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By Joan Odafe
The Terra Academy for the Arts (TAFTA) on Friday in Lagos graduated 8,000 individuals in various creative disciplines, including script writing, animation, light, and sound design.
The ceremony, which is the academy’s third edition, was attended by students from TAFTA centres in Lagos, Ogun, and Kano, many of whom joined the celebration virtually.
The event, with the theme, ‘Celebrating Creative Transformation’, is in collaboration with Mastercard Foundation.
The Founder and Artistic Director of TAFTA, Mrs Bolanle Austen-Peters, said the graduation was a celebration of creativity and perseverance, and also the transformative power of the arts.
According to Austen-Peters, TAFTA, which was inaugurated during the COVID-19 pandemic, has impacted over 30,000 individuals through its free creative training programmes.
She urged the graduands to put the training, tools acquired, their talents and voice to great use in transforming the world, by uplifting others and challenging injustice.
“Anybody else that you can think of that has put a play, a movie or any form of creativity, starts with one thought.
“So, it’s a blank page, and so does every great life.
“All of you are blank pages, but it is what you put in that page that makes you a great person later on in your life,” she said.
She thanked the foundation for supporting free education and investing in futures that might otherwise have gone unseen.
Also, Rosy Fynn, Country Director of Mastercard Foundation, praised the academy for its role in advancing inclusive and transformative creative education.
Acknowledging the resilience, creativity and growth of the graduands, Fynn said they were not just acquiring skills but also becoming confident change-makers in Nigeria’s booming creative economy.
She noted that the foundation was keen on women, diversity, and inclusion, in order to bring reality to everyone’s vision regardless of their circumstances.
According to Fynn, in spite of Nigeria’s music, fashion, theatre and visual arts reshaping narratives about Africa, there is an inequitable access for young women and persons with disabilities to the economy.
Citing a PwC report, she said: “The creative and cultural industries are projected to contribute $15 billion to Nigerian GDP by 2025.
“And it’s been reported that the sector has the potential to create 2.7 million jobs in 2025,” she said.
Speaking at the event, renowned Nigerian actor and writer, Bimbo Manuel, charged the graduands to uphold competence and integrity as they enter the creative industry.
Manuel, who has nearly five decades of experience in television, theatre, film, and broadcast, urged the graduands to develop their career beyond certificates.
“If you leave this place and you’re hoping to ride the waves of this business on the strength of your certification, I think you’ve been in self-deception.
“Nobody will give you any offer if you do not or are not able to prove yourself,” he said.
Nigerian reality TV star and actress, Bamike Adenibuyan, popularly known as Bambam, said being passionate and unapologetically authentic, would help the graduands excel in their various crafts.
BamBam, who is a TAFTA ambassador and a protégé of the academy’s founder, urged the graduands to give any opportunity they are given the best they have.
“Do not change for anybody, do not fall for peer pressure. Be unapologetically, authentically you,” she urged them.
The Academy Lead of TAFTA, Mr Joseph Umoibom, told NAN that the programme, which lasted for three months, was done mostly virtually by the students.
Umoibom said though the training was free for individuals between 18 and 35 years, there was a focus on training females, so they could be more actively involved in the technical aspects of film and theatre.
Highlighting the challenges of the programme, he said some of the students struggled to get data to join classes virtually, and fare for onsite training and rehearsals.
Umoibom urged institutions, communities and religious organisations to partner by ensuring students had access to the free trainings.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the students showcased performances, including stage plays and short films, during the event.
One of the graduands, Favour Udechukwu, said the programme was an opportunity, and a dream fulfilled for her.
According to Udechukwu, who is also an undergraduate Computer Science student, she wants an opportunity into the creative industry as a scriptwriter.
“I expect to be a big movie star in the next three to four years,” she said. (NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Folasade Adeniran