From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has encouraged citizens to be patriotic for the development of the country.
Its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, stated this after a play titled: “Once upon four robbers,” by Prof. Femi Osofisan, in Abuja.
Soneye, who explained that the choice of the play was intended to promote the Federal Government’s change-begins-with-us mantra, urged citizens to live a life of integrity and hard work for the betterment of the society.
He expressed gratitude to Osofisan, the drama troupe, and the audience, noting that NNPCL would continue to support future performances to inculcate good morals.
He said: “We are glad to be part of this. Thank you Prof. Femi Osiofisan. For us in NNPCL, what really made us choose this is you can now see that this stage play emphasises the fact that change begins with each and every one of us as a citizen.
“NNPCL advocates patriotism, good morals through Prof. Osofisan’s play
“You can see that this does not only show patriotism but also promotes morals and for us to live a right life. So, for us as NNPCL, we are encouraging and promoting not only that people should have good morals but also to know that as citizens, change begins with us.
“Whatever we do in our daily life, we should show a sense of patriotism and a sense of a responsible individual. This is the only way the country can grow and be a good society.
“Thank you very much and enjoy the end of the year and Christmas. We thank you all. Thank you for bringing the show to Abuja.
“We are glad to have you and in the future, we will also support it and any good thing you want to do.”
Meanwhile, Prof Osofisan said he was surprised that after several years he wrote the play, it remained topical and relevant to addressing immorality.
On his part, director of the play, Dire Badejo, said he wanted to do something different in a bid to address societal challenges.
He said: “In January, I wanted to do something on stage. I did a lot of reading of books, because I needed something that is just different in the aspect of storytelling and to teach what is beneath the eye.
“So, I came up with ‘Once Upon Four Robbers,’ to address a lot of societal crises. I wanted to find out the bottom line of the problem.
“I really hope I can inspire a lot of people whether mentally or radically. I really hope that people can look back on whatever they have seen or watched and be educated.
“Because of NNPCL, the cost of production was basically free. We had logistics challenges but once NNPCL came in and saw our initiatives, they basically picked us up like a baby.”