Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olayemi Cardoso, has disclosed that the Bankers Committee spent N68 billion on the renovation of the National Arts Theatre. He stated this at inauguration of the refurbished complex in Lagos yesterday.

This is even as President Bola Tinubu who performed the inauguration of the Theatre, now renamed the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts, has directed the CBN Governor and other stakeholders to set up an endowment fund that would ensure that the Theatre is adequately maintained.

The President plegded to contribute to such a fund. In his speech, Cardoso thanked the President the Bankers Committee for their support towards ensuring the completion of the project.

He said: “ The Central Bank of Nigeria, the Bankers’ Committee, the Lagos State Government, and the Ministry of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy came together with a shared purpose to deliver this national project, with the Bankers’ Committee alone committing approximately ₦68 billion, not as corporate social responsibility but as a deliberate investment in Nigeria’s cultural future.

“This project stands as proof that when the public and private sectors unite behind a shared national purpose, there is no limit to what Nigeria can achieve.”