Award-winning broadcast Joirnalist and Playwright, Ola Awakan has announced the intention to stage his latest creative piece titled, “Tafawa Balewa: The Golden Voice of Africa”, to celebrate the legacies of the First Prime Minister of Nigeria, the Late Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, on January 15th in Abuja, 19th January in Bauchi and January 26th in Lagos next year.
According to Awakan, the play aims to celebrate Tafawa Balewa’s immense contributions to Nigeria’s political landscape, highlighting themes of patriotism, resilience, and visionary leadership to inspire the audiences with his commendable values.
He also explained that the initiative is to equip younger generations with facts and history of Nigeria and help them resonate better with their root.
He said the play will mark the second in the series of the Tales of Legends initiative launched at the first state production of Abibatu Mogaji, performed to immortalize the mother of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR.
“We would like to inform you that we are already speaking with the Tafawa Balewa Family, the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and Creative Economy and other critical stakeholders on this project”, he added.
“We hope to use the Tales of Legends Series for the preservation of our beautiful heritage and history, celebrate the heroes of Nigeria, reawaken the elegant culture, tradition and value system embedded in the soil of Nigeria.
“The creative economy is a powerful tool that can be used to strengthen and revive any nation, given its viable potency. A people without proper knowledge of her history and origin is said to be living in a lost world of existence. This idea is to also strengthen the cultural education of the youth.”
While highlighting the rationale behind the unveiling of the performance, he said:” it will foster a deeper understanding of Nigeria’s rich history, promoting meaningful dialogue around our national values and ideals”.
He further explained that the theatre project will underscore the importance of the arts and culture in shaping collective identity and future of generations to come. Some of the guests at the launch are the Artistic Director of the National Troupe of Nigeria, Kaltume Bulama Gana who is also the Associate Producer, Denja Abdullahi, the artistic director for the production.
