The National Arts Theatre is the primary centre for the performing arts in Nigeria

Nigeria

Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

. The monument is located in Iganmu, Lagos State

Lagos State

Lagos State is an administrative division of Nigeria, located in the southwestern part of the country. The smallest in area of Nigeria's states, Lagos State is the most populous state in Nigeria and arguably the most economically important state of the country and west Africa, containing Lagos, the...

. Construction was completed in 1976 in preparation for the Festival of Arts and Culture (FESTAC) in 1977.

Design

The National Arts Theatre was built during the military regime of Olusegun Obasanjo. Its exterior is shaped like a military hat. It has a 5000 seater Main Hall with a collapsible stage, and two 700-800 capacity cinema halls all of which are equipped with facilities for simultaneous translation of 8 languages; among others.

Controversy

In 2001, President Olusegun Obasanjo announced plans to privatise the National Arts Theatre. This sparked controversy amongst Nigerian entertainers and playwrights like Wole Soyinka

Wole Soyinka

Akinwande Oluwole "Wole" Soyinka is a Nigerian writer, poet and playwright. He was awarded the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, where he was recognised as a man "who in a wide cultural perspective and with poetic overtones fashions the drama of existence", and became the first African in Africa and...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/1567074.stm.