OVER 80 schools in Lagos are participating in this year’s edition of the National Troupe of Nigeria’s annual Dramatized Storytelling competition for schools. The National Troupe is staging this edition in partnership with BEETA Universal Arts Foundation, a not-for-profit arts organisation run by Bikiya Graham Douglas and with support from Golden Penny Pasta and other arts-loving organisations.
In Abuja, another set of over 50 schools are taking part in the preliminary which will climax on Friday, May 31 with the Abuja grand finale featuring six of the top primary and secondary schools that made it to the finals. Tourism, Culture and National Orientation Minister, High Chief Edem Duke, will chair the grand finale in Abuja, which is scheduled to take place at Women Development Centre, Central Business District, Abuja.
However, the Lagos finals will hold at the National Theatre on June 5. Former Secretary of State for Women Affairs under the National Interim Government of Chief Ernest Shonekan and wife of the former Federal Director of Culture of the federation, Mrs. Emily Aig-Imoukhuede, will chair the finale. It will feature performances by the top five primary and secondary schools from the preliminaries that was conducted by a panel comprising accomplished thespians like Isreal Eboh, Sola Awojobi Onayiga, Edmund Enaibe and the arts and culture journalist, Edozie Udeze.
The winning schools in Lagos and Abuja, according to the Coordinator of the programme, Ms Josephine Igberaese, will be presented with cash prizes, gift items provided by some of the corporate supporters and a giant trophy that has been provided by Golden Penny Noodles. Igberaese, a director with the National Troupe, expressed satisfaction with the turnout of schools for the competition and said she was particularly excited at the quality of performances that have been exhibited by pupils and students of the participating schools.
She noted, “The quality of the performance this year is very high. Even the stories these children have been able to re-enact here on stage speak a lot about the loads of talents that we have in our schools. I am happy we have been able to and in line with the objectives of the troupe, been able to provide a platform for the discovery and showcasing of talents in our primary and secondary schools in Lagos and Abuja. Next year we should be able to take it round the country, funds permitting”.
Artistic Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Troupe, Martin Adaji, disclosed that plans were underway to extend the programme to more states of the federation. But he stated that the vision has been to have a national dramatized story telling competition for schools and colleges in the country, adding, “The importance of this programme to national development cannot be over-emphasised. Apart from encourage the preservation and promotion of Nigeria culture, which is one of our key mandates, storytelling tradition, which we are inculcating in our youth through this programme, could be effectively utilised to achieve national integration and could be utilised to correct inadequacies of youth”.
The troupe’s boss thanked all those who have so far supported the staging of the event, including organisations like Barbie Place Supermarket, Belloxie, National Orientation Agency, National Gallery of Arts, Nutri-C, LearnAfrica and Bible Wonderland. But Adaji also canvassed for more corporate participation in the funding and sponsorship of the arts, adding, “Government cannot do it alone. We need private sector support for the arts especially for a programme like this that is aimed at re-organising and restructuring the minds of our youths”.
On her part, Bikiya Graham Douglas, expressed optimism that the programme would achieve its desired results, one of which is the effective use of theatre to correct societal ills.
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