ONLINE MEDIA

Fisayo Soyombo: With the current young generation, and its dependence on the internet for information, you don’t find too many youths digging deep for thought-provoking facts, as it is believed that any information needed can be readily found with the click of a button. Fisayo Soyombo is one of the few exceptions to this school of thought. This former editor of The Cable sought answers to the Nigerian prison complex and decided the best way to get answers was to spend two weeks in a typical Nigerian cell. On his return, he published some of the disturbing facts he discovered about the Nigerian prison system that shocked the world. For his work, he has received numerous awards including the Fetisov Journalism Awards, Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism and more. He is the founder of the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ). Last year, he was at the centre of a controversial event, when he broke the news of Senator Abiola Ajimobi’s demise as a result of COVID-19 complications; days before confirmation by the former Oyo Governor’s family.

Aisha Salaudeen: Aisha Salaudeen has for some time now been one of the most prolific anchors of Nigerian news via international publications. Starting off her media career in 2013 as a volunteer at the University of Bradford’s radio station, she would later expand to full-time journalism earning herself a byline on popular news platform; Al Jazeera. Following this, she moved to write for Stears Business, contributing to the publication from 2018 to 2019, where she focused on the topics of business and culture. These days, she is more of a current event and social issues expert, delivering content on these topics for one of the world’s most powerful news platforms; CNN. In 2020, this comic book enthusiast was the recipient of a few awards including The Future Awards Prize for Journalism, and the British Vogue list of 50 Trailblazing Creatives and Young Activists from Across.

Tobore Ovuorie: If the name Ovuorie reminds you of the title of one of Nigeria’s blockbuster movies; Oloture, that is because they do in fact have a correlation. She had gone undercover as a sex worker and witnessed all sorts of atrocities and horrors. The movie is said to have been based on Tobore’s life as an undercover sex worker, trying to highlight the activities of the sex working ring in Nigeria. Tobore received the DW Freedom of Speech Award in 2021.

Nimi Princewill: With a passion for reform and the development of Africa, this digital journalist who is very expressive of his concerns for the continent has seen his works published in numerous notable publications all over the world including the HuffPost, MSN Canada, News24, Jerusalem Post, Peoples Gazette, The Guardian and just this year began working for CNN. He is a well-versed writer with expert opinions on the issues of Religion, Social justice, and Politics.

Motolani Alake: If you are an avid consumer of social media content, and a fan of good Nigerian music then it is entirely possible that you would have stumbled upon this journalist’s content; written or recorded. He is one of Nigeria’s finest music analysts and it is not farfetched to say that few if any at all have the kind of music knowledge he possesses. Having begun writing from the tender age of 12, and later on in his teen years, pivoting into songwriting and production, Motolani has experienced the intricacies of the music industry, both local and foreign in great detail. He is the resident music writer for Pulse Nigeria and the anchor for the segment Facts Only. He is the co-founder at Urban Central.

Tosin Ajibade: Tosin Ajibade, popularly known as Olori SuperGal, is one of Nigeria’s most popular lifestyle and entertainment bloggers. She is passionate about enlightening and empowering young women in Africa, through her media platform and website; OloriSuperGal.com. She uses her voice to raise issues plaguing the girl child. Prior to founding her own media platform, she garnered experience in the media space by working for other media houses, including The Net NG, Acada Magazine and Laff Mattaz Incorporated. She has also seemed to pick up the habit of writing memoirs, as she has published two books in the last three years, From Social Misfit to Social Media Hero, and The Influencer Blueprint, which she published last year. She is the convener of the New Media Conference, an annual conference of New Media enthusiasts.

Oluwashina Okeleji: He is a veteran sports journalist with almost two decades of experience. Having contributed to Al Jazeera English (Sport), World Soccer Magazine and NewFrame News for its sports column, and having served as a full-time columnist for The Guardian Nigeria, he is well-experienced to begin and end conversations in sports. He is currently a sports journalist for BBC Sports Africa, and hosts interviews with athletes for the publication, Reports for BBC World Service Radio and BBC Focus on Africa Sport Television, and covers major African sporting events.

Joey Akan: Joey Akan stands as a highly accomplished writer, and has contributed to publications like New York Times, Okay Africa, CNN, Pitchfork and more. He is currently the Entertainment Editor of News Central TV and the West African Arts & Culture Commissioning Editor for The Conversations Africa. He is the founder of Afro Beats Intelligence, a weekly newsletter on the African Music industry.

Colin Udoh: Colin Udoh is one of Nigeria’s most esteemed sports journalist, and is the Regional Digital head of Econet Media. He is an analyst for media sports giants ESPN, and is the head of Strategy, Marketing and Communications. Prior to this, he worked with MultiChoice’s Super Sports for a decade, spanning 2006 to 2016, as one of its broadcasters. He is very passionate about the development of sports in Nigeria, and he uses his platform to call for progressive change regularly.

David Hundeyin: When you talk about a rich and extensive journalism portfolio, one stocked with correspondence on numerous publications and media platforms, very few can boast of the reach David Hundeyin has. He is a highly accomplished and well-versed writer/journalist whose work has appeared on platforms like CNN, New Yorker Magazine, The Africa Report, and Netflix. Locally, he also writes for Business Day, NewsWireNGR, and the West African Correspondent. He is the founder of West Africa Weekly, a newspaper focused on delivering analysis, intelligence and key stories on West African affairs. Last year, he snagged the People Journalist for Informed Commentary 2020 in the Journalism Prize for Africa Awards.

CONTENT CREATORS (YOUTUBE)

Erem Emeka Nehemia: Writing and producing one of the longest standing comedic series in the country: The House of Ajebo, Emeka who is simply referred to as Ajebo has been able to cement his legacy in the hearts of comedy lovers all over the country. The House of Ajebo is so enduring and enigmatic that its history can be traced back to when Symbian phones were all the rave. With this one series, an animated skit series, Ajebo has been able to create such iconic characters that laid the groundwork for some of the comedic niche’s that exist today. He used the series to re-create some relatable circumstances an average Nigerian is likely to experience, drawing out the twisted comedy within these confrontations. With the creation of his new character Tegwolo, Ajebo managed to revitalise and reinvigorate the House of Ajebo brand, raking in millions of views last year on his YouTube page with some videos doing around 12 million views, and drawing in over 900,000 subscribers.

Samuel Animashaun Perry: This comedian, popularly known as Broda Shaggi needs no introduction. With a combined over 10 million followers across various platforms, Broda Shaggi has become an unstoppable force in the Nigerian media industry. His traction is so massive and may have been called up for movies for that reason. Broda Shaggi is the true definition of evolution. From Instagram skits to YouTube videos, to appearances in movies, to releasing songs and music videos, to the production of his own short films, Broda Shaggi seems incapable of stagnation.

Tolanibaj: Leveraging the immense fame that comes from being a contestant on the Big Brother Naija reality TV show, this ex-housemate decided to go back to her passion for content creation. Prior to entering the Big Brother House, TBaj was an average YouTuber, doing numbers below average, and grew into a magnetic personality, exuding confidence her fans aspire to have. With this, she has been able to grow her YouTube followership and views in the past year jumping from as low as 1k views on average to 100k views.

Dimma Umeh: For this YouTuber, looking beautiful is non-negotiable. Dimma Umeh is one of those YouTubers in their purest form. Not leveraging her celebrity status or Instagram followership, she started with YouTube and has been sticking to the platform for years. Dimma is passionate about beauty tips and fashion tricks and has a blog dedicated to it. With nearly 400,000 subscribers on YouTube, it’s clear that she has created a legion of loyal followers who believe and trust her expertise on matters of beauty, to the point where she has now become a valid beauty influencer that brands are itching to partner with.

Nelo Okeke: If you are looking for a wholesome fun-filled family vlog, you need to look no further than this YouTuber’s page. This proud wife and mother of 3 uses her platform to flesh out how she maintains the family/work-life balance. She also has a separate channel dedicated to food vlogging. Like the content on her family vlog, this one is also professionally made, with production making sure that you can almost taste her delicacies from your screen.

Mark Angel: Made famous by the clever little sarcastic Emmanuella, this production outfit has now become one of Nigeria’s most popular YouTube pages, garnering an impressive 7 million subscribers. The content on this channel centres around comedic instances that we experience in our everyday life. Mark Angel comedy is family-centric, touching on social constructs like religion, education and family, and how these things manifest in the Nigerian society. Rather than slapstick, its comedy is philosophical, that is of course when you can look past the surface.  

Zion Ubani Chibuike: From Instagram to YouTube, this comedian, popularly known as Z Fancy made the smart decision to pivot, so that he can deliver his brand of content with few creative deterrents. He is the number one prankster in Nigeria, and some have noted that he sometimes goes too far with his pranks. But for a community as paranoid, superstitious and security-conscious as Nigeria, it is amazing to see this young man go out on the street and try to prank the average Nigerian who is already on edge by default. Referring to his pranks as social experiments, this comedian goes out to the streets and creates very distressing and bizarre scenarios, and filming from a corner, just how the average Nigerian would react to such absurdity.

Steven Ndukwu: On the business side of vlogging, you would not find too many Nigerians who give the level of expert financial advice on YouTube as well as this YouTuber does. Choosing to educate rather than entertain, Steven Ndukwu uses his platform to enlighten his audience on topics of real estate and other investments. Primarily focused on local real estate, he sometimes travels out to vlog on foreign real estate, and advise his viewers on the vast and wise financial investments they can leverage should they choose to travel out.

Fisayo Fosudo: He is simply one of Nigeria’s most prolific tech bloggers. He brought the game home, when it comes to opinions about tech devices. Unlike his Western counterparts who will naturally review some of the grandest tech devices, Fisayo plays into the Nigerian predicament and would rather review devices he is sure the average Nigerian would be able to afford. That is not to say he doesn’t review the big name brands, but his contents are closer to home than not. Asides reviewing devices, he also delivers advice via his channel on bitcoin investments, software tips, and financial tips as it relates to purchasing a tech product.

Tayo Aina: Business travel and lifestyle best describes this YouTuber’s brand of content. Tayo Aina uses his channel to tell inspirational stories of entrepreneurs as well as his own journey to the top. Travelling across Africa to find his content, Tayo is enthusiastic about real estate, living a wealthy life, and stories that fuel this drive. Of course, it goes without saying that the 200,000 plus people subscribed to his channel share similar interests, and judging from the thousands of views each of his videos does, it’s safe to say that his efforts in delivering content from all over Africa are paying dividends.

Maryam Apaokagi: One of the most hilarious women on the internet today, Maryam Apaokagi, popularly known as Taaooma, has become one of the country’s most prolific female content creators on Instagram. With a following nearing 3 million, Taaooma has been top of her game, delivering family-oriented comedy that has kept her fans loyal and engaged. Her skills as a comedian have been well documented, and in 2020, she made the bold move of taking on the role of producer and pivoting from just content creation for Instagram, to YouTube. Now she runs her own production company; The Greendade Company, which has quickly begun with the production of short films. Her short film; A Trip to Canada, is getting the numbers on YouTube as is most of her content on the platform.

Funke Akindele: Funke Akindele began what is now an illustrious Nollywood career playing the role of a crass, loud and hilarious lady who migrated from the village to take on the big city, called Jenifer. Today, she is one of Nollywood’s powerhouses, having not only featured in some of the industry’s biggest movies but also produced some. With so much talent and experience, she decided to officially launch her own production company, one which is now a household name for every single Nigerian who loves to consume Nigerian movies; SceneOne. Her production company Sceneone which has a massive engagement on YouTube has become a haven for prime Nollywood comedy and Drama. With almost 800,000 subscribers on YouTube, and views on content often surpassing a million, Funke Akindele has now proven that YouTube is just another venture, which she can completely excel at and dominate.