National Theatre Changes To ‘New Name’ After Gulps Of $100 Million

The Nigerian National Art Theatre in Lagos State has been renamed by the Federal Government.

The Art Theatre which is situated at Iganmu of the center of excellence has been renamed as Lagos Creative and Entertainment Centre, upon completion.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made it known on Tuesday, April 19, 2022 in Madrid, Spain while signing an agreement on Nigeria’s hosting of the first Global Conference on Cultural Tourism and Creative Industry.

The decayed National Theatre has been underneath rehabilitation after the Federal Government handed it over to the Bankers’ Committee to fix it to life.

Nigeria signed the bilateral document with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) at the organisation’s headquarters.

Mohammed stated the global conference, which will hold from November 14 to 17, 2022 would be the first event to be staged at the newly refurbished edifice.

He said, “Nigeria will be hosting the event at the National Theatre in Lagos, which is currently being renovated at a cost of $100 million under a partnership between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Bankers’ Committee/Central Bank of Nigeria.

“It is the first of such renovation of the iconic edifice in over four decades. In addition to the renovation, new hubs are being constructed, within the premises of the National Theatre – for fashion, Information, technology, film and music.

“With that, the National Theatre is now known as the Lagos Creative and Entertainment Centre.

“In addition, the Lagos surface rail system to serve the National Theatre will be commissioned ahead of the Global Conference.’’

The minister, while recently inspecting the level of renovation work being carried out at the centre, had expressed satisfaction.

The ICIR gathered that since the award of contracts in March 2021, the main contractors, sub-contractors and many specialist contractors had followed a rigorous project plan of identifying and saving items of significant historical value and art, stripping away and decommissioning, carrying out integrity assessments, creating new services routes, and remodelling some of the interior spaces, including nearly 300 units of conveniences