By Chukwuma Ajakah
On May 25, at the Stockholm Concert Hall, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden handed Canadian illustrator Jon Klassen the 2026 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. Five million kronor — about $530,000 (N704 million) — the world’s largest prize for children’s literature.
Created in 2002 by the Swedish government to honour Astrid Lindgren, the prize this year picked Klassen from 263 candidates in 74 countries. He is the 26th laureate. In 26 years, no African has won it.
Born in Winnipeg in 1981, Klassen came through animation — Coraline, Kung Fu Panda 2 — before I Want My Hat Back (2011). This Is Not My Hat made him the first to win both the American Caldecott and Britain’s Kate Greenaway Medal for the same book.
The jury: “Through his subtle and evocative storytelling in words and pictures, Jon Klassen opens new perspectives on our place in the universe.”
In Bologna where the win was announced, Klassen said: “This is incredible news. I’m so blown away.” In Stockholm: “I will spend as much time as possible going forward trying to express what this award means to me. It is truly life-changing.”
In Lagos, that life-changing line means something else entirely.
You cannot texture hunger
For illustrators who actually draw the books Nigerian children read, Klassen’s method is the luxury.
Dapo Adeola, whose Look Up! gave British publishing one of its first Black heroines to chart, puts it bluntly: the Nigerian system does not pay for slow looking. In Nigeria you are paid between N50 and N150 thousand flat per book, no royalties, full buyout. Klassen can spend a year on the texture of a rock because his backlist pays him while he looks. A Lagos illustrator must finish in ten days.
At roughly N704 million, Klassen’s single prize is over 4,600 times that top fee. “You cannot do evocative storytelling when the brief is ‘deliver tomorrow’,” Adeola remarks. “Craft needs time, and time needs a contract that allows it.”
Building the other pipeline
That is what Lola Shoneyin tried to break with the Lagos International Festival of Illustrations (LIFI) at Ouida House, Opebi.
After supplying libraries in Kaduna and finding most children’s books had no illustrations, or only imported ones, she said in 2025: “My writing and festival work has taken me to different countries where I have seen amazing children’s book festivals and illustrations. I kept asking myself, how can my people benefit from this?”
In 2025, LIFI trained 45 Nigerian illustrators with nine international facilitators from Spain, Slovenia and Latin America. In 2026, 36 more from Unilag and YabaTech. The brief was not “draw better” but “think in story.”
Her charge was that they should not aim to be merely good enough for the Nigerian market, but to become impossible for the global market to ignore.
Through the Nigeria Picture Book Project linked to LIFI, 20-25 new picture books written and illustrated by Nigerians were presented in Abuja on Oct 7 — some by illustrators who were at LIFI Year 1. The titles are now in distribution to schools and festival libraries, a first test of whether a locally-made picture book can compete with imports at scale.
Illustration is not a lesser art
Curator and Art Promoter Moses Ohiomokhare says this is where Nigeria misreads the profession.
“Art illustrators in Nigeria occupy a significant position between fine art, publishing, advertising, design, animation, education, and the expanding digital-creative economy. Their prospects are significant, but the profession still faces structural challenges,” he says.
He lists them: limited recognition as a profession — many are still regarded simply as “artists” or graphic designers, making it difficult to establish fees, contracts and IP rights; low and inconsistent remuneration; weak copyright enforcement — work copied from social media and reused without payment; clients choosing AI because it is fast and cheap; limited publishing opportunities despite a large population and strong storytelling traditions; lack of agents and knowledge of global licensing; high cost of tablets, software and reliable internet.
But, Ohiomokhare argues, the AI threat is also the opening: “This also creates an opportunity for illustrators who can offer original human authorship, cultural knowledge, storytelling and artistic direction.”
His bigger point is what Nigeria already owns: “Nigeria has something extremely valuable: stories that the world has not yet fully seen. Nigerian mythology, traditional festivals, architecture, textiles, masks, sculpture, historical personalities and oral traditions provide an enormous visual vocabulary. Benin, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Efik, Nupe and other Nigerian artistic traditions can inspire contemporary illustration without simply reproducing traditional objects.”
His closer: “The future of Nigerian illustration lies not merely in producing images for clients, but in creating visual intellectual property rooted in Nigerian stories, culture and imagination. Illustration is not a lesser form of fine art or merely a commercial service — it is a major form of cultural storytelling and economic production.”
Talent is not the problem
Interdisciplinary artist Adenle Adetunwase, four-time Guinness World Records holder and founder of Slum Arts Animation Hub, pushes that argument from the margins to the centre.
“I believe there is a very bright future for Nigerian artists in illustration, but we need to begin looking at illustration beyond drawing and painting. Illustration is a powerful tool for storytelling, education, entertainment, advertising, publishing, animation and cultural preservation,” he says.
“From my experience as an artist, art educator and animation teacher for over a decade, I have seen how much creative talent exists among young Nigerians. We have incredible artists who can compete on the global stage. What we often lack is the right infrastructure, exposure, platforms, investment and access to international markets.”
For Adenle, the biggest opportunity is the same one Ohiomokhare names — stories. “Nigeria has thousands of untold stories, from our history and culture to our everyday experiences. These stories can become illustrated books, comics, animation, educational materials, films and digital content that can travel beyond our borders.”
On AI, he is pragmatic: “With the emergence of artificial intelligence and other digital tools, the illustration industry is also evolving. Rather than seeing technology as a threat, I believe Nigerian artists should embrace it as an opportunity to expand their creativity, productivity and reach. However, the human imagination, cultural identity and originality of the artist must remain central.”
And on Klassen’s prize: “The recent recognition of a Swedish illustrator with a major financial prize is a reminder that illustration can be a serious profession with significant economic value. We need to create similar opportunities in Nigeria where illustrators are recognised, rewarded and given platforms to grow.”
“We are also exploring how young people from underserved communities can use these creative tools to express themselves and participate in the global creative economy,” he adds. “My position is simple: Nigerian illustrators do not lack talent; we need an ecosystem that recognises, develops, commercialises and rewards that talent. I believe illustration has the potential to create jobs, preserve our cultural heritage, influence education and position Nigeria as a major contributor to the global creative industry.”
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