Yemisi Izuora
EcobankPay, the Ecobank Nigeria lifestyle digital payment and collections service has entered into a partnership with TerraKulture, and cultural show promoters with Bolanle-Austen Peters as lead.
Through this partnership, Ecobank intends to support the promotion of African arts and culture starting from April 2019. For each festive season, there will be a theatrical production – April coinciding with the Easter celebrations; October season to correspond with the nation’s independence anniversary and December season end of year festivities.
Commenting on the partnership, Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan said it is one of the several initiatives by the pan African Bank to boost culture, history and the entertainment industry in Nigeria. He noted that the partnership would create jobs, further re-ignite and engender interest in watching stage plays and derive learning points from history and rich culture that will be showcased through the shows.
According to him, “as the Pan-African bank, Ecobank is pleased to partner with a renowned African culture promoter – TerraKulture to achieve our collective vision of promoting indigenous African plays to reinforce knowledge of and also celebrate our history, culture and values.
As we continue to leverage Ecobankpay and Ecobank Xpresspoint Agency to bring convenient and easy banking to every household, creating jobs and facilitating trade, we are also proud to be at the forefront of the renaissance of African culture and history. The Queen Moremi musical stage play planned for the Easter season will increase knowledge of our culture and history thereby deepening our sense of pride as a people. This is the in line with the vision of our founders and endearing to our customers and stakeholders.
Also commenting, CEO, TerraKulture, Bolanle-Austen Peters said we are passionate about creating partnerships and advancing the Nigerian and African narrative ourselves. There is no stronger brand than Ecobank to project that Pan African image that we all so clearly want to identify with. This is a step in the right direction and we hope through this Ecobank will add more jobs and also improve the quality of life of Nigerians”.
This Easter, the TerraKulture show will bring to life the story of Queen Moremi, the 12th-century tale of a brave woman leading the charge to save her people in Ile-Ife. Put together by TerraKulture and Rejuvenee, ‘Queen Moremi: The Musical’ is a stage play that celebrates the legacy of the feminine hero. The stage play has a strong cast of Bimbo Manuel, Femi Branch, Deyemi Okanlawon, Lala Akindoju and others. Moremi resonates with the feminist charge to take lead in a male-dominated society. It is a story that has enough legs that makes it relevant for all generations. The legend of Queen Moremi is a blast from the past that reminds us of who we really are.