‘We are securing National Theatre for better revenue generation’
The General Manager, National Theatre, Kabiru Yusuf, told Sunday Trust at the commissioning ceremony that security is critical to the economic viability of the Theatre. He said in the past, fun seekers and other people avoid the National Theatre because of its insecurity and this seriously affected its revenue. Based on that, he had to […]
The General Manager, National Theatre, Kabiru Yusuf, told Sunday Trust at the commissioning ceremony that security is critical to the economic viability of the Theatre.
He said in the past, fun seekers and other people avoid the National Theatre because of its insecurity and this seriously affected its revenue.
Based on that, he had to embark on serious security overhaul of the National Theatre and this improved the annual revenue from N100 million to N250 million.
According to Kabiru, “When I came in August 3rd 2003, I found out a lot of security lapses in the National Theater. Some people would bring dead bodies from outside and dump them in the National Theatre. Also, people who had functions here were afraid of poor security and couldn’t even hold programmes beyond 9.00pm.”
“Also, our police post was headed by a Sergeant but now it would be headed by a CSP. Sometimes we had to go to Iponri Police station to look for backup and a patrol. I felt we deserve a police post. We had one that was dilapidated and we thought it wise to renovate it. This police station is to assure our customers of security. We also have Kings Guard dogs patrolling the Theatre to ensure security. We spent between N1.6 million and N1.9 million to renovate it,” he explained.
The National Theatre DPO, CSP Segun Fabunmi also told our correspondent that “the immediate challenge is that we will need a vehicle patrol to enhance the present one because the National Theater is too big. The area commander has supported with manpower but we will need more. We have written and we expect that once we have these supports, the National Theatre will be more secured.”
“We have about 25 police officers including irregular police but that is not enough. We need armed men here because of the huge property. I have requested for at least 36 more police officers but I am not sure how many would be given us,” he added.
Assistant Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Bashir commended the gesture and it should be emulated by other Nigerians.
“The police are indeed the public’s friend and the public needs to cooperate with them on security issues. This also explains the rationale behind community policing”, he said.