Minister assures National Theatre staff of improved welfare, job security

The Nigerian government has reassured the staff of the national theatre in Lagos of their appropriate welfare, career progression as well as job security.

This was disclosed on Monday in a meeting between the Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed and union leaders of the national theatre in Lagos.

The minister cleared the air on the National theatre renovation arrangement. He said the Central Bank of Nigeria and the banker’s committee took the project as part of their annual corporate social responsibility to revamp one of the country’s monuments in the creative industry.

He also stated that the purpose of the venture is not for profit-making and as such, “peoples’ jobs are safe because the federal government will never tolerate any project that would bring about job losses at this difficult time”.

“This development will not lead to any loss of job rather it will enhance the performance of the workers. On special remuneration, we will discuss with the contractor but I will not want us to sound very unreasonable and stupid in our demands,” he explained.

The Minister who noted that the national theatre has deviated completely from the purpose for which it was built added that “National theatre is not social event centres that you rent out for parties and crusade this does not happen anywhere in the world”.

“It is absurd that the national theatre is used for short-time parking for trailers. We should embrace the new approach of running the national theatre professionally like the 02 Arena in London. It was set up to promote art, culture. So let’s do it with international standards.”

Bankers MoU
The Minister revealed that the MoU was unprecedented. “The MoU took us months before we arrived at an agreement/ five drafts were made available by the Bankers Committee and the five were rejected before we later got to a meeting point.

What we are doing today is unprecedented. It is not the usual PPP arrangement. The investors are not demanding tax rebates, or built and operate to make a profit.

The Bankers’ committee is coming in as a Not-for-Profit venture but as a Corporate Social Responsibility. However, there is no one that will put N22 billion in a project and will not want to manage such a project, however, whatever profit made in excess will go back to the government through the national theatre which will be paid to the TSA.

The agreement will also give consideration of low cost for budding artists that will want to use the facility.

When the renovation work is concluded, there will be roles for the national theatre management and salaries of all staff will be paid as and when due. Your promotion, career progression, job security and entitlements are all guaranteed under the arrangement”

The Minister, while further furnishing the meeting with some highlights of the MoU added that “The highlight of the MoU is that the CBN and the Bankers Committee will invest the initial sum of N22 billion to renovate and upgrade the national theatre and they will deliver in 15 months.

It was made clear in the MoU that there will be no job loss in whatever form but a win-win situation for everybody. Of course, nobody gives you money for free, though they call it corporate social responsibility, they are also going to be responsible and accountable in managing the money.”

Competent Management
Alhaji Mohammed stated that after renovation, the national theatre will be run by a competent management team for a period of 21 years.

“The MoU is so structured in a manner that even at that the national theatre is ably represented in the overall management and appointment that would run and maintain it. The MoU provides that a management team of four, two from the ministry and two from the banker’s committee will run it under a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV).”

Alhaji Mohammed said he nominated the GM as one of the two representatives from the ministry.

“This gives the GM and the entire management and staff of the national theatre a very firm footing on how the enterprise will be run. We also said that the functions and responsibilities of the management and staff will remain as enshrined in the Act that sets up the national theatre.

I see this as a win-win situation because the federal government does not have the fund to maintain or renovate the edifice. I believe that at the end of the day when the national theatre is completed along with the hubs, we will all be glad that we are part of the development”.

In responding to a question about job security by Mrs. Lizzy Equere in comparison with what happened during the privatisation of PHCN, the Minister said the scenario is different.

“This is a completely different scenario from the PHCN that was privatized. It is a purely corporate social responsibility by Bankers Committee who every year decides that this is where they want to invest in.

Under the CBN Act, every bank pays a percentage of its profit yearly in a pool and they decide yearly that this is what they will use the money for. Sometimes they build hospitals, roads, or go to orphanages. That year they decided to invest in the creative industry.

So it is not the same thing as PHCN. It is on record that since this government came into office it has never retrenched any staff. Even when things were tough, the COVID-19 pandemic brought economic challenge and crude oil was not selling but the government did not retrench, rather we were paying staff that were even not working. This Government released survival funds, pay workers of the private sector among others,” The Minister explained.

The General Manager and CEO of the National Theatre, Professor Sunny Ododo pledged the support of the management and staff of the National Theatre in the ongoing renovation project for the benefit of all stakeholders.

Voice of Nigeria reports that with the approval of the Federal Executive Council the Ministry signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CBN and Bankers committee.

The highlight of the MoU is that the CBN and the Bankers Committee will invest the initial sum of N22 billion to renovate and upgrade the National Theatre and they will deliver in 15 months.

Also, they will run it for 21 years with combined management from the government and the committee. It is not for profit-making, it is not a loan but a purely corporate social responsibility approach.

 

Nnenna.O