Professionalising the Management of Nigeria’s Public Performing Arts and Culture Institutions

Abstract

The national identity quest by a people cannot be independent of the arts and culture of the people, in that, within the  ambit of the people’s arts and culture, lies the fabric and very root of their way of life; mores, cultural dispositions and  value system, and of course their traditions, customs and beliefs. Ironically, Nigeria’s public-run performing arts and  culture institutions represented by the National Arts Theatre, and the corresponding states’ councils for arts and culture  located in the 36 states of the Nigerian federation, which all, supposedly warehouse and midwife the nation’s arts and  culture heritage, have not lived up to their founding mandates due to the dearth or complete absence of  professionalism of the management, administration and the operations of the institutions. This study identifies the  expected roles of these public-run arts and culture institutions, towards the humongous national identity project, and examines the present challenges of managing the institutions, with a view to determining the existing lapses that  hamper them in delivering on their founding mandates. It recommends the effective professionalisation and revitalisation of the management and operations of the arts and culture institutions, for more efficacious contributions  to the national identity agenda. In-depth one-on-one interviews, participant observation and focused group discussions  methods are relied upon, and data collected subjected to content analysis. There is a dire need to professionalise and revitalize the management and operations of Nigeria’s public-run performing arts and culture institutions, with a view  to repositioning them for optimum contributions to the nation’s national identity quest.