State Government and Space

Letter Requesting Permission to Rent Space

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Hon. Minister of Information & Culture

Radio House, Herbert Macaulay Way (South), Area

P.M.B. 247, Garki, Abuja

Mallam Yusuf Abdallah Usman

National Commission for Museum and Monuments (NCMM)

Plot 2018 Cotonou Crescent, Wuse Zone 6, Abuja.

Abubakar Malami, SAN

Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice

Federal Ministry of Justice

Shehu Shagari Way, Central Area, Abuja, FCT Abuja

Dear Sirs:

EbonyLife TV and EbonyLife Films are currently filming a new movie, The Royal Hibiscus Hotel at the Lagos State Old Secretariat.

We are proposing a private public sector partnership.

We love the building and want to revive and make use of the space. Specifically, we would like to rent the lobby area with 3 offices of the Lagos State Old Secretariat, currently occupied by the Lagos Federal Ministry of Justice, 7 Marina Street, Lagos. Our desire is to turn the available space into a gallery and cafe. This would bring a vibrant spirit to the space and give it an upbeat spirit and revive its highly culturally-significant atmosphere from its current slumbering condition.

We understand the Lagos State Old Secretariat is curated by the National Commission for Museums and Monuments' (NCMM) as a department of the Ministry of Information & Culture. We appreciate everything the NCMM has done for the Old Secretariat up to this point. What we request is that EbonyLife be permitted to take things one step further and give the space a commercial element that can call to the community and offer it something it can never truly get enough of -- a connection to the past with a taste for the future. A gallery and cafe in the Old Secretariat would be perfect for bridging the old and the new -- the past with the generations of tomorrow.

According to the Act of Parliament, primary responsibility of NCMM is the preservation and presentation of Nigeria's rich cultural heritage. The functions of the commission include but are not limited to making recommendations to any state government or any other person or authority.

Most of the building is locked up and not being used for anything. It sits there empty, like an abandoned and disused monument to a past that few care to acknowledge. This is, in our view, extremely unfortunate because there is dire need for buildings like this to be preserved by the government for our people. Every generation should be reminded of the past, of the glories that came before, so that they can both admire their ancestors' achievements and be inspired to stand on their shoulder and achieve even greater things through hard work, dedication, and commitment.

With the potential of becoming a historical landmark and an income generator for the government, this space would be absolutely desirable to anyone with the right kind of creative perspective -- and so it is with us. What is the future of this building? A dispassionate and disinterested observer might see nothing but a building that has suffered degradation due to lack of care and proper maintenance. We see an opportunity for investment, revitalization, and revival. Currently, the space lays there -- a shadow of its former self. We at EbonyLife desire to bring that shadow to life. No space should feel so unkempt and uncared for, craving for attention, that its neglect speaks shame to the community that lets it sit in isolation as though it were a cast-off!

Allow us to help aid the Ministry. By reviving the space and making it live again, we can give something memorable to the community: we can invite the echoes of the past to speak to us all again so that we might hear their voices, understand and appreciate their wisdom, see their lights, and feel their presence. Bringing a space to life is part of what we at EbonyLife and EbonyLife Films are used to doing through our broadcasts and original productions. Our passion is to create -- and in this space we feel the inspiration to restore a place that still has so much to give if only it is provided a little assistance up front.

Please consider allowing us to make use of the space for a greater good that will bring enjoyment and satisfaction to the Nigerian people and return thanks and credit to the Ministry.

Currently the building is managed by NCMM and the offices are being occupied by the Ministry of Justice. We respectfully request that the Ministry assist us with making this happen and turn the building around.

If you could kindly involve the Ministry Justice and NCMM and obtain their cooperation, our appreciation would know no bounds. It is indeed a great and tremendous opportunity. Just see what we've already achieved in so little time: Since occupying the place while filming our movie, we've given it a shine and luster that has breathed new pride and confidence into its bones. It literally beams with satisfaction, gloating with a renewed and enthusiastic spirit of achievement. It has long slumbered -- but now it is awake again, calling to us to provide with your assistance the finishing touches.