Content creators, digital marketers, influencers, skit creators, and voice-over gurus are some of the clichés used to describe TikTok smart Nigerian millennials who have utilized the app’s capabilities to achieve global renown.
These once-unknown young Nigerians have grown to prominence with millions of followers through imitation, dance challenges, cuisine, and many other creative endeavors, and as such now represent significant brands in Africa and around the world.
Here are some of the content creators:
1. John Merry: @beeautygoddess
The Nigerian-Ghanaian has 3.9 million followers and has collaborated with a number of fashion brands. She rose to prominence on the platform by posting dance, lip-sync, and comedy clips.
The 21-year-old dark-skinned influencer has also won honors for creating innovative fashion and beauty content.
2. Rodney Umeh: @r0dn3y_
Umeh, also known as Wisdom Man, has positioned himself for brand endorsements with over six million followers and millions of engagements.
His short, engaging, and amusing video emulating Nigerian parents’ classroom experiences and lifestyles have spread to other social media platforms such as WhatsApp and X.
He is one of the platform’s top content developers. With a history in theatre club and church choir, he was able to easily recreate good content that still has a large following.
3. Chinye Elijah: @Crispdal
Elijah is a slo-mo dancing video specialist who has captivated his over 8 million fans with his dynamic and polished moves.
Crispdal uses colorful backgrounds and breakdancing to popular music to design his content. For the past three years, he has been churning out incredible and thrilling content, earning him over 105 million likes on all of his posts.
4. Maduakor Faustina:@berby_pickxy
The model is one of Nigeria’s most prominent TikTok users. Faustina has 9.7 million followers on Instagram, where she shares sensual dance routines and flaunts her stunning beauty.
Her posts have received 93.2 million likes. She has also used her celebrity to develop her connections in the fashion world. She now works with and advertises for well-known beauty products.
5. Jerry Chuks: @SoftMadeIt
Chuks has acquired great attention on the app for his dancing and lip-sync videos. Thanks to TikTok, he has also collaborated with notable Nigerian artists such as Poco Lee, Teni, Oxlade, and Phyno.
The Festac native has 4.8 million followers and 82.1 million likes on his posts. He is a member of The Geng, a popular TikTok group that includes youthful and well-known social media stars such as Priscilla Ajoke Jo, Susan Pwajok, Maliya Michael, Eronini Osinachim, Chison Onwuegbuzia, Beauty Goddess, and Enioluwa Adeoluwa.
6. Peace Anpee: @purplespeedy
Born in Benue’s Gboko district, the content producer rose to notoriety for wearing purple ensembles in her far-reaching films.
Purple Speedy has amassed 7.7 million followers and 143.6 million likes since joining TikTok in 2019 with the goal of becoming an actress.
She now frequently releases dance and music content, which has piqued the interest of several renowned Nigerians.
Notable Nigerians also benefit from TikTok
TikTok’s global success has been linked to its attraction to millennials and Generation Z.
Furthermore, the network has helped to preserve the fame of popular skit creators such as Broda Shaggi (4.5 million followers), Sabinus (4.3 million followers), and Carterefe (2.4 million followers).
TikTok is a playground for soundbites from hit songs and dancing challenges, in addition to comedy. Ckay, a Nigerian R&B singer, went global in 2021 after his popular song ‘Love Nwantiti’ went viral and received over 1.5 billion views on the app.
As a result of her achievement, she became the first African musician to appear on Bloomberg’s Pop Star Power Rankings.
TikTok collaborated with Wowzi, the African creative commerce platform, to establish a pilot for the Africa creative Hub, which is focused on motivating and assisting creators through digital skills development, to promote its cause for financial independence for Nigerian creators.
During the graduation of the trained talents, which had some Nigerian youths in attendance, Boniswa Sidwaba, TikTok’s head of content programming in SSA, said: “the wealth of talent in Nigeria and Kenya highlights the great potential in the region. We hope to use the learnings and insights gathered from this programme to expand this initiative.”
Sidwaba told TheCable Lifestyle that TikTok recognizes the “vital roles” that music labels and independent creatives play in defining cultural narratives, and that “we are committed to fostering a thriving ecosystem that supports and empowers these key stakeholders.”
In response to a question about what TikTok is doing to collaborate with creators outside of music, she stated that the platform is “actively engaging with creators in diverse fields such as art, comedy, fashion, beauty, sports, entertainment, and more by offering a dynamic and interactive space, we empower creators to connect with audiences and showcase their unique talents, contributing to a vibrant and flourishing creative community.”
“Our team that focuses on Nigerian creators is doing an incredible job and we see this in the content that lives on the platform,” Sidwaba added.
