At the 2025 Lagos International Festival of Animation (LIFANIMA), the Director General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, delivered a groundbreaking keynote address that could reshape the future of Nigerian animation. Unveiling the Nationalisation of Cartoon Content Policy, he highlighted how cartoons and animated content can become powerful tools for nation-building, value reorientation, and cultural pride.
This historic policy — part of Nigeria’s broader National Identity Project — positions animation not just as entertainment, but as a vehicle for shaping young minds and strengthening national unity through storytelling.
The full keynote speech is published below:
KEYNOTE ADDRESS ON THE NATIONALISATION OF CARTOON CONTENT
POLICY: A BREAKTHROUGH FOR NIGERIAN ANIMATION
By Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, Director General, National Orientation Agency (NOA)
Distinguished panelists, esteemed guests, creative visionaries, industry leaders, and above all, the young men and women who carry the future of Nigerian storytelling in their imaginations and their fingertips, good afternoon, and welcome to NOA Day at the Lagos International Festival of Animation 2025.
It is both an honour and a profound responsibility to stand before this gathering. Today is not simply another event in the cultural calendar. It is a historic moment, a convergence of creativity and policy, of vision and opportunity, of art and nationhood. We are here not only to celebrate the immense strides of Nigerian animation, but to anchor a transformative journey: the Nationalisation of Children’s Cartoon Content Policy.
On the 23rd of September, 2024, the Federal Executive Council approved two landmark policy memoranda presented by the National Orientation Agency. These contained fourteen bold prayers, each designed to strengthen Nigeria’s identity, values, and civic culture. Among them was a decision that has captured the imagination of our creative sector, the nationalisation of children’s cartoon content. This is not an isolated gesture. It is firmly embedded in the broader National Identity Project, with the National Values Charter as its compass.
The Charter is not just an aspirational document; it is a binding framework that articulates the seven promises of Nigeria to its citizens, the seven responsibilities of citizens to the nation, and the seven institutional pillars that sustain our shared values. Within these pillars, cultural content is central. Through this policy, we affirm that cartoons and animations are not peripheral, but powerful tools of national development.
Some may ask: why cartoons, why animation, and why now? The answer lies in the power of stories. Nations that master storytelling master influence. Their children grow up seeing themselves in heroic roles, their culture woven into daily entertainment, their values reinforced through media. For too long, our children have consumed stories where their heroes did not look like them, speak like them, or live like them.
The Nationalisation of Cartoon Content Policy is not about censorship; it is about reclamation. It is about reclaiming the Nigerian story for Nigerian children. It ensures that a child in Lagos, Kano, Calabar or Enugu can switch on the television and see characters who speak their language, reflect their festivals, embody their values, and model their aspirations. When this happens, the child is not merely entertained; the child is empowered.
A Nigerian proverb reminds us: “The child who is not taught at home will seek wisdom on the street.” Today’s “street” is digital, from cartoon channels to streaming platforms. If we do not consciously shape what our children see, we risk losing them to narratives that do not serve our collective identity. This policy is therefore a call to our creative industry.
To animators, scriptwriters, illustrators, and studios, this is your moment. The government is saying: we see you, we value you, and we are creating space for you to thrive. Already, the National Orientation Agency is engaging studios to co-create the first wave of national content projects. Two pilot animated series are in development, designed not just as entertainment but as cultural assets: carriers of value orientation, tools of civic education, and vehicles of empowerment. These projects demonstrate that when policy meets creativity, extraordinary things happen. But this cannot succeed without you. Policy sets the framework; creativity provides the soul. Your artistry and courage will breathe life into this vision.
The nationalisation policy also speaks to creative sovereignty. Cultural industries are as important as oil wells or farmlands. They shape how nations are perceived, how citizens see themselves, and how economies grow. For Nigeria, animation is no longer niche; it is strategic. It can employ thousands, generate intellectual property, and expand our digital economy. By embedding animation into the National Identity Project, the Federal Executive Council has declared that creative industries are integral to national development.
This approval is not symbolic. Work has already begun to align ministries, agencies, and institutions to move this from policy to practice. Frameworks are being developed to strengthen collaboration with creative studios, to secure national broadcast slots for local animated content, and to explore sustainable support models that uphold the principles of the National Values Charter. While details will evolve, the principle is clear: Nigeria’s creative energy must find a home within national policy.
The National Values Charter reminds us that building a nation is a shared responsibility. Leaders at all levels and in all circumstances must fulfil the Nigerian Promise. Citizens must uphold their responsibilities. Institutions must guard our collective pillars. For creators, that responsibility is to tell stories that uplift rather than diminish, that unite rather than divide, that inspire rather than discourage. For government and private partners, it is to provide the enabling environment in which creativity can flourish. For parents and educators, it is to embrace and promote this wave of culturally grounded content.
This festival is the perfect platform for this announcement. LIFANIMA has become a hub of innovation and a showcase of African animation. Today, it also becomes the birthplace of a new chapter in our national story. The nationalisation of cartoon content is a seed. If watered with creativity, collaboration, and consistency, it will grow into a mighty tree. Under its shade, our children will find cultural pride. From its branches, our economy will harvest jobs and opportunities. Through its roots, our nation will remain anchored in enduring values.
As we move forward, let us remember: this is more than a policy; it is a movement. It is the weaving of national values into digital storytelling. It is the alignment of heritage with technology, of culture with innovation, of governance with creativity. To our animators, this is your moment.
To our youth, this is your future. To our partners and policymakers, this is our shared responsibility. Together, let us believe that animation is not just entertainment, but nation-building; not just art, but national architecture. Let us go forward with clarity and conviction, building an animation industry that not only competes globally, but more importantly, speaks proudly to Nigerian children about who they are and who they can become.
Thank you.