If you have a phone with data on it and you are in Nigeria then you must have seen the video skits of comic character of “Officer Jato”, “Endtime Landlord” or “Alhaji Musa”. If you did not find those funny enough, then you must have heard about “badness” in the pidgin news rendition on Wazobia radio FM 94.1 Lagos with the commercial time-out signature, “I is coming back!”
I hope you have met Nedu Wazobia. Comedy merchant, wholesale humour monger and laughter depot manager, born Chinedu Ani Emmanuel, a Nigerian on-air personality, broadcast journalist, TV presenter, actor, comedian and content creator.
From famously adding a unique spin to his pidgin rendition of the daily news on popular radio station, Wazobia FM 94.1, Lagos, Nedu, as he is fondly called has morphed from on-air personality with Wazobia FM, Comedian, actor, presenter, events compere to a content factory, warehouse and mogul.
Tech giant Google, had found that Nigerians posed a hard nut to crack in designing and serving them ads by their search history and use of key words. No thanks probably to all the things “doing us” in this country. The allure of a 180-million strong market spurred the tech behemoth on to understand the Nigerian market. With continuous improvements and research, they soon linked our reported ratings as the happiest people on earth to consumption of humour content. It was only a matter of time before stand–up comedy made popular by Ali Baba, Bunmi Davies, Julius Agwu, Okey Bakassi and BasketMouth gave way to video skits.
Riding on the penetration of cheaper android phones and cheaper data, humour videos soon had the market share as the platform of choice, spawning off many stars including the Kid star Emmanuella of Mark Angel comedy, Woli Agba, Broda Shaggy, Elenu Laisisi and others too numerous to mention.
However, Nedu’s genius in his craft shows in his ability to enliven three different comic characters for such a long time. Since he first appeared on Fidelity Bank’s 2017 Get Alert In Millions promo Season 1, Nedu’s equity as a comedy “application” and marketing asset has ballooned exponentially.
Early Life and Career
Nedu was born in Kaduna, Nigeria on 5 August 1982. He studied accountancy at Madonna University, Elele, Okija Campus, Anambra state. He had served as an NYSC Corps Member Jigawa State, North Cental Nigeria in a radio station as an on-air personality. After unfulfilled stint in Abuja as a site manager, he moved to Lagos to fulfil his age-long dream of being a broadcaster and entertainer.
Comedy
Nedu’s name and face are synonymous with comic content on the internet. He is known for his hilarious alter ego personalities of Sister Nkechi, Alhaji Musa, EndTime Landlord and Officer Jato which has given him a massive following of over 1.3 million people on Instagram.
Nollywood
From skits to the big screen, Nedu has starred in movies including Who cheats more, Isoken and Meet the in-laws in 2017. Boss of All Bosses, King of Boys, Chief Daddy and Flatmates – 2018
Brands and endorsements.
Nedu is a brand influencer.He is a brand ambassador for popular brands like MTN, Fidelity Bank, Quickteller and Sun Lottery.