British Council, LASU collaborate on students’ capacity building

The British Council Nigeria says it is collaborating with the Lagos State University (LASU) on capacity building of Nigerian students in the Arts industry.

Miss Ojomo Ochai, the Director of the council, said this during the celebration of the 400 years ‎remembrance of the death of the late novel writer, Williams Shakespeare, at the LASU main campus, Ojo, on Wednesday in Lagos.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a play titled ‘Love at war’, an adaptation ‎of Shakespeare’s Two Noble Kinsmen by Crown Troupe of Africa, was staged at the event.

‎Ochai said that LASU students, through the collaboration, ‎had the prospect of working with international Art Professionals.

According to her, the students, through the play, have the opportunity of working with two award winning directors who have worked around the world, to give them real world experience.

“They worked ‎with Jan-Willem Vanden Bosch, a writer and director based in London and Segun Adefila, a Nigeria writer, Director and Founder of Crown Troupe of Africa, who has gone international,’’ she said.

Ochai said Shakespeare’s works were picked because they had continued to live for many years after his death.

‎Mr Akinwunmi Lewis, the Registrar of LASU, said the institution embraced the collaboration because Shakespeare, among other literary heroes, was the greatest playwright and dramatist ever known in the history of literature as an art.

Lewis said the Department of Theatre and Music in the Faculty of Arts, LASU would benefit immensely from the collaboration.

He said the collaboration would expose the university internationally beyond its present state and expose the students to modern day technology drama.

According to him, there is the likelihood ‎that the British Council will extend its collaboration with LASU beyond mere stage play‎.

“The collaboration may extend to exchange programmes between British universities where they study theatre arts and music and LASU’s Theatre Arts Department, among others,’’ Lewis said.

Also speaking, ‎Prof. Abolaji Adeniji, the Dean, Faculty of Arts, LASU, described the collaboration as a capacity building technique to sharpen the skills of the students.

Adeniji said the effort would impact ultimately on the training and output of students produced by the Theatre Arts and Music Department.

‎According to him, the collaboration is in line with the re-branding LASU project of the present administration, under the leadership of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagbohun.

Dr Bola Ademeso, the Acting Head of Department (HOD) of Theatre Arts and Music, LASU, said the collaboration would boost the image of the institution to the outside world.

Ademeso said that LASU had a lot to offer to the public in terms of artistic excellence, skills and talents.

“The university has been ‎collaborating with international agencies and corporate bodies but this is the first time the department is collaborating with an international body,’’ he said.

Also speaking, Mr Jan-William Bosch, the Play Director, said the death of Shakespeare was being commemorated after 400 years with the staging of the last part he did in his working life.

Bosch said LASU students were skillful and interesting to work with.

According to ‎him, 10 students from the theatre arts and five from the music department of LASU have been co-opted into the performance of the crown troupe.

He said the play would also be taken to University of Abuja and University of Calabar.