Who could have predicted at the beginning of March, that one of the biggest social media phenomenons in Nigeria would be a Naira Marley sidekick and an upcoming British model. Such is the power of social media in the time of Corona. FatherDMW, whose original claim to fame was that he was friends with Zlatan Ibile in University and essentially joined his entourage from where he met a number of high profile celebrities, including Davido, BurnaBoy and Olamide. No one quite knows how FatherDMW and Evia Apio, the model behind the EvssOfficial account started making their Instagram live conversations, but they have quickly become a viral sensation, drawing thousands of viewers each session and spawning fan theories and fan art.

Since Father dmw and Evss live videos have basically become a reality show now, here’s a thread of their funny moments ? pic.twitter.com/TtIxQZndXX

— Iseunife The First (@Shawnifee) April 5, 2020

He is only one of several Nigerian public personalities that are leveraging Instagram’s live feature to connect with their fanbases. Father and Eva’s physical comedy works because it is based on the premise that FatherDMW has fallen in love with and is actively wooing her, even though they are both thousands of miles away from each other and Eva is already a successful model who already has some leverage in the American hip-hop industry.

We enjoy watching FatherDMW’s melodrama, whose comedic shtick plays up his illiteracy and contrasts it against Eva Apio’s quiet sophistication. The audience is in on the joke, we all know FatherDMW will never end up with Eva, and Eva will never fall in love with FatherDMW, but enjoy the fact that the character persona FatherDMW is embodying thinks he actually has a shot with this model.

Both of their cumulative followers have doubled in the last month and FatherDMW has become a celebrity in his own right, their Instalive events are eagerly anticipated and their interactions are followed with the intensity of reality television. Will FatherDMW successfully convert this into a money making venture, we will have to wait and see.