thinking of how to get the money and not all these issues."
This artistic invention now referred to as "shanties" or as "nothing", can be readily considered as the only space that still brews creativity within the entire structure of the National Theatre, whose glory is constantly sinking into the muddy grounds surrounding it. The contribution of the Artistes' Village to the creative and cultural production of the country is of unmatched value, yet the government wakes up one morning and decides that human beings must be treated like animals.
The government, which gives no regards to the human as the center of development, finds it difficult to consider the artist as a something, but a 'no-thing' an inconsequential parasite creating "shanties around here, and such do not add value to this place as an entertainment hub." The act of bulldozing the Artists' Village, while they are still in search of funds to transform it, is in itself symptomatic to the total disdain and complete lack of understanding and consideration for the arts and culture, as a worthy sector which requires any attention, hence the presence of heavyweight incompetent elements handling it's affairs.
This "shanty" can equally be considered the direct situation of the arts vis a vis our national heritage and cultural preservation. This Artistes' Village has stood as the last resort for many youth who found in that "shanty" a space of learning and of refuge for so long. This space has always stood as a space which offers self realisation to thousands amongst us without asking for our school certificate nor our fathers pay check. That it asked nothing when it transformed us into enviable artistes all over the world, should at least mean "something".
The “intrinsic” values and aims of culture and the arts, are not merely to be found in their ability to participate in the national economy, or to entertain, to decorate and to delight the senses, they are also to honestly challenge, to propose new meanings, to interpret, to raise awareness, and to stimulate. The Artistes' Village is not any different from any artistes' squat, where egalitarian lifestyle of community and communal support is practiced, as a direct response to the total neglect and abandon of such creative citizens within the social structure.
These community of artists live in peace and tranquility and dwell in the midst of kindred spirits, so that there could be collaborations, knowledge sharing, shelter, and a local economy that sustains the community. The Artistes' Village cuts a picture of that essential enclave, which when juxtapose with the highly extravagant and make believe agenda that the government would like to portray, it disturbs the outlook of that very image.
If the custodians of arts and culture in this country have any idea, they should at least see beyond the shanty and discover the raw gold in that, but while the government is still looking for 800 million naira (Approximately 4 million dollars) to transform this no-thing into a kind of Disney land, what becomes of our rights to survive, rights to exist, rights to create and be dignified as equal citizens? Art is a profession and not a hobby I insist. Artists should be respected just as other professionals I insist. It is time to speak truth directly to power.
Qudus Onikeku.
wole soyinka invites media to the pre-emptive bulldoder
Ijodee Dance Each one tell one, each one
call one, each one pick one and lets storm
the
Freedom Pack tomorrow, Tuesday 26th to
speak our mind. Tomorrow is the day we all
have been dreaming and waiting for for
years.
It has never happened before and its
happening tomorrow. We may not have such
opportunity again.
Now is the time that our voice must be heard
by fire by force .
Nigeria must hear our voice loud and clear.
The minister must see reason to listen to us
and support the dance artistes. PMB must
know that professional dance artistes are
many and powerful. It is our time to rise and
shine as one for good and for the progress of
dance in Nigeria. No time to check time. Let's
go there!!
ARTISTE VILLAGE DEMOLITION
Saturday,23rd of January 2016, while
idle youths who have found engagement in
crime roam the city almost unchecked, the
Artists Village
(the only artistically functional
part of the National Theatre- a gigantic
edifice with no soul)
is under invasion.Many young
artists who have found a creative outlet for
their youthful energy shall be violently
uprooted from this space. Their properties
destroyed, savings stolen and all of them
rendered idle. These artists shall soon begin
to envy their contemporaries,
who have taken
to crime by wrecking havoc on a sleeping
society. Shame, a big shame.
Let it be on record before the battle begins,
that the DG (Kabiru Yusuf) of the National
Arts Theatre has become a complete
nuisance to the Artists community. And since
he is a representative of the Federal
Government, his recent action further tells us
that this present government is bent on
completely destroying the arts and creative
expressions.
THE PRE-EMPTIVE BULLDOZER.
As we were rejoicing with Jelili Atiku on his
release from Kirikiri, the Artistes village,
which
is annexed to the
national theatre witnessed a
demolition in the early hours of yesterday,
Saturday 23rd January 2016. The space,
which can be readily considered as the only
space that still brews creativity within the
entire structure of the national theatre, whose
glory is constantly sinking into the muddy
grounds surrounding it.
Eyewitnesses reported that the DG in
company of a battalion of fully armed
policemen, including the DPO came to the
artists village with bulldozers at about 5am
yesterday and started demolishing
workshops
and structures that housed veteran actors,
painters, sculptors, drums etc. without prior
notice of evacuation.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the DG ordered
that anyone pleading or reacting to this move
should be shot. Presently some artistes are
receiving treatment at the hospital.
In fear of the reaction of the angry youths at
the village, the DG brought out a pistol, shot
in the air, and once again ordered the police
to continue shooting before running away
from the scene.
The ugly incidence have rendered a lot of the
artistes mentally homeless and destroyed
their priceless intellectual properties.
This is another call to action for the general
public, the symbolism of constant menace to
the artists in our society, should make us all
worry at the level of inconsideration that is
yet
to hit many of us within the larger society. In
the name of advancement, cruelty is
becoming the proposed weapon here. I am
highly worried because obviously this is an
order coming from the minister Lai
Muhammed who visited
the edifice few weeks ago.
I, like many others began our careers in this
village, this is a very sad news because we
still got our memories imbued in those
demolished edifices, and the destruction of
that space may lead to trauma and a creative
discontent which the state is not willing to go
into with its creative citizens.
This madness is becoming a norm, and as
you know, when some shy lucks are given
power, they misuse it and become tyrants to
the society. This is the case of the DG of the
national theatre. He has called for a battle
and he will get it beyond his wildest
imagination.
Art is a profession and not a hobby I insist.
Artists should be respected just as other
professionals I insist. It's time to speak truth
directly to power.
Still on the mater #ArtistsVillage
Heartless people with terrible mindset leading us. They derived joy in destroying the artists career than creating better opportunities that will improve the Arts and Artists life in Nigeria. National theatre is already a dead zone since the DG Kabiru gets there. Leaders with no good vision for the Arts. No respect for the art, terrible leaders with bad intension. #LetTheArtistsBe
what the country would export and showcase
to the world. According to Segun Adefila "If
you get power
Wey make you feel higher
On top your yeye tower
Abeg remember
Say some people dey lower
Wey dey feed on your sewer
Dem no mind your butter
Becos your butter better
Becos your butter better
An Open letter to "THE BEAST in a Bishop's collar"
Would somebody pls help advice our senior Landlord in charge of the National Theatre to please take a walk (Not in his SUVs) to the national stadium here in Surulere which is some few miles away from the NT itself on Sundays to see how people come from different works of life for aerobics and other fitness programs.
The National stadium which is open to the public at no cost is been like dt for decades and i have never heard for once that DG of the National Stadium or management of the Sports commission wakes up one morning and say nobody should come training in there again because they are illegal users or because there are hoodlums in there. Instead, They have created a very friendly atmosphere for the people which is positively engaging the youth and developing the community. Even If you are not a sportsman at least u wanna keep fit.
Oga landlord, what have you done to improve the arts? What empowerment programs have you designed for Theatre professionals and art enthusiasts?
Sir, you are too business minded and its killing our Arts. You destroyed intellectual properties worth millions because of your selfish interest, you demolished dance studios of some of Africa's finest Dance magicians, sculptors, visual artists etc. The police you hired shot one of our own in the process and Out of your beastly act, you even destroyed properties of the Federal government of Nigeria which was built with tax payers money. Our own money.
Do u know how many lives you have ruined? because some of the affected artists may not recover from that loss. These are young chaps trying to survive and you just ruined them and I kept wondering what level of credibility you showed at the federal level during the GEJ's govt to have appoint you as a Theatre and/or cultural administrator. You have failed us.
Remember, you are a frog sitting on a golden chair; the pond is where you belong and i can assure you that Karma awaits you there.Something is surely waiting for you just around the bend.
Danilson Moreno Preto Swo and 48 others.
Here is the enemy of the Art. This is man
should be rearing animal, Notting to do in the
Art for him. He is not an Artiste. Independent
Artiste need government support not
government harassment.
It is sad to hear that the DG(kabiru yusuf) of the National Arts Theatre as become a menace to the Art society.
The Artiste village witnessed a demolition in the early hours of this day Saturday 23rd January 2016.
Eyewitnesses report that the DG in company of a battalion of fully armed policemen came to the village with bulldozers at exactly 5am and started demolishing structures that housed veteran actors, painters, sculptors and nations new generation thespians without any prior notice of evacuation.
As if this wasn't bad enough, the DG ordered that anyone pleading or reacting to this move should be shot. Hence, the shootings and bloodshed that took place today. Presently some artistes are receiving treatment at the hospital.
In fear of the reaction of the angry youths at the village, the DG brought out a pistol, shot in the air, and once again ordered the police to continue shooting before running away.
The ugly incidence left a lot of the artiste homeless and destroyed their priceless paintings and intellectual properties.
In view of this, I would like to use this medium to plead with the general public to kindly help spread the news till it reaches who ever can come to their aid and put an end to this madness as it is becoming a norm that when some shy lucks are giving power, they misuse it and become tyrants to the society.
Art is a profession and not an hobby
We should be respected as other professionals..
Art. Under. Siege. Art Killers!
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