Adeoye Adetunji’s stop-motion animation wins top honours at the NOA Animation Awards and LIFANIMA 2026, as Nigeria’s Animation Festival celebrates a decade of advancing animation.
The Lion of Gwoza, a stop-motion animation by Adeoye Adetunji, has emerged as the overall winner of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Animation Award, clinching the ₦10 million first prize at the 10th anniversary edition of LIFANIMA – Nigeria’s Animation Festival.
The film also won the Stop Motion Animation category at LIFANIMA 2026, making it a double award winner at the festival, which formally announced the winners of both the LIFANIMA awards and the NOA Animation Award.
The 10th anniversary edition, celebrated under the theme “10 Years of Animation. 10 Years of Impact,” brought together outstanding works and creative talents, highlighting the growing contribution of animation to Nigeria’s cultural expression, creative economy and national development.
The NOA Animation Award, themed “Who Is a Real Nigerian?”, challenged animators to explore Nigerian identity, citizenship and shared national values through the medium of animation.
The three winners, announced at the LIFANIMA 2026 festival, are:
1st Position — ₦10 Million
The Lion of Gwoza
By Adeoye Adetunji
2nd Position — ₦7.5 Million
What Makes a Real Nigerian?
By Oluwatooniloba Odunuga
3rd Position — ₦5 Million
Those Who Don’t Stop
By Oluwasegun Joseph
The three winners share a total of ₦22.5 million in cash prizes.
The award demonstrates the potential of animation to communicate important national messages, engage younger audiences and inspire conversations about citizenship, unity and the values that bind Nigerians together.
LIFANIMA 2026 Celebrates Excellence Across Five Categories
In addition to the NOA Animation Award, LIFANIMA recognised outstanding creative achievements across five categories:
- 3D Animation Winner: Uniquely Me — Ayodele Elegba
- 2D Animation Winner: Kainji — Kaydina Esor and Damilola Solesi
- Stop Motion Animation Winner: The Lion of Gwoza — Adeoye Adetunji
- Animation Commercial Winner: Keep Nigeria Clean — Oluwatoyin Adeosun
- Visual Effects Winner: New Beginning — Temitope Falase
The winning entries showcase the breadth of Nigerian animation talent, from imaginative storytelling and character development to commercial communication and technical innovation.
Ten Years of Animation. Ten Years of Impact.
Established in 2016, LIFANIMA has spent a decade providing a platform for animation filmmakers, nurturing emerging talent and promoting the growth of Nigeria’s animation industry.
Its 10th anniversary edition celebrates this journey while looking towards the next phase of development for Nigerian and African animation. The festival’s programme has highlighted innovation in creative technology, animation skills development, the creative economy and the role of animation in preserving African cultural heritage.
The announcement of the NOA Animation Award winners at the festival also marks an important intersection between animation, public education and national orientation. By using creative storytelling to explore the question of what it means to be a real Nigerian, the award recognises animation’s capacity to make national conversations accessible and engaging, particularly for children and young people.
Speaking on the milestone, Muyiwa Kayode, Founder and Festival Director of LIFANIMA, said:
“Ten years of LIFANIMA represents ten years of championing animation as an art form, a business and a powerful instrument for cultural expression and social impact. This festival is about recognising the extraordinary talent within the animation community and the opportunities ahead. We congratulate all our winners, especially Adeoye Adetunji for the remarkable double recognition of The Lion of Gwoza. The formal announcement of the NOA Animation Award winners at LIFANIMA demonstrates how animation can contribute meaningfully to national conversations while creating opportunities for our creative talents.”
The festival reaffirmed its commitment to building a stronger animation ecosystem in Nigeria, expanding opportunities for creators and supporting the development of locally produced intellectual property capable of reaching audiences across Africa and around the world.
