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22-year-old Layi Wasabi, born Olayiwola Isaac, is one of Nigeria’s most popular digital content creators. On the night of May 11, 2024, he won an Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA), the annual show that awards excellence in African cinema and television.
Since he went viral in 2021 for his skits on social media, Layi Wasabi has come to take a seat at the mainstream table. This is a timeline of his journey.
2021: Layi Wasabi started creating content
In December 2021, Layi was a law undergraduate at Bowen University when his comedy video about blocking your mum from viewing your WhatsApp status went viral, thanks to Instagram bloggers like YabaLeftOnline and Tunde Ednut. Since then, he has launched popular video characters like Professor, The Law, Officer Robert and Life Coach.
2022: Brand partnerships and cashing out
Throughout the year, he made viral videos with his comedy characters. He was also featured in various paid campaigns with big brands like Chicken Republic, Flutterwave, Laughing Out Loud Naija, Ladipoe, and Trophy Lager beer.
June 2023: Management deal
On June 23, 2023, Layi Wasabi went from handling his content creation business to being signed to Penzaaraville Africa, a talent management company known for working with brands like Bolt, Red Bull and Wema Bank
July 2023: Layi at Trendupp Awards
Layi won the Emerging Force award at the 2023 Trendupp Awards, an award ceremony for Nigeria’s digital content creators.
September 2023: Revelation of the Year
Layi caught the attention of the Wale Adenuga Production’s Nigerian Comedy Awards and won their Revelation of the Year award. The same month, he was nominated for The Future Awards Africa’s Content Creation prize.
February 2024: “Anikulapo” announcement
On February 1, 2024, Layi Wasabi announced on his page that he would star in the TV series spin-off of Kunle Afolayan’s hit movie, “Anikulapo”.
March 2024: Meta’s Creators of Tomorrow and AMVCA nomination
On March 14, Layi was among the five Nigerian content creators selected by the Instagram and Meta communities. 11 days later, Layi was nominated for Best Digital Content Creator at the 2024 African Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA).
May 2024: Layi won an AMVCA
The Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) is among the biggest African film awards. In its 10th edition, Layi Wasabi won the Best Digital Content Creator award.
Every week, Zikoko seeks to understand how people move the Naira in and out of their lives. Some stories will be struggle-ish, others will be bougie. All the time, it’ll be revealing.
What’s your earliest memory of money?
My dad left our family — my mum and younger sibling — when I was 11, and I remember a lot of anger on my mum’s part. Figuring out how to provide for us on her civil servant’s salary was a lot for her. Even when my dad was around, he wasn’t the provider. So, there was no love and money at home, and she took the frustrations out on me and my sibling. There was one time she just came home and slapped me for no reason after I opened the door for her.
Ah
It was a toxic environment. There was a period where she called me an idiot almost every day without cause. Whenever a visitor was around, she’d make sure to publicly humiliate and insult me or find something to accuse me of. She barely talked to me unless she wanted to give me a chore.
Escaping her became part of my prayer points. It’s why I started hustling for money the moment I entered the university in 2008. My allowance was ₦2,500/week, but I wanted to reduce my dependence on my mum, so I set up a phone call business.
How does one set up a phone call business?
I just needed my phone and airtime. I charged ₦20 for calls between one second and one minute. The price doubled based on how long the call went, and I used what I made to buy airtime. Combining business with school was tough for profitability because I only had time to work in the evenings. I realised I wasn’t making anything after some weeks, so I stopped.
Between 2008 and 2011, I did a few other things for money. My major gig was writing exams for GCE and WAEC students.
Tell me more
Tutorial centres wanted their students to pass, so they’d arrange with the parents and invigilators to get people like me to impersonate the student in the exam hall. I was usually paid ₦30k for four major subjects. I regularly got those gigs during exam season.
When I wasn’t writing exams, I was gambling with the little money I had. The only thing on my mind was making money, and sports betting brought me hope that I could make it big one day. I didn’t make it big; in fact, I lost more money than I won. I eventually made my first million, but it wasn’t from gambling.
How did it happen?
I was a fan of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” and tried to get on the show three times before I got in. There was a code you had to send to a number in order to get invited, and they invited me after I did it the third time. This was in 2011, and I was in my final year.
I went on the show and walked away with ₦1m, though I didn’t get the money till 2012. They taped the shows months in advance, and winners got paid only after the show aired. I got ₦900k because there was a 10% tax deduction.
When I got the money, I stopped going home and cut off my mum. I was finally independent and didn’t need to endure the toxicity. Plus, she saw me on the show and started billing me. I didn’t want that.
What did you spend the money on then?
I decided to set up a business centre on campus. But first, I wanted to multiply the money. So, I turned to sports betting again. In my mind, I only needed to reduce the risk by reducing the number of bets I made on a single ticket.
This is how sports betting works: You can have several bets on a single ticket to increase the value of your possible winnings. But the challenge with that is, you have a lesser chance of winning. For example, if you predict 10 games, all have to be correct before you win. You can win 9, but one wrong prediction will “cut” the ticket.
Knowing that, I decided I’d have better chances of winning if I reduced the number of games I staked on a ticket and placed bigger bets. I made bets worth ₦30k – ₦50k per ticket. I lost more than I won. But I kept playing, hoping to recover what I’d lost. But every gambler knows that hardly works out.
Oh no. Did you gamble away all the money?
I lost about ₦600k. I did manage to set up a business centre, but it was smaller than I planned. I also couldn’t afford a prime business location.
It cost ₦300k to set up and buy equipment — a computer, printer, photocopier and laminating machine. After that, I had ₦100k left, and then I fell sick. The rest of the money went into treatment.
Sadly, the business centre packed up after three months. The location affected business since it was far from where students frequented, and I was forced to close shop and sell off the equipment. I used the ₦80k I made after selling to just hold body.
I still feel terrible that I gambled away that opportunity, but it helped curb my gambling addiction. You can call me a casual gambler now: I still bet once in a while but with smaller amounts — the highest I go is ₦2k/month, and I only bet during game weekends. I can’t go back to losing more than half a million.
Got it. What did you do after the business packed up?
After I graduated from the university in 2012, I started writing projects for undergraduate and postgraduate students. I charged between ₦30k – ₦50k per project. The business took off quickly, and I regularly got referrals. I was even able to rent a ₦150k/year one-room apartment.
I still do this today, but my services now include conducting academic research and, sometimes, data analysis for my student client base. I started having foreign clients (mostly Nigerians abroad) in 2020 when some of my clients travelled abroad for school and began to call and refer me for their coursework and assignments.
How much do you currently make in an average month?
Between ₦150k – ₦300k/month. However, work is slower at the beginning of the semester. The middle to end of the semester is when things get busy. This only applies to my foreign clients with stable academic calendars, though. Nigeria is a different ball game. ASUU can strike at any time and resume when they want.
So, I depend more on my foreign clients. At least, with them, you’re sure of at least six assignments in a month.
What’s the most difficult thing about your job?
Nigerian lecturers. Too many of them make ridiculous corrections on projects, and there’s no consistency in the quality of work they accept. You can write a project, and one supervisor loves it, but take it to another supervisor, and he says you’ve done rubbish. It’s exhausting. Some of them are just wicked.
Back to your finances. What’s your relationship with money like?
I try to live reasonably within my means and save, but unexpected expenses consistently scatter my plans. Top of that list is hospital bills. I’m a regular customer of malaria and typhoid. I think I just have a poor immune system.
I reconciled with my mum in 2015 — I got tired of staying away — so black tax regularly takes my money too.
I’m also looking to increase my income. I can’t continue with this one source. I recently started taking data science and analysis courses on Udemy, and I hope to land tech opportunities soon.
Let’s break down your monthly expenses
I hardly spend on transportation because I walk to the university, where I use a relaxation centre as a free makeshift office. There’s electricity and a place to sit, so I only need my laptop and data.
Savings only happen in good months when I’m not ill. Most times, I spend it on medication. I currently only have about ₦130k saved up.
Curious. Do you have other plans if a tech career doesn’t work out?
I’m currently doing some research on YouTube and following creators who share the different ways people make money online daily, and I’m honestly open to trying all the options available to me. I intend to diversify my income sources and start earning a significant dollar income. And I hope to do that with content creation. I’m actively planning to start a comedy skit-based YouTube channel in 2024.
Interesting. This came out of nowhere
I think it’ll be an opportunity for me to meet people. I’m not someone who makes friends easily. But if I achieve a level of fame with comedy — which I believe I will — I’ll be able to lead a more exciting life.
Plus, I’ve seen how these people who do skits live. They’re making serious money, and I know I have the right ideas that will get people to subscribe, engage and help me get to my earn-in-dollars goal. I’ve done my research on content distribution, too. I have a website, which I intend to sponsor with Google Ads to generate traffic. I’ll share some of my skit videos via the website and also direct visitors to my YouTube.
Have you considered what you need to start?
I’ll need some creator tools like a microphone and ring light, and I’ll also need to improve my video editing skills. With ₦40k, I should be able to buy the tools I need. I’ll start small and grow from there.
Rooting for you. Is there any other thing you want right now but can’t afford?
A car. ₦3m would get me a decent car, but I don’t have that right now.
Is there anything you wish you could be better at financially?
Knowing the right skills to invest my time in which would be financially beneficial to me in the long run. I think I’m already on the right path, but I want all the knowledge.
How would you rate your financial happiness on a scale of 1 – 10?
4. I can afford my basic needs, but I need to earn far more to improve my quality of life, and I’m not there yet.
If you’re interested in talking about your Naira Life story, this is a good place to start.
Upcoming Nollywood film Bank Alert has been trending since its trailer was released on November 13, 2023. The funny dialogue and the sight of the OG actors in the trailer has also helped build anticipation.
But while we wait for the official release, we’ve looked around and found a few interesting details about the film.
Bank Alert
From the title we can tell one of its central themes will be about money. Its plot centres on a struggling family man, Sammy, who suddenly receives a whopping sum of ₦500m in his bank account. This man has no idea who the sender is but goes ahead to spend the money lavishly and puts his loved ones in harm’s way.
Comedy-drama
According to the producer, this is a comic film. Imagine the hilariousness when Okey Bakassi makes a statement about money ritual and Kanayo in a scene that has actor Kanayo O. Kanayo, the man he referenced in it.
But Bank Alert is also a crime film, and it follows how the people of the underworld try to recover their ₦500 million.
Trailer Alert 🚨🚨 🚨 So proud of the work the cast and crew of Bank Alert put in to make this project what it is. Producer – @WingoniaIkpi . November is ending on a solid note. Witness this comedy-drama in cinemas Nationwide November 24th RT for friends and families#BankAlertpic.twitter.com/NAHqWQDZ1n
The director of Bank Alert is Akay Mason. His previous directorial projects include Elevator Baby and Love In Pandemic. Wingonia Ikpi serves as the producer, collaborating with Sterling Bank and production companies, FilmOne Studio, Trino Motion Pictures and Tribal Marks Media.
Okey Bakassi
Aside from playing the lead actor, Okey Bakassi is also the co-producer of Bank Alert. Although not his first acting gig, this film is his first big-screen project.
Veteran cast
This film will give us a line-up of OGs actors like Taiwo Hassan (AKA Ogogo), Tina Mba, Kanayo O. Kanayo and Kate Henshaw. We’re in for a stellar performance.
Cinema date
The cinema release date is set for November 24th, 2023. In my opinion, this is a smart move from the team — it’s a day before salaries begin hitting bank accounts.
People bant that funny Nigerian women can be counted on one hand, but these women don’t make some of the funniest content right now to not be credited for it.
Nigerian women are not funny, to make it worse they lack good sense of humor!
It doesn’t matter what the content of her discussion is, the hilariousness in it will choke you more than Abuja yam. Even if you’re not a listener of the I Said What I Said podcast she co-hosts with Feyikemi Abudu, one or two rib-cracking tweets from her X handle, @Jollz, must have crossed your timeline. She’s been funny AF before Twitter turned X — see evidence.
The live band gave us a version of “Wild Thoughts” that I think should be named “He do usually get wild thoughts” because the accent ehn
Born Maryam Apaokagi, Taaooma is currently one of the most popular faces in the Nigerian funny content creation sector — shoutout to her purple lace gown and peach “gele”. Her comedy explores family, parenting and adulthood. Her character is a Gen Z babe from a typical, strict Nigerian house, relating with her fictional family members, Tayo, Mama Tao and Daddy Tao, all played by Maryam. She’s built a large fanbase of almost one million YouTube subscribers off her funny content and collaborations.
Hauwa L
Hauwa Lawal, a.k.a. Hauwa L, is a digital content creator, but most prefer to call her a “goat”. She does funny storytelling that leaves you wondering what her thought process is like. Hauwa pieces the most absurd stories together and delivers them innocently.
Aderonke Adepoju has funny videos that date back to 2021. Her “Mummy Wale” and “Wale” characters are some of the funniest funny characters online right now. It centres on Wale, who introduces different potential wives to his mother, Mummy Wale. None of the relationships have worked out so far. I wonder what type of babe we’ll see next week. She also does some pretty hilarious Mummy G.O impressions.
You may know Chinasa for her popular YouTube show, Is This Seat Taken, which shows a bit of her funny side. But she actually does stand-up comedy as well. One of her classics is, “Adulthood is like auditioning for The Wedding Party, then finding yourself on the set of King of Boys.”
Lara Billionaire
A part of @larabillionaire’s X bio reads that she’s an upcoming mysterious babe — may be why her media is stacked with some of the most hilarious videos you’ll find on the internet. But also if you’ve seen her “terrible joke came to my head” tweets like her “parmesan cheese” one, you know her account is a straight follow. Even Layi Wasabi made a blockbuster internet comedy from one of Lara’s evergreen, funny threads.[ad][/ad]
Nobody:
Yoruba actors linking a babe: *pours her juice* so shey ibi bayi o divvicot lati get?
The first Swit Ope (born Ope Keshinro) video I saw was her recreation of Nigerian prophet FKA Indaboski’s sermon scene, in which she masterfully displayed his mannerisms. Her niche is religion and spirituality.
HAPPY SUNDAY. A woman with big waist wants to snatch Mummy Tony’s husband 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/BGlSbDZSoF
In a riot of colourful wigs, lipsticks, eyeliner and makeup, Gabrielle “Aunty Flora” Omozele satirises the day-to-day Nigerian experiences. Watch her back and forth with AI and decide yourself if she’s funny or not.
Chidera Onoh
Chidera is a medical student who’s into comedy, and she kills it. Her content revolves around school life and other life experiences. If you haven’t seen Africa’s Best Mosquito Killer, run to YouTube now.
Dammy Bubbles
You may know Damilola Bello, a.k.a Dammy Bubbles, by her X handle “@_dammyB_” — she’s a growth partner for Flutterwave popularly known amplify small businesses and her community that helps them achieve growth. But her second job is being a funny woman.
How can you leave me standing for almost 5 HOURSSSSSS and think you will win grammy.
Layi Wasabi’s latest video had me in stitches for minutes, until it didn’t. Our man was cracking me up but lowkey dropping aspire-to-perspire gems that had me thinking about my life.
I took the trouble of compiling 10 Layi Wasabi quotes because, at the end of the day, “it’s information that makes one fly.”
You’re poor, but you’re intelligent
Knowledge is power. If it doesn’t pay your bills today, wait till tomorrow.
A person that doesn’t like to spend money will spend money in a way that he doesn’t like
This is your cue to spend your money on the things that matter or risk spending double on the things that don’t.
A true prince doesn’t collect loan
Don’t go around choosing expensive names for yourself. You might be pushing your helpers away.
You cannot have a job in China if you don’t have a degree in Sardine linguistics
Yes, school na scam. But make sure you graduate and get your certificate first.
Be you so high, the law is above you
The law doesn’t give a shit about who you are. Tread carefully.
Are you willing to give your life for what you want?
An important question to ask when you find yourself slaving away for capitalism.
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The lack of self-motivation is why the chicken cannot fly, she isn’t the biggest bird. Believe in yourself like an eagle, not a chicken.
So, who are you? The chicken or the eagle? Introspect, please.
Now you know what you must do if you want to live long.
Hard work pays, but minimum wage
So, do you want to work hard or work smart? Think about it.
You’ll have your fill of grilled, peppered or fried meat and many more at Zikoko’s meat festival on November 11. Have you bought your Burning Ram ticket? You can do that real quick here.
Imagine a world where real life was actually Instagram lite, and people talked the same way they wrote their Instagram captions. What would that be like?
Hits blunt
They would make absolutely no sense
You’d be in a work meeting, trying your best to contribute your quota to capitalism and justify your salary, when your boss asked people to share ideas on a subject.
Of course, you’d immediately try to look like you’re busy thinking, even though all that’s in your head is how you forgot to warm yesterday’s leftover rice. And then the office oversabi would blurt out: “This idea felt cute, but I might delete it later”.
LMAO. You say what?
Communication? We don’t know her
On your way home, while thinking about the madness that transpired at the office, you’d jump on a danfo, ready to put the stress of the work day behind you, when you came across another wonder.
The conductor would angle his neck towards where you’re sitting beside the driver and gesture to his head. It’ll take a couple of minutes before you notice his t-shirt says, “Double-tap conductor’s head to support his brand”.
There would be a slight language barrier — and I don’t mean normal human language
You’d finally get to your bus stop, but first deciding to branch the market close to your house first to buy spaghetti for dinner, you’d meet yet another surprise.
You (to the seller): Please give me one pack of spaghetti.
Seller: This spaghetti is the best one in the market, and with shikini money, you’ll get free delivery within Lagos and Abeokuta.
You: Madam, which one is delivery again? I just want to buy and go, please.
Seller: Click the link in bio to shop the best spag. Hashtag Spaghetti sellers in Lagos, hashtag sellers of Instagram, hashtag sexy cooks in…
You: …
Confusion would reign supreme
You’d finally get home only to find your girlfriend and her besties posing in front of your door, looking sexy AF.
You: Babe, I didn’t know you were coming. What’s happening?
Babe: Happiness is being yourself.
You: I don’t get.
Babe: Looking good, doing better.
You: Is everybody alright today?
Babe (in a new pose): In love with me, myself and I.
You: …
Babe (in another pose): Only God can judge me.
You: When you people finish, you know where your house is.
You’d finally enter the apartment, confused as hell, only to wake up the next day to realise… every day would be the exact same thing.
Femi Fani-Kayode, a former federal minister, and Dino Melaye, a former senator, have exactly two things in common — they’ve both been in the same Nollywood film and possess an abundant lack of shame. Both men have years of political experience under their belts, but their most visible contribution to Nigerian politics has been farcical comedy.
On the one hand, Fani-Kayode is unintentionally hilarious because he takes himself too seriously and shoots off wacky conspiracy theories like evil spirits directing Nigeria’s affairs.
On the other hand, Dino Melaye is a deeply intentional comedian with his skits and theatrics, including dodging a court appearance by faking a kidnap story that involved hiding on a treetop for 11 hours.
Together, Fani-Kayode and Melaye are both the unstoppable force and immovable object of political comedy in Nigeria. And they clashed on social media this week.
Who started it?
On September 4th, 2022, Fani-Kayode called for the arrest of Melaye and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for alleged corruption. He said Melaye confessed in an interview that PDP governors spent money on delegates to elect party chairman, Iyorchia Ayu, in 2021, violating electoral laws.
And because Fani-Kayode can’t do without speaking big English, he called the PDP “a party of scammers, carpet-baggers, vote-procurers, petty thieves, pickpockets and yahoo-yahoo criminals.”
Fani-Kayode also warned the Nigerian police to take action or he’d be forced to drag the PDP to court. You see, unintentional comedian.
How did Melaye take it?
Melaye didn’t take Fani-Kayode’s finger-pointing too well when he issued his own response hours later. First, he said the comment his nemesis referred to was from an old interview — as if that changes anything — and devolved into his own round of name-calling like “bootlicker”, “drug addict” and “a serial hustler around food dispensers”.
And this was when the real war moved to the worst place imaginable: Twitter.
A timeline of insults… and skits
Fani-Kayode spent much of September 5th calling Melaye an “asslicker” and drug addict with tweets like this:
He days Dino was taking drugs with him the night before? Tell us more!
On September 6th, Melaye played his next card: a clip of the current Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, accusing Fani-Kayode of embezzling over ₦2 billion during his tenure as Minister of Aviation between 2006 and 2007. Melaye now added his own jara that Fani-Kayode spent the money on drugs.
Fani-Kayode responded with his own video “proof” that Amaechi’s allegation was bogus. He also found it in his heart to call Melaye a “fat, desperate, mannerless, filthy and uncouth plebian, peasant and clown”.
He refused to post my response to the allegation on the same day and on the same programme.
Needless to say I proved that every allegation that Ameachi made was baseless. …2
And back to the battleground, Fani-Kayode posted this hilarious video of Melaye seriously play-acting to avoid police detention. He also dropped some mean words mixed with homophobia, because that’s who this former minister is.
A grown man, weeping and crying and crawling all over the floor simply because he was arrested.
I have never seen such weakness and cowardice.
Is this the man that wants to lead the charge for a serious presidential contender?
And Melaye was quick to reply that with, “And so?”
FFK l posted this picture myself in 2010 as a member of House of Reps showing how much l like garri Ijebu. I have never hidden the fact that am from a very poor background. I am proud of my past, my present and my future. Won 3 National elections and have a second address. pic.twitter.com/m2XcyGQ3L9
We really just have some sympathy for those bodyguards and hangers-on who were dragged into the production of these skits to earn their urgent ₦2k. Also, it wasn’t a great day for interior decor.
So, who won?
After dragging each other back and forth for three days, Melaye tweeted that he’d no longer dignify a politically-irrelevant Fani-Kayode with more responses.
I will no longer dignify someone who is irrelevant and not in the political scheme of things. No more response to statements made under influence. Am 100% focused on APC and the colossal failure and calamity they brought upon us. We in the PDP through Atiku will rescue Nigeria.
And Fani-Kayode graciously accepted the ceasefire by calling Melaye a lipstick-wearing pig. He also hinted that the ceasefire happened because “leaders” intervened behind the scenes.
…"politically relevant" and who is in the "political scheme of things" and who is not. Out of respect to the leaders who intervened, unless and until the ceasefire is violated, I will not pay any more attention to the unlearned & uncultured. Instead I will focus on doing… 2/
In 2019, Christian Obi, popular as the “Igbo Wolf”, made his first “official” Instagram skit.
Before then, he just made videos for fun, sharing them with his “two followers on Instagram”. But he soon got tired of making skits because his old LG mobile was barely holding on for life.
Two years later, in August 2021, he bought an iPhone and decided to start making video skits again. But he couldn’t have imagined how ready the world was for his content. He went viral just two days after he bought the phone.
The natural thing to do would’ve been to ride on this popularity and milk the content style as much as possible, but Igbo Wolf didn’t do that. He wasn’t confident having not done comedy for a while. So he took a step back.
“With TikTok,” he tells me. “You don’t need to create original content.” Since Tiktokers can remix other creators’ content or just hop on trending sounds, he decided to hang around in that space for a while.
But one afternoon in early 2021, he remembered a former classmate in secondary school. The student, Kunle Ogunfowokan, had a teacher who always mispronounced his name with a deep Igbo intonation. Christian had an idea. He swiped to his Camera app and recorded a skit which would quickly become another internet sensation.
The idea was simple: take on an Igbo lecturer persona, who he named Professor Uwa (pronounced “Pro-fess-uu-wa”) and do a roll call of Yoruba student names which had lewd or negative meanings in Igbo. But a mistake happened while shooting that would launch him into pop-culture relevance.
“When making videos, I don’t like cutting and joining,” Igbo Wolf says. “So I have to do everything right in one take.” So while filming, after his Professor Uwa character listed out the Yoruba names, he forgot his lines at the end. But he needed a conclusion, so he said, “Dazz ya name?” on the spot and ended the video.
“It made me cringe,” Igbo Wolf tells me, “And I wanted to remove it.” But he eventually decided to let it stay anyway. “Instinct,” He recalls. “I just said, ‘let me leave it there.’”
When he posted the video on Twitter at 6:24 p.m. on September 21st, 2021, he didn’t expect his line to become an internet meme. “The next morning, I started seeing, ‘Dazz ya name’ everywhere!”
It took him some time to remember that he’d even used the line, as he had to rewatch the video himself to see and hear it. To this day, he still doesn’t understand why people like the phrase, but as long as it gets the people going, he’s happy with it.
However, Igbo Wolf is not one to rest on his laurels. While he initially rode on its popularity, releasing viral video after video, he decided to retire the Professor Uwa character. His reason? He sees himself as an actor and wants to continue evolving.
And his broad portfolio of comic personas is a testament to his creative ability. Several more characters have hit the limelight. From the frowning Work Chris who’s ironically always happy to go to work, to the toxic, uber-religious RonkeHR; his characters touch across relatable themes in Nigeria’s youth culture.
When asked how he consistently hits the Nigerian youth cultural nerve, he admits that his characters are a reflection of his state of mind at the time he creates them. When people see comic characters living out their reality, they fuck with them. Take the “happy” Chris meme, for example.
In December 2021, Igbo Wolf’s year-end holiday was restful. For the first time in a long while, he took a break from his product manager day job, hung out with friends, cooked, ate and played games. But when the time came to resume work on January 4th, 2022, he struggled to find the energy to get out of bed. When he finally got to the gate of his workplace, he turned and went into the restaurant opposite it to gather himself.
While there, he tweeted a selfie of him grimacing and captioned it “Work is such a fun adult activity especially after spending 2 weeks consistently getting drunk and eating”. He returned to his office at around 11 a.m.
Work is such a fun adult activity especially after spending 2 weeks consistently getting drunk and eating pic.twitter.com/yk7Rtp6Hto
He continued taking selfies, captioning them in a similar way, until the end of January. “It wasn’t just content for me,” he says. “I was miserable, and [making those tweets] was my own way of dealing with stuff.”
So when his first “Happy to be at work” tweet blew up in February, he felt dejected.
“It wasn’t just Nigerians. There were other Africans and white people,” he says. And when people started hailing his comedic prowess with compliments like, “Nigerian people understood the assignment”, Igbo Wolf couldn’t deal. “It wasn’t even an assignment, to begin with. It was just my way of dealing with my state of mind, but now, I was content to these people? I felt like they had taken something away from me.”
That day, he resolved not to post again. But the following morning, he experienced the same sadness that plagued him the day before, so he took another selfie and tweeted it, again with an ironic caption. More people could relate to his struggles and respond with selfies of their own tired, stressed faces with “happy to be at work” captions. Igbo Wolf had to get used to being a pop-culture trendsetter.
The turning point, he tells me, was when he attended an event and some guests were excited to meet him. The following Monday, he opened his Twitter DMs to see messages from some of the guests, telling him they were waiting for him to make his usual Monday morning tweet.
Other characters in his portfolio are just as relatable. Work Chris is the Nigerian youth who has to deal with toxic workplaces, Mama Elo is Elon Musk’s mother reimagined as Nigerian and Professor Uwa is most Igbo lecturers who’ve found themselves teaching in a Yoruba town.
An interesting aspect of Igbo Wolf’s skit-making is that he keeps the use of slapstick to the minimum and never employs exaggerated voiceovers or sound effects. “I hate them”, he says. “Because I see myself as an actor.” He does his best to get into character and lets his acting and mannerisms carry the humour. Also, he shoots his skits indoors when no one else is around, as he considers himself a shy, indoorsy person — a testament to his artist name which is a combination of his spirit animal (lone wolf) and his ethnicity (Igbo).
But Igbo Wolf is not afraid to deviate from his creative formula. He’s constantly writing stories; the pressure to keep up with his popularity keeps him grounded. To hack productivity, he always has at least six skits banked.
When he’s not producing viral content, he’s working as a product manager in Lagos, a job that has inspired some of his most iconic videos. I asked him if going to work still causes him pain. His response? Not really. But in future, he hopes to get a remote work arrangement, so he has more time to create entertaining content and achieve a perfect balance between his day job and his content creator life.
There was a tweet going around about a guy that was almost crucified by his babe for messing up her non-stick pots.
Rookie mistake. There are many things that a woman’s love conquers, but using these six things? Just start looking for another partner.
Her Food
Even if she offers to feed you, say no. Have some bloody self-control.
2. Her Wig
If you’re considering using her ₦350k human hair to practice your TikTok and Instagram skits, drop it now. Drop it immediately.
3. The T-shirt/Sweatshirt she stole
What is she supposed to use to sleep at night or for quick errands? Adieu Papa t-shirt? Give her her shirt back.
4. Skincare Products
It’s the men that use it with no regard for me. Squeezing the tube like toothpaste. We support a man supporting his skin. But please, stick to Irish Spring if you don’t want to buy your own.
5. Hair Conditioner
Please when did men realise the power of conditioners and who told them?! Especially the beard gang group. Please and please, stick to your oils and Afro combs.
6. Jewelry
Men with piercings are the hottest, until the studs a babe ordered from Zara disappears. Then it’s wartime on these love streets.
Too many unserious men are on this earth and the greatest mistake a person can make is to encounter one of them. You might have encountered one, but don’t panic. Go through this list and see if your boyfriend manifests any of the signs.
We are rooting for you.
1. He cannot die for you.
What is now the point of the love? Abeg oh, this is 2021. Any guy who is not willing to literally die for you, let him go. Can he not use Romeo as his role model?
2. He does not promise you the whole world.
The one true mark of a serious boyfriend is that he promises you the world and he actually gives it to you. How will he do it? Frankly, we don’t care. Let him tell everybody on planet earth to relocate so it will remain both of you. Planetary romance>>>
3. He calls you his one and only but he worships God.
Clearly, that one is not serious. Why must he worship any divine being when you are right there? Why is he cheating on you with a spiritual being??
4. He is not tall, dark and handsome.
The audacity! Can’t he get surgery to match the look? How else can you relive the fantasy of the Harlequin romance novels you have read?
5. He does not have 3 bank accounts.
God abeg oh.
6. He cannot rent out the whole cinema so the both of you can watch Yoruba film in peace.
IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS! WHY IS HE NOT UNDERSTANDING THIS??
7. He did not finish with a first class.
Of course he is not serious and that is a clear proof.
8. He calls you Mummy but does not celebrate you on Mother’s Day.
Why is he still rolling with his mother when you are right there? Omo, any man that cannot abandon his mother for you is an unserious person. Abeg break up.
9. He cannot read your mind.
Hian oh. So he expects you to be in a relationship and be comunicating effectively? Never. If he cannot say what you are thinking, then he is not putting in the efforts. Such blatant unseriousness.
10. He cannot go 7 rounds in bed.
Seven is the number of perfection. If he cannot give you that perfection in bed, surely you must know that he is not serious enough to keep you.
11. He is still alive.
Clearly, that guy has no element of seriousness in him. Why is he alive while others are in the great beyond running things with Baba God? You better break up with him today and find a guy who will be serious with you.
When you do find that serious guy, here’s how to make him fall in love with you:
Emojis were created to make texting cooler and make conversations a lot more interesting. Since we are ever so kind at Zikoko, we’ve taken it upon ourselves to interpret what some emojis should mean.
1.🙂
This emoji should be called the 40+ emoji, it’s not a smile or a frown? It’s passive-aggressive, very much like 40+ people.
2.🤓
This bugs bunny man face emoji looks like someone you’ll tell your kids to avoid. The glasses, teeth and scary smile?? 🙃
3.🤸🏽♀️
This emoji typically should be someone somersaulting, but if you get some good news and the dancing emoji doesn’t work well for you, you can use this as a ‘twerking upside down’ emoji. Don’t ask us to explain our thought process, just agree with us.
4.👀
This one is general knowledge it’s not our interpretation, if someone sends you that emoji just ask them when and where. Because you only send that emoji to people you want to sleep with. Again, general knowledge.
5.💦
It’s supposed to mean raindrops but we all know that it doesn’t only rain from the sky. Simple and short.
6.💀
This emoji means ‘‘I’m dead’’ and when used, it should be followed by a deep breath God forbid. The emoji looks so powerful that if it is used too often the user can actually die. Closely followed by this, one of its siblings ☠️
7.🙆🏽♀️ 🙆🏽♂️
This emoji was created by a Yoruba person and it means ‘’I’m in trouble’’, actually means ‘‘mo gbe’’. Some people may say otherwise or say we are lying, but why else will your hand be on your head if you are not in trouble?
Recently, I asked a couple of Nigerians to tell me behaviours that would confuse a non-Nigerian.
Here’s a list of what they said:
1) Praise and worship at work before starting the day.
This behaviour is common among civil servants especially after they have kept you waiting for a hundred years.
2) Binding and casting your house after your extended family members come visiting.
Holy water a day keeps the demons away.
3) Accepting food and pouring it away.
Because your neighbours want to steal your destiny with Sallah meat or Christmas rice. Stay jiggy!
4) Bribing someone for something and fervently praying over it.
Faith without works eh?
5) Not telling people before you travel.
Only text them after safely arriving.
6) Not sharing pregnancy news until you give birth.
Repeat above.
7) Not accepting things with the left hand.
The left hand is disrespectful, period. Don’t ask why. Right hand good, left hand bad.
8) Associating witches and wizards with your father’s side of the family.
Even though they may be the mother’s side for someone else.
9) Saying sorry even though you’re not the cause of a problem.
If you don’t say ‘sorry’, how else will they know that you aren’t responsible for their misfortune? As a bonus, add a bit of display and shout the name of the God you believe in at least three times.
10) Saying “it is well” especially when it is not well.
Government: A dollar is now ₦600.
Nigerians: It is well.
11) Leaving country development to God.
Nobody:
Nigerian politician: If God wills it, we’ll achieve vision 2020.
12) Not eating your meat until you finish your food.
Because people who ate their meat before finishing their food all grew up to be politicians thieves.
If the comedy is set in a rich home, these are the rules to follow.
1. First things first. Mr. Ibu has to be in it.
Nigerian comedy movie that doesn’t have Mr. Ibu. Is that one Nigerian comedy movie?
2. His name in the movie will be Mr. Ibu and you must have him play a gateman or driver.
Because at this point, John Okafor plays the exact same character in every movie he appears in.
3. Have there be an amebo housegirl that the driver/gateman can gossip with from time to time.
Everybody loves a good amebo partner.
4. The gateman must flirt with the housegirl in every scene they’re in together and the housegirl will PLAYFULLY reject his advances.
She has to play “hard to get” na.
If the comedy is set in a village, these are the rules to follow.
5. If the movie’s main characters are poor, have them be uneducated too. Make their illiteracy really obvious by having them speak nonsense English from time to time.
Mr. Ibu must be the husband and Ngozi Ezeonu must be the wife.
6. The man must be a womanizer who is stingy to his family but gives the little money he makes to all his side chicks.
Because men are scum.
7. Because of the stingy womanizing husband, the wife must be a nagger.
GIVE ME MONEY FOR SOUP JOOR YOU SHAMELESS BASTARD!!!
8. To make the lives of the poor family worse (funnier), make them have one son who keeps getting in trouble because of “get rich quick schemes”.
This child will either be Aki or Pawpaw.
If the comedy is set in a Nigerian university, these are the rules to follow.
9. The main character must be a young girl. A new student in 100 level.
An innocent fresher.
10. The actress playing the main character MUST be obviously older than a real life 100 level student.
Like this Yoruba movie I saw one time where FATHIA BALOGUN (48 Years Old) played a 200 level student and FUNSHO ADEOLU (also 48 Years Old) played a Fresher.
11. She must be from one of the three major tribes in Nigeria Make her tribe really obvious by giving her an intense native name.
If she’s Igbo, name her NKECHI. If she’s Yoruba, name her SHAKIRAT . If she’s Hausa, name her SALAMATU.
12. Make her nice and naive so eventually she’ll join bad gang.
So she’ll start raising shoulder.
13. Have something terrible (almost) happen to her so she will change her life and go back to being a good girl.
At this point you should know what movie I just made reference to. Lol
Now that you know the rules to making a comedy movie in Nollywood, read this next article that details how to fall in love according to Nollywood.
You never thought you’d see Toyin Aimakhu, a grounded Nollywood Yoruba actress, and Chris Attoh (Nollywood English) play lovers in a movie, did you? Well, neither did I.
In ‘The In-Laws’, Nancy Okezie, the daughter of a retired judge falls in love with Tobi Balogun, a policeman’s son. The couple, however, faces hard times owing to the deep hatred the intending in-laws have for each other.
Directed by Charles Uwagbai and produced by Bola Oba, the movie stars Nollywood veterans like Ayo Mogaji, Dele Odule, Ijeoma Nwosu and Charles Inojie.
Also watch Toyin Aimakhu (now Toyin Abraham) feature in ‘Hakkunde‘, another ‘English’ movie, alongside Frank Donga, here.
No one seems to know the release date yet, but trust us to give you the gist when it get it.
Seriously, Nigerian comedian and film-maker, AY Makun, needs to show us the secret behind his record-breaking feat.
Because, not long after his first movie, ’30 Days In Atlanta’, bagged a Guinness World Record for being Nigeria’s highest grossing movie, his 2nd movie, A Trip To Atlanta has reportedly smashed the record with a box office hit of 168 million Naira
The film features the adventures of Akpos (played by AY Makun) and his fiance, Bola (Funke Akindele) during a family visitation trip overseas.
Although it’s trailer came with seriously low expectations, this new record only proves Nigerians enjoy a ‘special’ type o comedy. You can watch the movie trailer below:
Only the funniest people can come up with puns this good, so it didn’t come as a surprise to find out these viral pictures were created by Nigerian comedian and actor, Olu Salako. Here are some of the times he made puns with the names of famous people we all love.
We all know her as the hilarious comedienne, Chigul, but in this documentary by Kemi Adetiba, Chioma Omeruah showed the world her emotional side.
Nigerian music director and film maker, Kemi Adetiba recently launched a documentary series themed “King Women”.
Featuring other successful Nigerian women such as TY Bello and Taiwo Ajayi -Lycett,
this series seeks to share the glory and pain behind their success so as to paint a realistic picture of what real life role models go through.
In a recently released teaser of the King Women series, Chigul shared how much she quarreled with her mother especially when she had marital crisis.
She said “…I resented her because I felt I was going through a tough time in my marriage and she was just telling me, Go back to your husband, Go back to your husband”.
Not losing her humourous touch, she explained how everybody around insisted on her holding on to an already failing marriage.
“Is anybody asking me what’s going on with me and how I feel and how it’s doing me in my body? Did anybody care?”
She tearfully mentioned how hurt and disappointed she was after her marriage fell apart.
“When my marriage fell apart, I failed at something and I had nowhere to land. Like, it fell apart and I didn’t want it to fall apart and I feel like I disappointed my dad because we talked about it before he died”.
And despite going through so much all by herself…
“No one was there and I wanted people to be there. I wanted to be able to go to my mom and say I’m tired…. And she’d just always say “Go back to your husband”.
And learning of her husband’s love child with another woman…
“When I found that my mom, like she knew, I was like, I’m done with everybody, don’t talk to me! But I later thought about it like how was she supposed to bring that to me, like news? Like gist?
She still loves her mother and is grateful for the milestones in her career but also wants to have her own children.
“I wanted to give her grandchildren. I wanted us to bond over those things. My success with my life, my career is great, it’s wonderful. But I want other things”.
