Deep thoughts Lighthouse Creative Academy, Lagos, has called on the Federal Government to embed creative education into the national curriculum.
The founder of the academy, Opeyemi Akintunde, made this appeal during an exclusive interview with The PUNCH.
Such development, Akintunde said, will help to nurture young talents and equip them with practical skills that can contribute to the nation’s creative economy.
“My dream is to see creativity formally embedded into the school curriculum,” she said. “Right now, children who are artistically inclined have very few opportunities within the traditional school system. Creative subjects like storytelling, filmmaking, photography, and animation should be given the same priority as science and technology.”
Akintunde said her academy, since 2018, has been doing its bit through holiday creative. “Over the years, the academy has trained and mentored over 3,000 children and teenagers, teaching them skills ranging from scriptwriting and acting to cinematography and video editing.
“What we do during holidays is essentially what should already exist in schools,” she said.
“Creativity is a critical part of child development. In fact, with the right training, creative children can begin earning from their talents even before they finish secondary school.”
Akintunde argued that incorporating creative subjects into the curriculum would not only help students but would also strengthen Nigeria’s economy in the long term.
She compared the concept to football academies, where young talents are discovered and groomed from an early age.
“We’ve seen how football academies have produced professional players who represent Nigeria globally.
The same can happen with creative arts,” she said.
“If a child starts learning animation at age 11, by age 15, they could be creating content good enough to compete internationally.”
She further argued that the creative industry was a significant contributor to global economies, with sectors like film, media, advertising, and content creation generating billions of dollars annually.
Akintunde decried that Nigeria was underutilizing its creative potential by failing to institutionalize creative education.
“In other countries, you have arts-based schools where children study core academic subjects alongside creative ones—writing, drama, music, dance, animation, and more. This exposure helps them find their niche early.
But here, we focus heavily on traditional subjects, leaving creative children feeling out of place,” she lamented.
She stressed that creativity can be a healing tool, allowing children to process their emotions through storytelling, acting, or visual art.
“Many parents come to us saying their child has changed positively after attending the academy. That’s because we are not just training them in skills; we are mentoring them emotionally, mentally, and spiritually,” she explained.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first structured creative camp of its kind for young people in Nigeria,” she said. “It’s important to document and amplify this because innovation and impact deserve global recognition.”
She encouraged parents to send their children/wards to such creative camps.
“Our next camp will be held this April, and we’ll also have a larger one in August during the long vacation. Parents need to know that creative camps are not just fun; they are future-shaping experiences that help children discover purpose early,” she added.
“The creative economy is the future. Let’s prepare our children for it.”
