• From left: First Lady Oluremi Tinubu; President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; Prof Wole Soyinka and Lagos State Governor Babajide-Sanwo-Olu…yesterday.
Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, disclosed that the Bankers’ Committee, the Lagos State Government, and the Ministry of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy came together with a shared purpose to renovate the National Theater at Iganmu Lagos, with the Bankers’ Committee alone committing approximately N68 billion, not as corporate social responsibility but as a deliberate investment in Nigeria’s cultural future.
Cardoso made the disclosure on the occasion of the renaming of the edifice The Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, by President Bola Tinubu, as parts of events to mark Nigeria’s 65th independent anniversary, yesterday.
Cardoso said that the project stands as proof that when the public and private sector unite behind a shared national purpose, there is no limit to what Nigeria can achieve.
The CBN boss stated that 65 years after our nation’s founding, Nigeria’s creative spirit remains alive, pervasive and shaping global culture.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the occasion directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to float a National Arts Theatre Endowment Fund to ensure the maintenance of the national edifice.
President Tinubu said there was no controversy in the National Theatre being renamed, adding that he considered Prof Soyinka’s contributions to the arts and culture. Prof. Wole Soyinka is one of the greatest assets of the world. So, the renaming could not have gone to anyone else,” he said.