NAN

Renowned master cartoonist Josy Ajiboye on Wednesday urged the Federal Government to create a department of cartoon and comic arts in tertiary institutions to grow the nation’s animation industry.

Ajiboye told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that cartoon and comic arts should be removed from Fine, Applied Arts and Graphics.

He said this would help students to develop and refine their innate skills in visual and narrative communications.

Ajiboye said that it would also assist students to develop cartoons that could be used to project the nation’s rich and unique culture.

“We need a department of cartoon and comic arts to produce graduates in the field who will in turn groom the animation industry.

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“The Nigerian animation industry has huge potential and the way to go is to have young talented minds in the field that will become professionals,” he said.

NAN reports that Ajiboye worked with the old Daily Times of Nigeria (DTN) newspapers as a cartoon columnist for no less than 30 years.

He said that the development of the industry would also facilitate the growth of the video cartoons to showcase the Nigerian culture.

Ajiboye noted that most Nigerian children were exposed to watching foreign cartoons, saying that some of which were based on propagating foreign cultures.
According to him, cartoons are meant to satirize societal ills to effect some positive changes.
He said that cartoons produced in the country should have the settings, plots, characterisation, themes, languages and all depicting African culture that would help in to attract and educate the children culturally.

“As parents, we should minimise the rate at which our children watch foreign cartoons because all they learn there are western culture.

“They should balance it with the local cartoons available in the country,” he said.