Experience the Magic: FirstBank & Eko Hotels Bring New Spectacle to Theatre

In partnership with Eko Hotels and Suites, FirstBank, the leading bank in West Africa, has sponsored the performance of a musical theater production called "The Jewel," which will be held at the Eko Hotel Convention Center from April 18 to 19.

At a news conference held on Wednesday at the Eko Hotels in Lagos, Nigeria, this information was revealed. FirstBank's dedication to the creative sector was demonstrated by its support of the event.

Read more: A play is staged in the theater to raise awareness of mental health issues.
In addition to its longstanding support of the artistic sector, FirstBank has recently launched an entertainment channel called Bluu TV and sponsored the performance of the stage drama Kurunmi at the Lagos International Theatre Festival.

Speaking at the occasion, FirstBank's Acting Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Olayinka Ijabiyi, stated, "FirstBank has always supported everything from music to entertainment, theater, stage performances, to poetry performances, and everything in between."

Ijabiyi also stated that FirstBank was taking a long-term approach to its collaboration with Eko Hotels and that the bank's support for the creative sector extended along the whole value chain, from the visible participants to the back-end production.

Speaking at the event as well, Chinwe Bode-Akinwande, First Bank's Head of Sponsorships, Partnerships, Events & Collaborations, described how FirstBank was serving the banking needs of gamers and giving the industry the support it required.

“We see that this is a value chain. It is bringing banking into the art space. So, people have different needs around the financial space. They could want to book a facility and learn new skills, so this is beyond them doing this performance and empowering them to put food on their table. With FirstBank supporting the initiative of art, it means a whole lot of people, even those in the backstage that you do not see, have something to do and have reasons to wake up every day to continue to pursue their passion,” Bode-Akinwande said.

Danny Kioupouroglou, the General Manager of Eko Hotels, affirmed that Eko Hotels and FirstBank have a lot in common in terms of providing first-class entertainment, “They are here to support the arts. They are not here to support the hotel as a business. They are to support the theatre performance, the musicians, and the technicians and to develop an ecosystem that becomes bigger and becomes more robust and more economically viable.”

 

Speaking on the musical, the Director of Sales and Marketing, Eko Hotels and Suites, Dr Iyadunni Gbadebo, said, “It is a play. It’s a theatre show. It’s a Broadway-style musical theatre show. It was inspired by two renowned playwrights and their works, ‘The Lion and the Jewel’ and ‘Our Husbands Have Gone Mad Again’ (Wole Soyinka and Ola Rotimi). For us in the theatre, our creative licence is beyond just developing things that exist. It’s taking things that exist and looking for new ways to interpret those things in such a way that it come as a major source of entertainment and appreciation.