- NOA partnered with the festival to drive the project
- winning entries will be broadcast across NOA partner television networks
- the theme for the maiden edition is “Who is a Real Nigerian?”
The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has launched a new animation award initiative worth N22.5 million to encourage creative storytelling that promotes Nigeria’s identity and core values.
Eko Hot Blog reports that the announcement was made during the ninth Lagos International Festival of Animation, where the NOA partnered with the festival to drive the project.
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Speaking at the event, NOA Director-General, Lanre Issa-Onilu, said the initiative offers a platform for Nigerian animators to engage with the Nigerian Identity Project — a programme under the agency aimed at promoting the ideals captured in the National Values Charter (NVC).
He explained that the NVC outlines seven national promises and seven citizen codes defining who Nigerians are, their shared values, and the principles that bind the nation together. According to him, the animation award invites artists to creatively interpret these ideals through storytelling and animation.
Issa-Onilu revealed that the theme for the maiden edition is “Who is a Real Nigerian?” — a question he said challenges participants to explore the true essence of being Nigerian, beyond ethnicity or geography, by highlighting resilience, optimism, creativity, and responsibility.
Eligible participants, who must be Nigerian citizens, are required to produce a short animated film of no more than three minutes using 2D, 3D, or stop-motion techniques.
The competition, he added, will be judged based on the quality of the narrative and its connection to the nation’s identity and values rather than animation style.
The N22.5 million cash prize will be distributed as N10 million for the first prize, N7.5 million for the second, and N5 million for the third.
Beyond monetary rewards, winning entries will be broadcast across NOA partner television networks nationwide for three months.
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