Are Comic Awards in Nigeria Now a Joke? Creators Say the System Is Rigged.
In Nigeria’s comic industry, there’s a quiet conversation that creators whisper in corners but almost never say out loud.
It bubbles under the surface during festivals, slips into Telegram groups late at night, and shows up between the lines of frustrated tweets.
The question is simple, but it punches hard: Do awards still mean anything?
Every year, the comic and creative community is flooded with nominations, plaques, red carpets, grand speeches and carefully curated social media graphics.
Yet, for all the glitter, for all the applause, for all the “Congratulations, fam!” comments, the truth is more uncomfortable.
If awards are supposed to improve standards, why does the quality of comics and creative output still feel like it’s crawling instead of sprinting?
Why do the same conversations about poor printing, inconsistent writing, rushed art, and lack of structure repeat year after year?
And most importantly: Have awards become nothing more than popularity trophies handed out to whoever shouts loudest or has the right connections?
The Rise of Awards and the Decline of Trust
Let’s be honest. Awards used to mean excellence. They used to carry weight. They signaled to the world that your work didn’t just exist, it excelled.
But somewhere along the way, things got blurry. Suddenly, there were awards everywhere.
Every month, a new ceremony. Every influencer, a new “Best Something of the Year.” Every small circle, a new “Hall of Fame.”
Too many awards. Too few standards.
Too many winners. Too little improvement.
When everything is award-worthy, nothing really is.
Some creators privately admit they are no longer moved by plaques. Others say they only accept them because “it looks good on Instagram.”
And more than a few roll their eyes and skip entire events because they already know who will win even before nominees are announced.
And you can’t blame them.
We’ve all seen it happen.
Awards given to the organizer’s close friends.
Awards won by whoever campaigned hardest online.
Awards handed to sponsors to keep the money flowing.
Awards given for projects no one ever actually read or watched.
This is how credibility dies, slowly, quietly, one wrong trophy at a time.
Are Creators Now Making Work Just to Win Awards?
It’s becoming harder to ignore the shift. Some creators don’t even hide it.
They say openly that awards help their brand, boost their visibility, and give them leverage with sponsors.
All true. But the problem comes when the pursuit of applause becomes more important than the pursuit of quality.
When creators start tailoring work to win rather than to innovate. When safe storytelling replaces bold experimentation.
When artists rush to submit something anything just to meet deadlines for nomination season.
Awards should be the result of excellence, not the reason for creating in the first place.
And yet… here we are.
The Popularity Contest Problem
A lot of awards are no longer about merit.
They are about numbers.
Who has more fans.
Who has more retweets.
Which creator has a bigger clique.
Which studio has more powerful friends.
When public voting becomes the deciding factor, it becomes easy to manipulate.
A creator with thousands of followers, even if the work is average, can easily crush a brilliant but unknown newcomer.
Awards lose their purpose when they stop rewarding skill and start rewarding influence.
And our industry suffers for it.
So What Makes an Award Still Credible Today?
Consistency.
Transparency.
Merit.
And this is where the conversation turns unexpectedly to one award platform trying to challenge the status quo.
Enter NICE Awards: Can Merit Make a Comeback?
The Nigerian Creatives and Excellence Awards (NICE Awards) used to be known simply as the ComicPanel Awards.
For years, it was one of the few award systems respected for one reason: it didn’t care about your popularity, your politics, or your hype. It cared about your work.
In 2025, the awards expanded to cover comics, animation, and gaming, signaling a broader vision for Nigeria’s creative future.
The transformation wasn’t cosmetic. It was a statement that excellence shouldn’t be limited to one arm of the industry.
What makes NICE different?
Creators who have been nominated and even those who didn’t win agree on one thing: ComicPanel does it differently.
There are no secret voting blocs.
No “my guy must win.”
No sponsorship-based awards.
No awarding a mediocre project because it’s loud on social media.
Instead, submissions are judged by panels that prioritize craft, originality, execution, and growth.
It doesn’t matter who you are. It matters what you made.
In a landscape choked with popularity-driven awards, that level of discipline feels almost revolutionary.
Will NICE Push the Industry to Finally Step Up?
If creators know that only excellence can win, they will push harder.
Better writing.
Better art.
Better production processes.
Better team structures.
Nigeria desperately needs a reason to raise its creative bar.
Awards based on merit can be that reason.
But whether NICE becomes a true engine for progress or just another ceremony with shiny lights depends on one thing: consistency.
If ComicPanel continues to make merit the standard, not the exception, the entire creative ecosystem stands to benefit.
Excellence has a way of forcing everyone else to level up.
So, Are Awards Important or Not?
It depends on how you see them.
If awards fuel your ego, they are overrated.
If they help your brand, they’re useful.
If they inspire better work, they are powerful.
If they become corrupt, they are worthless.
Awards are not inherently good or bad. What matters is whether they still stand for something.
Right now, many don’t. But some still do.
The question is: Do creators want awards that flatter them or awards that challenge them?
Because one will keep the industry where it is. And the other will drag it into the global arena.
Let the comments begin.