The National Association of Nigeria Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) on Friday called for decentralisation of powers in the association to stem factionalisation in the entertainment industry.
Mr Israel Eboh, NANTAP President, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Eboh spoke against the backdrop of some umbrella bodies splitting to form factions due to irreconcilable differences.
He said that the association’s Board of Trustees (BOT) should be separated the from executive members to enable them function effectively in their units.
Eboh added that improper structure and poor mechanism of operations contributed to factionalisation in the industry.
“Most times, breakups that spread to a group forming factions is as a result of irreconcilable differences among executive officers in the association, guild or union.
“And solving the problems becomes more difficult when the people having the issues are still the same set of persons to look into the matter at the BoT level.
“It is very necessary for the executive officers to face the affairs that brought them to the association, while another set of knowledgeable individuals are appointed into the BoT.
“This system of operation will come to play and have effect when there are conflicts and issues, as the BoT will be able to address the problems in line with the structure on the ground,” Eboh said.
He described the situation where members had to split and form factions as a disservice to the association.
According to him, conflict resolution has a strong impact in the growth of any association as members play their role for progress, while the upcoming ones would be attracted to be members.
The NANTAP leader, however, charged stakeholders in the industry to move beyond creating personal empires, saying efforts should be geared toward building a strong and virile single empire.
