As Nigeria edges deeper into the political season, the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners is taking its National Delegates Convention to the seat of power—not to campaign for politicians, but to challenge a system that too often celebrates culture without investing in the people who create it.
There is something fundamentally wrong with a country that routinely deploys culture to promote its identity, invokes the arts to celebrate its national heritage, and turns to performers to decorate official occasions, yet struggles to treat the creative professions as serious contributors to governance, economic development and democratic life.
This contradiction lies at the heart of the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners’ (NANTAP) decision to hold its 2026 National Delegates Convention (NDC) in Abuja under the theme, “Democracy and the Nigerian Story: Imperatives for Public Trust.”
The convention, scheduled for November/December 2026, arrives at a time when political ambitions, electoral calculations and public campaigns are increasingly commanding national attention. NANTAP has deliberately chosen this moment and this location to raise questions that Nigeria’s political establishment cannot afford to ignore.
Why is culture frequently celebrated in speeches but neglected in policy? Why are theatre practitioners expected to contribute to national consciousness without the infrastructure, institutional support and economic opportunities required to sustain their profession? And why should the creative sector remain at the margins of governance conversations when it possesses tools capable of interrogating power, educating citizens and deepening public engagement?
NANTAP is taking these questions to Abuja because the answers cannot be found within theatre halls alone. They must also be sought in government offices, legislative chambers, public institutions and the corridors where policies affecting the profession are formulated. This is not a political rally. It is a challenge to the politics of neglect.
Democracy Is More Than Elections
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