MASS Communication scholar, film critic, and current Executive Director/CEO of the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB). Dr. Shaibu Husseini has been conferred with the prestigious ‘Fellow of Theatre Arts’ (fta) award by the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP).
The conferment held on Sunday, February 22 at the centenarian Glover Memorial Hall in the central business district of Lagos Island, was amidst a glittering Dinner/Gala Award event, witnessed by a large gathering of who-is-who in the theatre profession. The Sunday award was for the 2023 class of recipients.
A trained theatre artiste, Dr Husseini, one of the over-a-dozen awardees of the same title, was recognised for his “outstanding contributions to the growth and development of theatre practice in Nigeria,”, according to NANTAP, the apex body of theatre professionals in the country.
Presenting Dr Husseini with his award plaque was Mr Mahmood Ali-Balogun, chairman of the NANTAP Board of Trustees, who is also chairman of the Audio-Visual Rights Society of Nigeria (AVRS). Among dignitaries who witnessed the ceremony were Mrs Tola Akerele, General Manager of National Theatre of Nigeria; former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Duro Oni, who is also chair of the NANTAP Body of Fellows; veteran actor Norbert Young, and the programme chair of Committee for Relevant Arts (CORA), Jahman Anikulapo. Others include the veteran actress Joke Silva Jacobs and theatre director-producer, Mrs Bolanle Austen-Peters, CEO of BAP Productions, both of whom were also conferred with the 2023 fta award