With increased efforts to bring to an end the importation of storytellers to depict Nigerian and African history, the General Manager of the National Theatre Nigeria, Professor Sunday Ododo, has said Nigeria is focused on encouraging creative minds to tell their stories.
Professor Ododo stated this while speaking at the launch of MSwitch Creative Spaces and ArkHive, a platform focused on encouraging Nigeria’s young creative minds to not only tell their stories but know the appropriate medium to sell them.
He also said every art springs out from the condition of the society of the artists and as such the Nigerian story must be told from a Nigerian perspective.
Likening ArkHive to a beehive, the professor of performance aesthetics and theatre technology, described the platform as one which will not only nurture young creative minds but will in turn serve as a production hub of unharnessed ideas.
Presenting a keynote address themed ‘Arts for Change’, Ododo said the ArkHive platform has been propelled by Nigerian youth to unlock economic and social prosperity that can influence the rest of the world.
He submitted that art in Nigeria, especially during the colonial era, was suppressed and could only be viewed from the eyes of the British masters.
He further noted that those who took over power to bring freedom to the people did so successfully with the help of artists and their crafts, noting: “During the colonial period, the colonial masters came and forced us to adopt their own cultural way of life, making us look down on our own cultural values.
“It was a period of brain washing, whatever is good can only be mirrored through the eyes of the white man.
“So when the quest for freedom began, our artists made contributions, using their arts to redeem our own cultural space, to let us know that what we had before these people came was also and is still viable.”
According to Ododo, such hubs will encourage young creative minds in Nigeria to explore their talents.
In an address, the founder of MSwitch and ArkHive platform, Kadir Malami, opined that contrary to several beliefs, Nigeria does not have a shortage of talent.
Salami, however, explained that the major challenge of the creative industry in Nigeria is the ability of storytellers and other creative minds to sell Nigerian or African stories.
Activities at the launch include the presentation of awards to winners of the short film contest – The Show Room was named the third runner-up with a cash prize of $250 while the short film, The Screen won the second runner-up prize of $500.
The overall winner of the contest was secured by the film, ‘The Boy Who Cursed’ with a cash prize of $1,000.
