For people like Ayodele Elegba – Convener, Lagos Comic Con and CEO, Spoof Animation, telling the world that Nigerian creatives can compete comfortably with the rest of the world is the goal.

The seventh edition of Lagos Comic Convention known as “Lagos Comic-Con” held September 15, 2018, at the Landmark Event Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos themed: Aspire, Dream, Prosper. and he had some things to say in this interview with YNaija.

Do you think Lagos Comic Con has achieved much through the years?

I think Lagos Comic Con has done a lot in terms of helping the creative space grow. I know a number of people, especially young attendees of previous editions who have started their businesses and tapping into their own talents.

The idea is to make sure creative minds, aspire to be become something in the creative industry, dream as big as they can, and prosper in that light – just like the theme of this year’s edition.

Since Lagos Comic Con started years ago, the industry has grown exponentially – 300 percent I am sure. We now have more people calling from abroad to appreciate and patronise our creative industry.

ICYMI: Lagos Comic-Con 2018 to hold this September

How would you rate the success of Lagos Comic Con?

Well, our mission statement is still being pursued, so I can say we are doing very well.

More people want to be animators, illustrators, comic book writers, even parents encourage their kids to go into this creative space.

What inspired Lagos Comic Con?

I had a dream to see a new world.  I had a dream to see people from the comic, animation industry come together in one space. They interact and share ideas that grow the industry – together.

I did not want to be ashamed doing comics, animation, I wanted a gathering of like minds where we can be free to express ourselves without boundaries.

What impact do you think the convention has had on gamers, animators and illustrators considering they are more or less like in a secluded space?

To be fair on creative people, we are naturally shy people who just want to be in a corner creating stuff, so the convention has helped and will continue to help young creative minds come out, even to the world and showcase what they got.

It is a success that these people have a space when they can share their ideas and showcase their creativity.

What is the message of the convention?

One of the major lessons we aim to pass is that the creative industry has come to stay. It is a money earner, it is a job creation tool. The government and the private sector should be looking into this industry and investing in it.

Take a look at the billion-dollar Hollywood industry, we can do that here. Oil has made it’s money, the new money is the creative industry.

Why can’t we have content that is strictly local, with more or less no Western influence, especially using the platform of Lagos Comic Con?

Whether we like it or not, we cannot separate indigenous content with Western culture.

Besides, we have to continue to create content that is standard. We can’t say because we want to create indigenous content, we push out suboptimal stuff. We should instead be creating content that the outside world will relate with.