Nigerian comedian Sunday Onyenachiya, who goes by Sunny Messiah, just wrapped his first standup special at Alliance Française de Lagos in Okoyi. The show sold out completely, and they filmed the whole thing for posterity. Sunny talked about being a dad, marriage stuff, and general adult chaos in Nigeria while keeping everything pretty articulate and smart.
The special is called Paternity Leave, and Sunny mentioned he wanted people to connect with the weird reality of family life. Other comedians like ChimeFrancis, Iykomo, and Dexmond performed beforehand, and there was live music from HenryFretz and P'Madox. Ebuka Mic hosted everything, and Senator showed up as a surprise guest.
A bunch of companies backed the event, and...
The seventh Ofada Rice Day Festival is happening in Lagos at Muri Okunola Park, and Tobi Fletcher is leading the whole thing. Fletcher comes from a family of rice farmers, and his great-grandfather was apparently the first person to farm Ofada rice. The festival theme centers on innovation and culinary identity for Nigeria.
Fletcher has spent nearly two decades working in hospitality and food service. He thinks Ofada rice has transformed from a village food into something that represents national pride and could appeal to people worldwide. The festival partnerships will work on helping local farmers, building up food tourism, and giving chefs and small vendors better opportunities.
The event will feature cultural performances...
Filmmaker Fabia Adeoye Lojede created Afrotods after realizing his kids had zero content they could actually watch from his portfolio since he mostly plays violent characters. The project uses animation and books to teach African values and culture to diaspora children without being preachy, and it drops on YouTube with plans for downloadable versions in English, French, and later indigenous languages. Each book costs 10 pounds.
Lojede spent time watching how his kids and their friends consume media before building Afrohood, a fictional setting that subtly reinforces respect for elders and self without forcing traditions down anyone's throat. The whole thing targets Black kids globally, from Jamaica to African America, since regular...
Nollywood actress Teniola Aladese called out the industry's sketchy pay secrecy after realizing some productions dump way more cash on certain roles while others get lowballed. She mentioned chatting with Timini Egbuson on the Love in a Pandemic set when he griped about an offer that would lock him down for weeks when he could bank the same amount in two or three days somewhere else. That conversation basically woke her up to how much money actually flows through Nollywood projects.
Aladese said performers often grab whatever fee gets tossed at them because nobody talks openly about earnings, and people assume budgets are locked when films might allocate 700,000 naira for a character who only shows up a couple of days. She credited...
Senator Ned Nwoko from Delta North just told his comms team to blast out a statement saying someone's running a coordinated smear campaign against him with fake videos and defamatory posts. The senator claims people are weaponizing public sympathy to cover for alleged wrongdoers, and he fired off instructions for his lawyer to file petitions with the Inspector General of Police, the DSS director general, and the cybercrime unit to trace digital footprints and prosecute whoever's behind the harassment.
Nwoko also asked US and UK authorities to ignore any asylum requests built on manufactured family drama because he says it's all designed to game the system. He maintains he's staying locked in on legislative work and business...
Chevron Nigeria boss Jim Swartz dropped by the petroleum regulator's office in Abuja and basically said his company wants in on the 2025 licensing round while praising Gbenga Komolafe for actually enforcing the Petroleum Industry Act properly. The firm went a whole year without getting hit by pipeline theft or sabotage, which Swartz called the longest stretch they ever managed, and he credited the regulator for making Nigeria feel like a legit investment spot again. TotalEnergies signed over 40 percent of some offshore licenses to Chevron, and the company wants quick approval to drill near Egbami by late next year.
Komolafe told other oil companies to follow Chevron's lead by publicly sharing their wins because it helps pull in nervous...
Carl DIB Merchandising just dropped Canadian wines into Nigeria through a launch event that pulled the Canadian Deputy High Commissioner Carlos Rojas-Abulu, and export manager Charles Onyedibe, said the whole thing targets Nigerians living in Canada who want their favorite bottles when they fly back home. The Nigerian-Canadian Business Association apparently backed the partnership, and reception across different Nigerian cities has been solid enough that the company wants to open more branches in Lagos, Port Harcourt, and Abuja during the holidays.
A Wema Bank exec showed up and compared quality banking to quality winemaking while talking about patience and consistency. The bank mentioned support for small businesses and financial...
Agricultural experts just dropped a communiqué out of the National Agricultural Extension Review meeting in Zaria, and Habib Abubakar from the National Cereals Research Institute said the country needs way better links between researchers and actual farmers while climate-smart tech sits around gathering dust. The group wants more extension agents hired and digital tools pushed out to smallholder farmers who barely have internet access or know how to work smartphones for farming purposes.
The stakeholders pushed for stricter rules on subsidized inputs because those supplies keep missing their targets, and they want better funding with timely releases instead of money showing up whenever bureaucrats feel like it. Women, young people, and...
NGX Group chairman Umaru Kwairanga told estate surveyors at their Lagos induction ceremony that valuations basically prop up the country's financial markets and help bankable projects get off the ground. Bisi Onasanya from The Address Homes pushed the new members to ditch sketchy briefs and dodge quacks, while Rabiu Olowo from the Financial Reporting Council warned that sloppy valuations create systemic risk and mess up investment calls.
NIESV president Victor Alonge reminded everyone that the inductees passed qualifying exams and finished two years of internship before getting professional status. He mentioned the institution set up mandatory continuing education to keep members sharp, and the whole profession already cranked out...
