(Being excerpts from the ‘Welcome Speech’ by Chairman Central Planning Committee, Professor Duro Oni, on occasion of the opening ceremonies of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan, at the Wole Soyinka Theatre, UI on August 23)
‘Every ten years of our existence as an institution marks the end of a phase and the beginning of a new one. Just as our Golden Jubilee marked the end of a phase and the beginning of a systematic climb into our Age of Jubilee, our celebration this year marks the beginning of that futuristic journey into further greatness in our well-known tradition of excellence’
IT is a great honour to stand before this group of eminent personalities to welcome you all to this august event, marking the 60th Anniversary of the establishment of the Department of Theatre Arts, University of Ibadan. Today, we pay glowing tributes to those visionaries who thought it necessary to commit their human and material resources to ensure that an institution of this magnitude was birthed for the benefit of our world and indeed future generations.
You will all recall that only a decade ago, the alumni members of the Department of Theatre Arts of the University of Ibadan came together to mark the Golden Jubilee of the Department. At the close of the celebrations, it was resolved that a major celebration of the Department shall be put together every ten years, going forward. Consequently, and in the spirit and letter of the adopted resolution, a committee of eminent alumni of the Department was put together to drive the Diamond Jubilee of the existence of our dear Department, which remains the oldest Department of Theatre Arts in Nigeria and indeed in Africa.
Today, we are all gathered here to mark our Diamond Jubilee in the poetic beauty of counting in tens. It is indeed our wish to give our all to the celebration of this landmark age of the Department, knowing and understanding the symbolism of the Diamond Jubilee as the life-giving essence of purity, perfection, profound intellectualism, and knowledge.
As we anchor our celebration upon these cardinal objectives, we acknowledge the physical presence of our members on this home-coming, for the purposes of celebration, continued fraternity, and love for our Department and by extension our collective pride in the University of Ibadan, our fountainhead, all in the spirit of giving back. On the other hand, we also acknowledge those of our members who were unable to make it down physically, but generously gave their time, treasure and talent, in order to ensure that we have a reasonable celebration that shall be remembered for a long time to come.
It is therefore a great pleasure to welcome the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, the principal officers of the University administration and indeed the entire university community for ensuring a conducive environment under which a celebration of this magnitude could be held. We recall with pride all your past cooperations with the Department of Theatre Arts, in recognition of her pioneer status in theatre scholarship and practice, which have significantly helped to raise the banner of the University as a Centre of Excellence and numero uno globally. It is, therefore, an absolute honour by everyone present here to witness and participate in this epoch-making event of enormous historical value.
What are we trying to say here? Every ten years of our existence as an institution marks the end of a phase and the beginning of a new one. Just as our Golden Jubilee marked the end of a phase and the beginning of a systematic climb into our Age of Jubilee, our celebration this year marks the beginning of that futuristic journey into further greatness in our well-known tradition of excellence.
Due to the nomenclatural hues and shades of theatre arts studies today in the Nigerian university system, we could safely say that there are over sixty Nigerian universities that offer theatre arts and its different variants such as theatre and media arts, theatre and film studies, creative arts, theatre and cultural studies, theatre and performing arts, performing arts, dramatic arts, theatre and film arts and the list goes on and on because of the “mother” nature of theatre arts studies as a global phenomenon. The presence of our alumni is felt directly or indirectly in all these institutions.
The activities for this Diamond celebration and reunion include Anniversary lecture, Film Shows, Conference Panels and Workshops, Theatre Career Clinic for Secondary Schools, Homecoming Reunion, and Awards Ceremony.
We consider it fitting to end this piece in the spirit and letter of a popular quote from the great Winston Churchill by saying; ‘This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning’. On our Diamond Jubilee, we celebrate this Ivy League institution in theatre scholarship and practice and how far we have come as inspiration and role models to those who truly know what quality training is all about. We pray and hope that the Theatre Arts Department, University of Ibadan, shall continue like the Diamond which she has just attained; sparkling and unbreakable.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Professor Duro Oni (FNAL), Chairman, Central Planning Committee.
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