Information Communications Technology (ICT) continues to open endless possibilities in the 21st century across all endeavours. The possibilities include unlimited opportunities to comedy talents in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
Though social media comedians in the country look to spring up everyday, some of them come with their own unique attributes, like Itoto Bartholomew Okpaegbe, professionally known as Madiba of Comedy. Aside several unique things about this multi-talented comedian, his stage name is one that readily arouses huge interest in his content, which in many ways, stand him out among the crowd.
Itoto Bartholomew Okpaegbe creatively adopted a professional name to arrest global attention, which also speaks to his ability and uniqueness to think out of the norm as a comic actor, as the business is all about driving the numbers to your content. The name “Madiba” was the ancestral nomenclature of late South Africa’s former president, Nelson Mandela, one of the most iconic global figures the human race has seen.
Itoto Bartholomew Okpaegbe was born in Kaduna, Kaduna State and he attended Command Secondary School, located near Television in Sabo. He likewise lived in other parts of the country before adulthood. The actor and brand influencer hails from Ivioghe, Agenebode, Edo State–a place in a South-southern part of the country renowned for producing the best comedians in Africa.
After his secondary education in Kaduna, he moved to Imo State, where he began his comedy profession. Later, Madiba of Comedy moved to Lagos before relocating to Benin, the capital of Edo. But during this period, his movement were not disruptive to his talent, as the experiences culminated into the super skit maker the country is blessed with today.
Itoto Bartholomew Okpaegbe has evolved as a comedian. He is an embodiment of talents. The humourist, whose role models are Dave Chappelle, Bovi, Gbenga Adeyinka, and I go save, brings a completely different dimension into the social media skit-making, which is not an evidently easy thing to do, as most of his contemporary do not portray such skills.
Okpaegbe despises comfort zones and it is why he takes on different characterizations in his skills with great dramatic performances and narration. Most of his contemporaries are comfortable representing a certain role in their content all-year long, but the Edo-born star is dynamic, which makes him appealing to Nigerians and his fans around the world who consume comedy videos online.
Madiba of Comedy is fast becoming a household name in Nigeria. Nearing more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, he also commands 1.3million followers on Facebook and 90,000 followers on TikTok.
