The National Orientation Agency (NOA) and National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has inaugurated a joint Committee for the development of implementation framework to use indigenous cartoon content for national values reorientation.
The Director-General of NOA, Malam Lanre Issa-Onilu inaugurated the Committee on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the Committee members from NOA include, Malam Nuru Kobi, Director, Planning Research and Statistics, Mr William Dogo. Director Legal, Mr Bala Musa, Director Communication and Media.
Also, from NOA is Oyem Blessing, Director Youth Engagement and Inclusion.
Other members of the Committee from NBC are, Director Broadcast Policy and Research, Mrs Stella Erhunmwunsee and two others.
Issa-Onilu said the Committee is to develop the implementation framework for the nationalisation of 70 per cent of indigenous cartoon content on screens in Nigeria.
“This important assignment is anchored on the far reaching policy decision taken by the Federal Executive Council last year which approved the domestication of the majority of cartoon content on our airways.
“This will be done as a national strategy for cultural dissemination, youth reorientation and value transmission.
“As we all know, cartoons are not just entertainment, they are powerful formative tools that influence how children perceive the world and their place in it.
“For too long, the dominant narratives on our screens have been foreign, detached from the realities, identities, and values of the Nigerian child.
“This initiative is deeply aligned with the goals of the Nigerian Identity Project, which seeks to reclaim who we are together, as outlined in the National Values chapter.
“The true essence of being Nigerian lies not only in our languages or our time, but in the values we live by: honest, hard work, respect, discipline and unity,” Issa-Onilu said.
The NOA boss further explained that thie committee’s work reflects the first institutionalisation policy under the Nigerian Identity Project: National Cartoon Animation.
According to him, the policy recognizes that homegrown cartoons can serve as critical tools for teaching our children the values we cherish, such as, respect for others, resilience, collaboration, and pride in one’s cultural heritage.
He noted that when our children watch characters who look, sound, and think like them navigating life with integrity, courage, and compassion, they begin to internalise these same values.
Issa-Onilu added that with such, they grow up not only proud to be Nigerian, but empowered to contribute meaningfully to society.
“This is why your task as committee is both strategic and urgent.
“The framework you will develop will not only set the parameters for content development and regulation, it will define how a new generation of Nigerians come to understand themselves and their country.
“We are not just materialising indigenous cartoon content we are instilling national values for reorientation, and patriotism, ” he stressed.
He also said that Nigerians have the capacity to produce animation content, adding that NOA has done it to produce “Captain Excellence” and others.
Also speaking, Erhunmwunsee appreciated Issa-Onilu, adding that NBC has the constitutiinal mandate to regulate content and hence its strategic position in the project.
She said the Commission would soon commence the review of Broadcasting Code and it would be profitable if NOA participate in the review to enable it inject code that relates to the animation policy.
She explained that the NBC has a plan to establish animation studios in the six geopolitical zones of the country, stressing that they would address the challenge of cost of production. (NAN)
