Five Nigerian musical dramas get sponsorship

The MTN Foundation on Saturday unveiled five Nigerian musical dramas and a visual arts festival as beneficiaries of its arts and culture sponsorship drive.

All six productions will be staged at different days in October, November and December 2018.

The Executive Secretary of the foundation, Nonny Ugboma, disclosed this at a media event, which held at the Terra Kulture in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The shows include Bolanle Austen-Peters’ ‘Fela and the Kalakuta Queens;’ ‘Legends,’ produced by Gbenga Yusuf and Ayo Ajayi; and ‘Our Son, the Minister,’ produced by Bikiya Graham-Douglas.

Others are ‘Simply Poetry’ by Dike Chukwumerije; ‘Oba Esugbayi,’ produced by Joseph Edgar; and ‘Life in My City Art Festival’ taking place in Enugu.

She also announced that Fela and the Kalakuta Queens, was staged on October 14 as part of the Felabration celebrations.

Ms. Ugboma noted that the sponsorships are part of the Arts and Culture initiative of the MTN Foundation.

“These productions represent the very best of Nigerian theatre, and we are humbled by their willingness to partner with us. Our sponsorships are guided by three key objectives – to re-tell Nigerian/African stories to our people; to promote our values and finally to empower skilled professionals to showcase their talent before a wider audience,” she noted.

Speaking at the conference, three of the producers – Ayo Ajayi, Joseph Edgar and Kevin Ejiofor – expressed delight at the new partnership.

“Our event is unique in that it is pan-Nigerian and targets artists under the age of 35 and has been going on for twelve years. You can imagine our relief that MTN noticed our blood, toil and sweat in trying to empower young Nigerians to attain the height of their creative expression,” Ejiofor, the producer of Life in my City arts festival said.

Similarly, Edgar, who produced Oba Esugbayi, said: “When we were working on the show, it was clear to us that for our production to have being included in this initiative, it must be of great quality and have a wide impact on the larger society.”

Ajayi, who was an ex-student of the MTN Foundation and currently the co-producer of Legends the musical, also appreciated the initiators of the lifeline.

Commenting on the initiative, the director of MTN Foundation, Dennis Okoro, said the foundation was aimed at enabling Nigerian art and culture initiatives.

“We aim to empower people and to ensure that art and culture is given the feasibility in the entertainment industry; culture is us, it includes our identity, language and the rest,” he said