A Visionary in Animation
Blessing Amidu has always had a deep passion for animation. Her enthusiasm is evident in the way she speaks, the way she supports her points, and how easily she shares facts. Although she spent most of her career in the oil and gas industry, her knowledge shows that she is confident in the world of animation.
Her love for animation began in childhood when she was a big fan of cartoons. Some of her favorites included ‘Bigfoot and Wildboy,’ ‘Voltron: The Defender of the Universe,’ and ‘Deadman.’ Despite excelling in art subjects, she chose to study sciences at university. Coming from a family of lawyers, she wanted to stand out and initially pursued Medicine. When she didn’t meet the requirements, she opted for Geology.
Yet, her mind still tugged at the creative arts. She wrote and produced plays, often taking lead or supporting roles.
Five years ago, she entered the animation world with ‘Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters (LBMM).’ This animated feature film became Nigeria’s first cinematic release and it didn’t end there. It won awards, including Best Feature-Length Animated Film at the 2021 Africa Movie Academy Awards (AMAA), Best Animated Feature at the 2021 Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), and Best Feature-Length Animation at the Kwetu International Animation Film Festival (KIAFF) in 2022.
LBMM was also officially selected at several global film festivals, including Annecy International Animation Film Festival (France, 2021), Animatiba (Brazil, 2021), Pan-African Film Festival (USA, 2021), and Maoriland Film Festival (New Zealand, 2021).
Now, Amidu is back with another animation. This time, a sequel to LBMM, a 13-episode series titled ‘Secrets of the Multiverse (SOTM).’
The LBMM spinoff tells the story of two children who, upon accidentally entering a multiverse, are thrust into a perilous realm where their choices could determine the fate of their world.
“It’s a world of danger that challenges not just their survival, but their sense of morality,” said Amidu in a recent chat. “The kids must stop an extinction-level event from destroying everything they hold dear.”
For Amidu, the story goes deeper than adventure.
“This particular story is about leadership and all the sides to it,” she explained. “It depends on how one wants to look at it. It can be fear, a threat to life, maybe scarcity and aggravation. It basically looks at how far a leader is willing to go to protect his people and the choices that may stare him in the face.”
The animated series also weighs on the morality of the people. “Their actions, their choices, and the benefits of their citizens. And then it also bears critical thinking to determine the value of life and the extent of morality necessary to justify a wrong. Is it good to commit a crime as long as you know it benefits your people? Is that said crime justifiable? Is it unpunishable?”
Like LBMM, Amidu is passing a message of resilience and determination to young audiences.
“The aim of this project is to remind teenagers and young adults that they can go on to do or to achieve anything they set their minds to. You will always achieve more with a little bit more determination and resilience,” she said.
“SOTM will show them that they can do a lot more than they have set their minds to achieve, and also, with collaboration and relationships, with teamwork, they can always exceed their limits.”
It’s a mother and daughter affair as Amidu revealed that her daughter, Emmanuella, penned the sequel.
“After the premiere of LBMM, we knew we were going to have a sequel,” she explained, but getting the right story proved more difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.
“I began looking for writers to get us a story. Apart from the fact that it was quite expensive, I wasn’t getting what I thought would be a good story. One of the things that set me off, actually, was when somebody told me that to write an episode of an animated series would be about $3,000 per episode. This was about three years ago. I was shocked. I began to look inwards. I could write it, but I’ve been quite busy.”
In the midst of this frustration, she remembered that her daughter wrote short stories.
“I stumbled on my daughter’s talents. I had asked her to write a few short stories, and as God would have it, one of the short stories she wrote added so much potential for expansion that I just asked her to write six episodes.”
“I just wanted something different,” said the 19-year-old Emmanuella. “I wanted something that kids wouldn’t be able to forget about, something that would blow their minds away, something that would go viral. Touch the hearts of children all over the world, and not just children, but also adults.”
While the Nigerian animation industry is steadily growing, with international projects like ‘Iwájú’ and studios such as Magic Carpet and Spoof Animation gaining recognition, major challenges persist: access to the right talent, technical limitations, funding, and distribution.
“And, of course, the environment. Was the Nigerian environment ready for animation? For foreign animation, we probably were. But prior to 2020, we weren’t sure if Nigerians could produce something of great quality, such as we did with LBMM,” Amidu said.
She added that funding remains one of the biggest hurdles.
“Funding is still a challenge, except you’re going to get grants. Otherwise, you still need to meet the minimum requirements to raise funding for animation. Even with the Bank of Industry (BOI), you still need to meet a certain requirement to get the funding. Animation is very expensive when compared to regular live action.”
Animation budgets, she revealed, could start from N500 million and go far higher.
“Depending on what you want to put in there. And when I say N500 million, that’s a small budget. Outside of the country, animation can cost as much as $10 million, $20 million, or even $1 billion.”
Distribution also poses a hurdle.
“With strong distribution comes strong quality. Platforms like Netflix have strict standards for animation, and LBMM exceeded those criteria–that’s why it was accepted. But many creators have finished projects sitting in their studios because they don’t know where to sell them or who will pay for them. Without proper distribution channels, profitability is impossible. Some studios end up selling to small platforms for peanuts. We need to invest in distribution so our stories can truly go global.”
To overcome these barriers, Amidu is reuniting with Adebisi Adetayo, who directed LBMM. Adetayo is the co-founder and technical director of 32AD Animation Studio. He also worked on the HBO critically acclaimed series ‘Game of Thrones.’ Co-directing with him is famed Hollywood animation expert Robert Sledge, whose career spans major studios including Warner Bros., Disney, and DreamWorks Animation.
“I think collaboration is the way to go,” she said of the partnership. “It is about forging relationships and partnerships and expanding new frontiers, and getting to do more than planned. When you work together in partnerships, relationships or collaborations, it often tends to take you farther than expected. You tend to achieve much more than if you had journeyed alone originally. So I see it as an opportunity for both sides to learn from each other; knowledge sharing, technology sharing, so the creative synergy overflows easily.”
Amidu has lofty plans for SOTM, which will be released in two parts: the first in 2026 and the second in early 2027. There is a bake-off competition in the works, and plans to cast notable local and international actors.
For now, Amidu, an entrepreneur, certified management consultant, and humanitarian, is ready to shake the industry again with SOTM, just as she did with LBMM.
