Terra Academy for the Arts (TAFTA), founded by Bolanle Austen-Peters, the filmmaker, has graduated 8,000 students in various creative disciplines including scriptwriting, animation, light and sound design.
The academy’s third graduation ceremony, themed ‘Celebrating Creative Transformations’ took place on Friday at the Terra Kulture Arena in Victoria Island, Lagos.
The event featured a procession, a keynote address by Rosy Fynn, country director of the Mastercard Foundation, and the awarding of certificates.
Participants also showcased their work in short films, theatre, and social media content.
Speaking at the event, Austen-Peters described the academy as a “social transformation initiative” aimed at bridging key expertise gaps while promoting gender equality in Nigeria’s creative industries.
She expressed pride in the growing number of women pursuing training in stage lighting, sound design, and animation.
She also encouraged organisations to support the recognition of the students’ transformation and the academy’s broader impact.
“TAFTA, born from the legacy of Terra Kulture, is a social transformation project committed to upskilling young creatives in vital technical fields and fostering gender equality,” she said.
“Today’s graduation celebrates the remarkable journey of our students, adding to the over 30,000 individuals we have trained, with more than 19,000 recorded to have secured work so far.
“We are particularly proud of the growing number of talented female stage lighting, sound design, and animation artists emerging from our programs.
“We invite corporations to join us in recognising their transformation and the broader impact of TAFTA.”
Adepegba Emmanuel, one of the participants, also recalled how her training at TAFTA served as a turning point in her career.
“TAFTA truly transformed my understanding of the creative industry and my writing career,” she said .
“The programme equipped me with practical skills, boosted my confidence, and connected me with a valuable network, directly leading to my first content writing role.”
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