The National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) has signed an MoU with MEFA, kickstarting the first of six geo-politically located 4500-seater ‘state-of-the-art’ performance spaces in Abuja.
The MoU was signed at the groundbreaking ceremony held at the NCAC’s Arts and Crafts Village, where the performance facility will be situated. The other five will be in Enugu, Port Harcourt, Jos, Kaduna, and Kano.
Funded by the entertainment brand MEFA, each performance space will feature a 4000-to-4500-seater indoor performing space, a movable stage, world-class sound and lighting systems, VIP zones, artistes’ lounges, rooftop recreation, and sports functionality. Stakeholders further anticipate the venue hosting about 250 events annually, which can create 10,000 direct and indirect jobs per year.
Speaking at the event, Obi Asika, director general of the NCAC, said that the structure will be one of the best performance venues once completed.
He said, “This is a key moment in building the complex infrastructure to support Nigeria’s creative and cultural sectors. It is the beginning of creating a domestic touring ecosystem for live entertainment, sports and cultural events.
“It will enable hosting world-class music, sports, theatre, dance, visual arts, variety entertainment, and fashion events in the FCT. We thank MEFA for their diligence and investment, and for building a strong collaboration with the NCAC to empower thousands.”
The venue responds to the absence of (not just world-standard) performing spaces across the country for creatives and creative events. Nigerian creatives have to pay heavily and then equip (at their personal cost) inadequate halls to host creative events.
MEFA will operate these six proposed government-owned performance venues for some time before handing them over to the public authority to recoup its investment.
Expressing gratitude to the Co-founder of MEFA, Bola Yinka Obebe, urged all concerned to ‘move to deliver the promise of what MEFA brings to the table—world-class experiences and world-class production.
