N30m musical instruments rot at National Theatre
By Anson Ekechi Chukwu
MUSICAL instruments worth N30 million is lying in waste at the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos The Guardian has learnt.
The instruments, which are three giant size concert pianos estimated at N7 million each and over N9 million worth of saxophones, sets of drums and guitars, are buried in a store in the magnificent edifice built for the hosting of the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.
Sources say they were last used during the much-celebrated festival.
This discovery emerged on the heels of the talks of the 'sale' or 'concessioning' as the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) put it, of the decaying edifice. For about two years, the National Theatre's fate has hung on the balance. But for several protests by artistes, the BPE would have sold the complex to private individuals who it believes would utilise the edifice better.
The source who told The Guardian last week that the instruments were worth N30 million, added that most of them could not be played again "as rust has totally destroyed them."
Attempts to get Prof. Femi Osofisan, the general manager of National Theatre to comment on the matter failed, as he was not in the office.
While the instrument rust, the Theatre building itself seen by admirers as one of Nigeria's most celebrated architectural wonders and Lagos State's symbol of sense of appreciation of arts and culture, is presently bedevilled with various problems.
The complex has suffered a degree of dilapidation, judging from the deplorable state of the access roads to it, and the despair of workers as well as the utter hellish condition of its surroundings.
Besides, its main bowl that seats between 5,000 and 7,000 people when fully in use, and could generate revenue of more than N360 million annually, has not hosted a single event in the past 11 years. It has become a habitat for rodents, reptiles and other dangerous creatures.
This is worsened by the leaking roof such that whenever there is rainfall, the top most floor would be water-logged and this had been the situation for more than a decade. Today the roof has virtually become like a sieve that can no longer hold water. As a result, all sensitive and security conduit installations have been exposed. For instance, the fire hydrant pipes which were supposed to be filled with water in readiness for any sudden out-break of fire have all dried up and collapsed due to decades of disuse.
Besides, The Guardian also found that the central monitoring board meant to detect any fire related problem and the close circuit television's (CCTV) installed in all nooks and cranny of the Theatre missing.
It ws gathered that with the exception of the General Manager, Osofisan, who newly joined the management team, others have been on the board for upward of 12 to 13 years.
The Deputy General Manager, National Theatre, Mr. Bitrus Piyo commented on the development: "As you can see, the major problem here is from the roof. The roof has been leaking, leakage everywhere. And this is because of the nature of the building itself, which was designed for temperate region. And it is now situated in tropical area. The roofing materials they used are mainly insulated materials and they were not tropicalised. They imported them from Europe. So because of the weather difference, you find them contracting which leads to cracks all over, and that is the major cause of the leakages.
"So the roof needs to be changed, and the materials to be used must be tropicalised. When that is done, then the problem of the roof is solved," Piyo said.
He stressed that the firm that built the theatre advised that after every 10 years, there must be major renovation. But since the building was handed over to the Federal Government in 1975 by the contractor, no major rehabilitation work had been done.
"And apart from that, the other facilities, like the central air conditioning system along the line packed up. And as I said earlier on in relation to the roof, because of the leakages it also affected electrical installation facilities and the wood panels and other things. So you find out that the pipes that are supposed to draw water as a form of drainage from the roof to outlets have rusted, therefore need to be changed. So a major structural or rehabilitation work needs to be done," he said.
On the musical equipment like the concert pianos, Piyo said: "These facilities are still there, but I will say, their usage is on the low side, maybe because the National Troupe operates separately from the Theatre. But that is an area I do not want to go into. But from time to time, we do have people that use the facilities."
