Segun Adekoye Writes: Nigeria’s 8 Most Over Exposed Celebrities

Welcome to the 21st century in Nigeria. Smartphones are almost the same cost as Johnny Rocket’s Hamburgers. Sim cards are free. Internet services are fairly faster than Nipost’s emails. Information moves  quicker than Daily Times’ newspaper vendors. This change is affecting everything. In the pre-GSM era, Nigerian Celebrities would pray for a spot on Saturday Punch or the other weekend tabloids for exclusive interviews or some amount of exposure. So, you were either good enough to compete with the Sunny Okosun’s and Onyeka Onwenu’s or you were frightening enough to hit the pages almost everyday as a Shina Rambo or you were controversial enough to share spots with Regina Askia on these newspapers. There was no internet. The masses kept abreast with entertainment news only a week after the papers had been discarded. Click to continue reading.


In this age, everyone has a Blackberry. Everyone has a blog. There are over 5000 entertainment blogs in Nigeria. Everyone wants to break the news but only a few get exclusive content so everyone copy-pastes whether it is true or a lie. In this era, everyone is a celebrity. If you hit the red carpet of events, and a hundred blogs can post your pictures, same pictures and repeat that procedure 4 times in a month, you are a celeb. You can make statements. Fashion statements. You can go to Twitter and start a Tweet war. Dahz all.
The problem with overexposure is that your news does not become news eventually and people go like “oh Tonto.. Now what? Unto the next abeg”. Who are the 8 celebrities in Nigeria who get more press, media attention than they need for their health. In no particular order, Segun Adekoye lists them below.

1. Tonto Dikeh
Tonto Dikeh understands that Nigerian bloggers want news as they are unable to create for themselves, so she gives it to them. She always wants to be in the news. Tonto wants to be seen on TV. She wants to be heard on radio, so she ventured into singing. She wants to be seen on Twitter so she starts Twitter wars and goes controversial. She likes the media attention. She’s making money from it. This is one celeb that overexposure works for and she knows how to handle it.

2. Mercy Aigbe
On Nairaland, on the web, Mercy Aigbe pictures as much as the Google Search results for “Make Money Online”. The funny thing about Mercy Aigbe is that she can take hundred pictures of the same cloth at the same time on the same spot. Then came the issue of husband beating  and the denials and video responses and press releases and ENOUGH of Mercy Aigbe already.

3. Dencia
Who is Dencia? I dunno. A musician who’s in love with her own looks. She loves to pose. She loves wild dresses. She loves to wow. I see pictures of her all over the internet. I think her face is more popular than her voice. I haven’t heard her song before but I heard she’s into music. You think i’m ridiculous. You can say it again.

4. Toke Makinwa
Toke Makinwa, a lady fair and fine. Toke is always on the news. On the red carpets. On her vlog which is becoming more widely accepted. On-air. Toke is practically in your ears, in your face… in your mouth. I believe she enjoys the media attention.

5. Annie Idibia
Annie has always been on the eye of bloggers, but ever since her traditional marriage to Tuface Idibia, she’s been kept even under more scrutiny by the press. Annie Idibia’s outfit to this… Annie Idibia’s outfit to that… Annie Idibia’s wedding dress… Annie Idibia’s wedding invitation. Annie should expect more though. Her overexposure is just about to start. She should check it.

6. Davido
Davido is always hitting the headlines. Either for a questionable pose with a fan in nocturnal circumstances or something else. When he parted ways with his manager, he was the topic for a while. Twitter dissing, singing or photography, Davido should calm down.

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7. Tee Billz
Formerly fairly known as the Tiwa Savage’s manager, the tall dark dude has become more exposed than he should ever since he proposed to the “Love me Love me” crooner. Tee Billz has also posted pictures of himself using the toilet in Burj Al Arab in a gesture that signifies he’s realy seeking public attention.

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8. Jim Iyke
Even before he started his Jim Iyke Unscripted reality TV show, he had always been in one form or the other on the news. From occassional bouts with Blogger Linda Ikeji to controversial fashion statements he makes such as the one he wore to AMVCA, Jim Iyke should be one of those topping the list.