National Theatre holds creative summit in Kano, first-ever outside Lagos

The National Theatre of Nigeria opened its Creative Summit in Kano on Thursday, marking the first time the event has taken place outside Lagos.

The two-day programme brings the creative economy practitioners together for sessions on access to funding, financial literacy, and practical skills.

The summit is designed to widen access to the tools and opportunities the creative economy runs on, reaching practitioners beyond the cities where such resources are typically concentrated.

The agency said Kano was chosen as the opening city in recognition of its standing in Nigeria’s creative life.

The city is home to Kannywood, one of the country’s major film industries, and has a long tradition in the performing arts.

Speaking at the opening, Tola Akerele, General Manager/CEO of the National Theatre, said the choice of Kano was deliberate.

Mrs Akerele said a programme built around funding, financial literacy and skills belongs in Kano, “not as an afterthought, but as a recognition of what this city has always contributed to Nigeria’s creative life.

“The summit exists because that same energy and creativity live in every corner of this country, not only in Lagos,” she said in his opening address.

“Its purpose is simple: to decentralise access to the tools, knowledge and opportunities the creative economy runs on, and to put them within reach of practitioners far beyond the cities where they are usually concentrated.”

The programme is delivered in partnership with the European Union, iDICE (Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises) and Kano State Government.

In her address, the state Commissioner for Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy, Aisha Saji, stressed Kano’s important position in Nigeria’s creative story, referencing the Kofar Mata dye pits and the ancient city walls as evidence of a heritage the state is now building on.

During his session on intellectual property, Audu Maikori, Chief Strategic Advisor on Intergovernmental Affairs to the Governor of Kaduna State and Chairman of Chocolate City Group, walked participants through practical steps to protect their creative work.

He also stressed that ownership begins well before a piece of work is finished or released.

“Your work is not protected because you made it. It is protected because you can prove you made it, and when,” Mr Maikori said.

“Most creatives lose their rights long before anyone infringes on them, simply by never documenting the work in the first place.” Bayo Omoboriowo, Founder of Madhouse by Tikera Africa, followed with a session on financial fitness and business structures.

He set out the financial habits and business structures that make a creative practice attractive to investors and funders, framing sound structure as a precondition for accessing funding rather than a formality that follows it.

Edward Israel-Ayide, Founder/CEO of Carpe Diem Solutions, closed the opening day’s sessions with a talk on positioning through communications, drawn from his framework, the visible expert.

He told participants that visibility built on genuine expertise, not self-promotion, is what earns lasting authority in a creative career.

“Decisions about your career are made in rooms you are not in. Your reputation is the version of you that shows up when you don’t. Visibility is not vanity. Invisibility is not humility,” he said.

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The summit forms part of a wider national push under the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, led by Minister Hannatu Musawa, within the framework of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The programme is taking place at the Afficent Events Centre, Kano.

About the National Theatre of Nigeria

The National Theatre of Nigeria, officially the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and the Creative Arts, is the country’s foremost performing arts institution.

Under General Manager/CEO Mrs Akerele, the National Theatre is working to expand access to funding, skills, and opportunities across Nigeria’s creative economy and to position the sector as a driver of national economic growth.