Is comedy Gen Z's Nigerian oil?
Teenagers and twenty-somethings are getting famous and making shitloads of money doing skits on social media. Now, their fellow youngsters want to follow in their footsteps.
First, I’d like to apologise that this newsletter wasn’t published at 9 am Nigerian time today when it should have. It was due to certain hitches from my end, an occurrence I hope wouldn’t happen again moving forward. I trust you would bear with me on this. Thank you in anticipation.
Back to the topic of today, it’s a question that has been popping up in my head for some time now. Is comedy the new Nigerian oil? Of course, comedy isn’t a newly discovered art in the most populous black country on earth. Since the 70s, even earlier, Nigerians have been creating comedy shows and have even built a big industry out of making people laugh. From the 70s to the 80s, these periods were marked by riveting sitcoms on TV – speaking of the Village Headmaster, New Masquerade, Basi and Company, among others. Then fast-forward to the 90s and the early 2000s, the industry saw a slew of talents laughing all the way to the bank doing stand-up comedy.
Today, rapid smartphone and internet adoption by Nigerians and generally by people all over the world have in a big way affected the way we consume entertainment. Many people hardly turn on their TVs to watch sitcoms or news or shows anymore because they are becoming more mobile and do these things on the go. As of now, there are an estimated 81 million mobile internet users in Nigeria, according to data by Statista. This figure is projected to grow to 117.5 million by the end of 2027. Just four years ago, mobile internet users in Nigeria were only 40.6 million.
Just the way every sector of the global economy has been affected by tremendous smartphone adoption, so is comedy, a subset of the entertainment sector, and Nigeria is not an exception. If you watched the trend, you would see that the audience has now shifted from paying thousands of naira to watch a comedian perform at a show to just tapping the Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok apps on their smartphones, where they are bombarded with a torrent of comic videos by twenty-something comedians.
I emphasised the age range of this crop of social media comedians and comediennes because they really are, judging from their public profiles and from interviews that they have granted media houses. Many of them have, through their skits, gained large followings on social media, something that has sort of bestowed upon them the honour of being called “influencers.” Some of them, just as their predecessors in the 90s-2000s, have translated their “influence” into bank accounts with lots of zeros. They are smart and savvy, monetising their social media content and bagging mouth-watering endorsement deals with companies. Some of them have even started creating lifestyle shows on TV. They may not have been able to get conventional jobs, as there are almost none, but they are redefining their own lives through the internet and their smartphones.
With their net worth, they can afford to buy and are actually buying beautiful houses in the plum areas of cities like Lagos. They wear designer clothes and drive Mercedes-Benzes and Lexuses. They party hard on weekends and vacation in posh destinations like Dubai and Cape Town. If you want to confirm, just check their social media platforms, they post these things for us to see.
Is it a good or bad thing?
Nigeria has a vibrant youthful population and it’s not uncommon for the youths here to want to follow in the footsteps of people they think are “cashing out” [a slogan for making money]. This is why, with each passing day, there are newcomers, teenagers and twenty-somethings, trying their hands at comedy, with the hope that they too would catch a big break someday. From a newcomer to a superstar. Sounds like a cool headline. Some of them also want to flaunt crispy dollar notes, posh duplexes with garages housing classy MBs and LXs, and vacation pictures on their social media platforms.
I mean, there are many people who just want to make money, even if what they are doing is not their passion. So long as it brings money, damn passion. Using myself as an example, there was a time I joined some multi-level marketing companies, selling skincare and medicinal products. These guys posted pictures of wealth – cars, beautiful homes and luxurious vacations – and I fell for all that. It was, however, not long before I realised I was just in it for money and nothing else. That’s just not the way I wanted to live my life. I don’t dispute that some of those in the MLM industry make shitloads of money, but it wasn’t for me. And because I derived no pleasure in it, I could not do well. So I will keep writing and doing related stuff, and in the long run, I believe I could achieve the success of great writers like JK Rowling, Stephen King and John Grisham.
So, if anyone wants to do comedy, why not? A word of advice is all I’ve got: Just be real. Don’t do it only because others are cashing out of it. And if you could tread the path of comics who don’t over-sexualise their content but teach important life lessons with their skits, it’s even better. Comedy is a big deal. Think of Khaby Lame, the Senegalese-born most-followed TikToker who has now made the 2022 TIME100 NEXT List. You could also think of the now globally famous Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was formerly a comedian. Maybe you could become the next Zelenskyy. Don’t worry, you might not need to fight Russia if you became one.
Thank you for reading this post. I’d be happy to read your feedback, so please subscribe, comment, like and share. I’ll see you next Friday. Happy weekend.
Jesusegun
Great lesson
Great insights as usual!
Those prank guys that want to thread by fire 🔥 by force.... Make them no carry their matter reach my corner oo 😂 I feel break head oo lol... 😂😂 Just on the lighter note anyway. Have you ever thought what this guys would've been doing in the absence of this "new Nigerian old" ? Commotion everywhere.