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Rumbling in the house of arts

By Hassan Momoh
27 January 2016   |   1:45 am
AT early hours of last Saturday, roaring sound of bulldozers invaded and shattered the peace of the sprawling compound in Iganmu, which in recent years, has served as a community for some 100-plus members of the Nigerian Creative industry.

 

Bulldozer at Artists’ Village… on Saturday

Bulldozer at Artists’ Village… on Saturday

Demolision order carried too far, says Mohammed
AT early hours of last Saturday, roaring sound of bulldozers invaded and shattered the peace of the sprawling compound in Iganmu, which in recent years, has served as a community for some 100-plus members of the Nigerian Creative industry.

The raging bulldozers guided by a troop of well-armed and combat-ready policemen proceeded to tear down all structures that housed audio-visual studios, dance studios, drama rehearsal rooms, visual arts studios, craft-making and textile workshops.

The frenetic pace of the demolition drowned the wailings and sorrowing of shocked and disoriented victims of the sudden government-sponsored violence against a section of its citizenry. General commotion rose in crescendo as the violent action of the machines continued.

About a hundred creative industry workers who owned properties in the compound, otherwise known as the ‘Artists’ Village’ ran helter skelter in confusion and panic trying to salvage just about any item of their properties that were being marched on by the monstrous machines. Many of the artistes, especially those in performing arts and audio-visual vocation usually work through the night when they believe there would be power supply and the general calm atmosphere to realise their rehearsals or perfect their editing work in the studios. And especially at weekend, most of the artists do stay over in their respective studios. Those most unlucky were the ones that had gone home. They were hurriedly summoned from whatever their location to the Village, but many of them came too late.

Otherwise known as the Artists’ Village, the site is perhaps the only one, or one of its kinds in the country and possibly West Africa, where virtually all the disciplines in the arts could be found in one place.

The demolition of the site this darkly Saturday, was said to have been ordered by the General Manager of the National Theatre Complex in which the Village is situated, Mallam Kabir Yussuf, who almost as soon as he became the GM of the Theatre complex, had been having running battles with majority of the artists community in Lagos; a situation that led to many of the artists boycotting use of the Theatre for their shows. Accompanying the bulldozers were mean-looking, armed policemen who tore through the compound shooting sporadically into the air to scare the occupants of the facility. The Divisional Police Officer who led the operation declared that his men were on instruction to shoot at anyone who attempted to disrupt their “action”.

About an hour after the “Action” began, the Village was a total mess of broken dreams and properties… paintings and sculptors lay prostrate on the floor; drums and costumes were in heaps of dust; and damaged audio-visual equipment were piled in shambles in the open. The now homeless and helpless artistes were still in shock, how such an action could have been ordered by a senior public official, who earns his income from the tax-payers, to which the artists belong.

In the melee that ensued between the artists and the demolition squad, some of the artistes were injured, a visual Artist, Smart Owvie was shot in the leg while trying to prevent sculptures in his studio from being mashed to rubbles.

Aides of the General Manager who accompanied the squad said their boss was acting out a directive that the Federal Minister for Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had given him. During his last December 28th official visit to the Theatre Complex, the minister was said to have inspected all the facilities in the complex, including the Village, and had expressed displeasure over the “mushrooming of illegal structures” in the compound. He had thus, reportedly, directed the General Manager to ensure that the “illegal structures” were removed.

The General Manager’s aide revealed to a journalist, who visited the site after the action: “During his visit, the Minister complained that the area looked like a slum… he even complained that the people staying there looked more like hoodlums than artistes. So he told the GM to ensure that those “shanties” as he (the Minister) called it were pulled down before his next visit. So I was not surprised when the GM moved there with bulldozers to level those structures.”

It had been expected that the occupants of the compound would have been given a notice of the impending demolition, but the artists claimed there was no prior warning even as they admitted that there had indeed been series of eviction threats from the Theatre management in the past. The last such threat was early last year in the heat of the renewed attempt by the Federal Government to “sell-off” the theatre complex due to lack of fund to maintain its gigantic building and as well its surrounding marshlands situated in a decrepit environment, whose landmark is the vast bracky, smelly pool of lagoon water.

The Minister himself perhaps embarrassed by the negative publicity that the incident was generating in public space, rushed to the scene, where he met the still protesting artists. He was dismayed at the extent of destruction, and said there was no need for such excessive use of force, which led to shooting by policemen.

The minister, Alhaji Mohammed, who since the advent of democracy had been at the vanguard of securing and protecting rights of the citizens against governmental oppression, said he would address and redress the injustice that had been visited on the artists. He asked that a full report on the demolition exercise, the circumstances that led to the fracas between the artistes and the police, which left some of the artistes injured, be submitted to his office. He met with leaders of the artists, and promised to pick the bill of the injured artistes. He also directed that a comprehensive report of damages incurred by the individual artists be compiled and forwarded to his office.

As the demolition continued, some of the artistes tried to resist the demolition exercise but they were prevented by men of the Nigeria Police Force. However, one of the protesters, Smart Owvie, a sculptor was not so lucky. He was reportedly “shot on his right leg” in the process. “We rushed him to a nearby hospital for treatment” one of the protesting artistes said. Owvie, whose said his destroyed sculptors was worth over N100million, soon returned after treatment with a bandaged leg and a medical report “to protect whatever is left of my inestimable works”. He confirmed that he was shot by one of the police officer, who wanted to scare protesters away from the scene of the incident.

“The officer fired sporadically. A bullet even hit a car and another hit me on my right leg as you can see,’’ Owvie said.
Whereas, aides to the GM, said he had the full authority of the Minister to demolish the Artists Village, the Personal Assistant to the Minister, Mr Segun Adeyemi, affirmed that the GM might have misapplied the directive he was given.

According to Adeyemi, though the minister asked the GM to ensure that illegal structures in the Village were removed before his next visit on December 28, he did not ask him to demolish the artists’ studios and workshops, and destroy their properties. And certainly, he should have given them prior notice before the directive was carried out.

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