5 Nigerian Sensations on making waves on Youtube

Chronicled by Afronuts @ Tuesday, November 23, 2010

This sounds like a corny title but hey, who knows? It might make a whole lot of sense eventually. I really hope it does. I alos hope its a kind of post worth writing.

There’s a question that I’m sure many people would not be able to answer quite well if asked.


And this is the question -What’s the easiest way to become popular?

If you’re not thinking of the internet then you’re wrong. Many have proven that this phenomenon we call the world wide web has the potential to turn nobodies into somebody.

Kat Stacks became popular for getting into flings with celebrities and exposing their secrets on the internet.

Star Wars kid became somewhat popular after the video of a fat teenager swinging a golf ball retriever as a lightsaber appeared on the internet. It ended up having parodied versions.



I could go on but that’s not why I’m making this post. I was eager to find out if Nigerians had made such an impact online creating videos that became either memes or phenomena on the internet.

Here are the ones I found.


Brother Franklin



A series of videos of a charismatic Nigerian man dancing vigorously during offering time in a church became a sensation on the internet, the most popular being the one above which had over a million views on Youtube. It became popular enough to become a reference point and with time different versions or parodies done by ‘fans’ or those who saw it appeared on Youtube.



Patrick Obahiagbon



This Nigerian politician became popular not because he had some unique policy that would make Naija a better place but rather because of his HEAVY GRAMMAR. There’s usually not much amusing material about Nigerian politicians that one could post on the internet (unless it’s a video of a fight between senators at the house of reps or senate) but Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon has stuff alright. The politician speaks a heavy compilation of grammar that defies logical understanding and leaves you somewhat confused – and he has so much confidence doing it; grammar that makes Pastor Chris Okotie’s elocutions look like peanuts.

Just ‘Youtube’ his name and you’ll find enough material to certify him. Even a spoof or more are available.



Nigerian kids invent new dance



This video actually came from a footage from the documentary ‘Welcome to Lagos’. It features two young Nigerian boys, a fat one and a skinny one doing some funny Naija dance somewhere in Idumota, Lagos. When the documentary came out with its trailer, it showed this clip played to the tune of Terry the Rapman’s ‘I am a Nigerian’.

Now the dance was hilarious, the boys looked like live cartoons prancing before an audience and contorting their faces. The video had over a million views; response videos appeared as a result and spoofs appeared on Youtube. There was one particular spoof where two bare-chested white boys tried to imitate the dance and looked very ridiculous.



Naija Boyz



There’s really nothing much to putting up your music video on Youtube if you’re just an artiste that’s promoting your music. But when you’re a couple of music comedians who spoof music videos and do hilarious remixes then you are someone to watch out for.

This is the case of a duo known as Naija Boyz who are not just another group that’s seeking fame by promoting videos on Youtube. These dudes are actually into the business of spoofing Naija videos and doing African remixes of foreign videos and they do a good job of it.

They’ve become so known on the internet, Nigerians around the world who watch their videos clamor for the next one they would release.

The latest video they made was done to commemorate Nigeria’s 50th independence anniversary. It was a remix of Dagrin’s ‘Ponponpon’ which featured the late rapper in a cut added to it. As usual, they didn’t disappoint with the crazy hilarious material added to it.

These guys are so good, they’ve got people faking them!





Omo Funky



Nigerians are getting into the cartoon thingy with apt seriousness. Omo Funky is a classic 44 seconds animation by Euphorya productions that not only got high response but also made its way to air on Silverbird Television, a Nigerian TV Station. How about that? An animation that made its debut on the internet and appeared on TV eventually. It became more popular in Nigeria after appearing on TV. It’s memorable mostly for the joke it tells of a ‘yankee wannabe’ who stopped denying his heritage after being faced with ‘the bitter truth’.




That’s all I have for now. I’ll keep a lookout for more and if you’ve come across any, do let me know so I can check it out.



Have a nice week!