History:

The Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance (NPTA) is a non-profit, non-governmental organisation founded in 1989 with the mandate to promote participatory engagement of ordinary Nigerians in the development process. In the years that it has been in existence, NPTA has executed several projects in different parts of Nigeria. In all the projects, the Organisation was concerned with capacity building, skills development to promote people's ability to take action to improve their own lives and to engage in community development. 

TFDC was established in 2000 as the research and training unit of the Nigerian Popular Theatre Alliance (NPTA), a network of people and organisations in Nigeria using performing arts as a means to participatory development. TFDC is affiliated to the Department of Theatre and Performing Arts of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in Zaria, which played a pioneering role in establishing Theatre for Development as an academic field of study and action in Nigeria.

Mission:

NPTA - TFDC pursues social development by sharing with people inside and outside the academic context the wealth of experience with participatory development strategies built since 1989 when NPTA was founded. It similarly seeks to share the expertise of scholars in the ABU Department of Theatre and Performing Arts involved in developing and studying participatory development techniques since 1975.