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The Unbroken Voice: 16 Years of Dotun Roy Shaking Power and Championing the Voiceless in Nigeria

Success Stories

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September 30, 2026

The Unbroken Voice: 16 Years of Dotun Roy Shaking Power and Championing the Voiceless in Nigeria

In an era where digital noise often drowns out the cries for justice, one name consistently cuts through the static with unwavering conviction: Dòtun Roy.

For 16 relentless years, Oladotun Roy-Fadeyiye has stood at the crossroads of storytelling, investigative journalism, and grass-roots advocacy in Nigeria. Now, in 2026, his enduring dedication to truth and human dignity reaches a crowning milestone as he clinches the coveted Social Media for Social Good Award 2026 at the recently concluded International Peace Summit in Abuja—a thunderous global affirmation of a man who turned keystrokes into catalysts for transformation.

When Dòtun stepped onto the Nigerian media landscape, social platforms were widely treated as spaces for casual banter and entertainment. Dòtun saw something radically different: an unpoliced frontline for civic accountability, democratic integrity, and human rights. Pioneering what would become a formidable footprint across Abuja and the wider West African region, he weaponized the digital space on behalf of those whose voices had been systematically silenced.

Through the trailblazing platform DotunRoy.com, officially recognized by international development partners including the UNDP, he transformed reporting from mere coverage into direct intervention. His pen and lens did not dwell solely in executive corridors; they went into remote settlements, documenting clean water crises, exposing human rights abuses, spotlighting gender inequalities, and championing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) long before buzzwords ruled the internet.

Sixteen years of advocacy is no easy stroll—it requires grit in the face of pushback, patience in navigating institutional gridlock, and empathy to look into the eyes of marginalized communities and promise to tell their truth without compromise. Whether demanding justice for unlawful detentions, rallying support for youth empowerment, or mobilizing digital campaigns that forced policymakers to act, Dòtun remained unflinching. He showed a generation of emerging writers and creators that journalism is not merely about breaking news, but about mending broken systems.

Taking home the Social Media for Social Good Award 2026 is not just an individual accolade; it is a victory for ethical storytelling, civil society, and every citizen whose plight found oxygen through his reporting.

Sixteen years in the trenches. Thousands of stories told. Uncounted lives touched. As Dòtun Roy hoists this international honor, Nigeria and the global development community celebrate not just a media personality, but an unwavering conscience of the digital age. The journey of the past 16 years has set the foundation—and Dòtun’s loudest chapters of impact are undoubtedly still being written.

Dotun Roy sometimes wear many hats as a human advocate, Media personality, influencer and a prolific author.

“Currently I have written more than 15 books. I have only released two of them”

Earlier this year, Dotun Roy released two of his self published books: “The Awkward Quest” and “The Looks We Wear”. The Awkward Quest is a semi-autobiography of his personal journey and exploits. “It was intended to help younger generations learn from my journey and my past mistakes, he says.

While “The Looks We Wear” is a fictional story that beams more lights into the political architecture and power play in Nigeria.

The two books can be found on Amazon.com, Selar.com and Lulu.com.

Nora Awolowo: The Engine Room Who Moved the Entire Industry

Engine Room

Tosin Ranks

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September 29, 2026

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Nora Awolowo: The Engine Room Who Moved the Entire Industry

Bow down when you see her.

Give her an ambitious film, she will produce it. Give her a box-office ceiling, she will push through it. Give her an idea that sounds almost ridiculous in scale — like putting tens of thousands of people in one place to watch a Nigerian film — and somehow, she will find the people, the partners and the machinery to help make it real.

That is where the Nora Awolowo conversation should be in 2026.

Not “she is one to watch.”

We are already watching.

Last year, Nora Awolowo made Nollywood history with Red Circle. At 26, she became the youngest Nigerian filmmaker to take a film past the ₦100 million box-office mark.

That achievement alone was enough to announce her as one of the young forces demanding attention in Nigerian cinema.

But Nora did not stop there.

This year, she and an ambitious team went much, much bigger.

With Black Market, they didn’t simply premiere a film. On September 26, 51,258 people gathered at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos and stayed through the screening — officially setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest attendance at a film screening. The previous record was 43,624.

That is not just a big crowd. That is history.

And Nora was right inside the engine room that made it happen.

Through Rixel Studios, she helped take an idea that sounded almost impossible — gathering more than 50,000 people to watch one Nigerian film together — and turn it into a record recognised around the world. Guinness World Records officially credits Nora Awolowo, Rixel Studios, Damilola Osikoya and Switch Visual Limited with the achievement.

But perhaps what makes Nora’s rise even more exciting is the pattern.

First, she broke a box-office barrier.
Then she helped break a world record.

And she did not do it alone.

Black Market itself represents the power of collaboration: Nicole Ofoegbu joined Nora as producer, Fatimah Binta Gimsay directed and co-wrote the film, while Omowunmi Dada and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed served as co-producers, alongside executive producers and a much wider production and event team.

That matters because great producers don’t simply have big ideas.

They build teams capable of carrying them.

Nora Awolowo is still young. Her story is still being written. But what she has already demonstrated is a willingness to think beyond what has already been done.

From ₦100 million at the box office to 51,258 people in one place, the scale keeps changing.

Give her the flowers.
Give the entire team their flowers. 🌹

And when you see Nora Awolowo?

Bow down a little. She has earned this moment.

This is Ranks Africa ENGINE ROOM.

Engine Room Damilola Osikoya: The Architect of the Impossible

Engine Room

Tosin Ranks

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September 28, 2026

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Engine Room Damilola Osikoya: The Architect of the Impossible

Every historic moment has the people we see — and the people working relentlessly behind the scenes to make sure the moment actually happens.

For Black Market, Damilola Osikoya was firmly in that engine room.

The dream sounded almost impossible: take a Nigerian film, transform Tafawa Balewa Square into one enormous cinema, and bring 50,000 people together for a single screening. But dreams of that scale require more than excitement. They require logistics, structure, coordination, experience and someone capable of understanding how thousands of moving parts eventually become one seamless experience.

That is the world Damilola understands.

As Founder and CEO of Switch Visuals Productions, she brought her experience in large-scale operations and event production into one of the boldest nights in recent Nigerian cinema. Working alongside the wider Black Market team, Damilola helped turn an audacious 50,000-person ambition into a night that ultimately welcomed more than 51,000 people.

That night did not happen by accident. It took people who understood how to take a bold idea and turn it into a living, breathing cultural moment.

Damilola’s path to that square is not the typical Nollywood story. She first built her name in travel. As the founder of Voyage Quest Travels, she has worked to redefine African travel experiences with a focus on dignity, technology and African-centred service. Before launching her own companies, she worked across major organisations, including Coca-Cola and Wakanow, and played key roles in Nigeria’s participation at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and the 2018 edition in Russia — handling licensing, charter coordination and large-scale travel operations.

That experience taught her something that would later become invaluable: how to move people, manage complexity and deliver under pressure.

She then expanded into media and storytelling. Switch Visuals began with commercials and music videos before moving into feature films. The company’s Nollywood debut, A Weekend Fiasco, signalled a serious intention to produce stories, not simply support them. Collaborations followed, including work on projects such as The Wedding Guest, Ruin the Friendship and Evi.

Through it all, Damilola has remained the consistent thread — the producer and executive who understands both the creative vision and the operational reality required to bring it to life.

What makes her journey particularly interesting is the combination of systems thinking and cultural ambition.

She moves between travel, filmmaking and large-scale experience production with the same underlying understanding: big ideas are only as powerful as the systems capable of carrying them.

She speaks about collaboration, young people and challenging conventions not merely as slogans, but as principles reflected in the work she continues to build. When she described the Black Market project as being close to her heart because it demonstrated what becomes possible when bold ideas meet determination, she was also describing something central to her own journey.

In an industry that can sometimes separate the dreamers from the doers, Damilola Osikoya is increasingly building at the intersection of both.

She is the travel entrepreneur who understands movement and scale.

She is the producer who understands story and experience.

And on one historic night in Lagos, she became part of a team that demonstrated just how ambitious the Nigerian entertainment industry can be when vision meets execution.

She does not simply organise events.

She helps build the stages on which new history can be written.

ENGINE ROOM NICOLE OFOEGBU: The Producer Inside the Machine That Made Black Market History

Engine Room

Tosin Ranks

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September 28, 2026

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ENGINE ROOM NICOLE OFOEGBU: The Producer Inside the Machine That Made Black Market History

Some people stand in front of history. Others are inside the engine room making sure it happens.

For Black Market, Nicole Ofoegbu was one of those people.

The ambition was enormous: make a film, build an event around it, bring tens of thousands of people together at Tafawa Balewa Square and attempt something on a scale rarely associated with a single film screening.

An idea that big needs more than vision. It needs execution. It needs experience. It needs people who know how to keep the moving parts moving when the pressure rises.

That is where Nicole comes in.

The Engine Room

Nicole has spent years doing the kind of work audiences don’t always see but productions cannot function without.

Long before Black Market, she had already built experience across major Nollywood productions, with credits including Chief Daddy, Òlòtūré and Omo Ghetto: The Saga, alongside subsequent production work across film and television.

That journey matters because producing is often less glamorous than the finished movie makes it appear.

It is schedules. People. Budgets. Logistics. Problems nobody anticipated. Decisions that cannot wait. And the constant responsibility of protecting the vision while figuring out how to actually deliver it.

Nicole understands that world.

So when Black Market demanded ambition on another level, she brought something invaluable to the table: production muscle.

When Ambition Met Execution

There was youthful creative energy behind Black Market. There was a big vision. There was also the enormous task of turning that vision into something real.

Nicole became part of the bridge between the two.

Working alongside producer Nora Awolowo and the wider team, she helped carry a project that ultimately became about much more than what appeared on screen.

And when more than 51,000 people gathered at Tafawa Balewa Square on 26 September, the scale of what the team had attempted became impossible to ignore.

For Nicole, it also represented another milestone in a career largely built behind the scenes.

In her own words, she could now call herself “a Guinness World Record producer.”

And that sentence carries years of work behind it.

The People Behind the Moment Matter Too

Nollywood naturally celebrates its visible faces. We know the actors. We celebrate the directors. We remember the characters.

But extraordinary productions are also powered by people whose names may never become as familiar to the audience.

The producers. The coordinators. The problem-solvers. The people holding everything together when everyone else is looking at the screen.

That is why Nicole Ofoegbu deserves this Ranks Africa Engine Room Spotlight.

Not simply because she was attached to a historic project, but because Black Market represents another chapter in a body of work that has been built through experience, consistency and execution.

She has worked on major productions. She has learned the machinery. She has kept building.

And when an opportunity came to help execute something audacious, she was ready for it.

Quiet Power. Proven Experience. Historic Result.

Black Market may have created a spectacular public moment, but moments of that scale are rarely created by one person.

They are built by teams. And within those teams are people who make sure ambition survives contact with reality.

Nicole Ofoegbu is one of those people.

She isn’t simply part of the machine.

She is one of the reasons the machine works.

RANKS AFRICA — ENGINE ROOM SPOTLIGHT
Celebrating the producers, creators and behind-the-scenes professionals powering African entertainment.

Dr. Obafemi Hamzat: The Engineer at the Centre of Lagos Governance

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September 28, 2026

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Dr. Obafemi Hamzat: The Engineer at the Centre of Lagos Governance

Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, Deputy Governor of Lagos State

He has spent about two decades in the service of Lagos, and few officials in the state can claim so long and varied a record. He has held two commissioner portfolios and now serves as Deputy Governor. He is also the ruling party’s candidate for the top office in the 2027 election. His story began, in his own words, in Mushin, and it has moved through the classroom, the trading floor and the Alausa secretariat.

A Career Built on Systems

Dr. Obafemi Hamzat trained as a systems engineer and holds a doctorate from Cranfield University in the United Kingdom. Before entering government he worked in finance abroad, at firms that include Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch. That background shaped his habits in office. He tends to describe a state as a set of connected systems, in which transport, water, revenue and public records must work together or none of them works well.

He entered public service as Commissioner for Science and Technology under Bola Ahmed Tinubu. He later served as Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure under Babatunde Fashola, where he was closely associated with the construction of the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, the first cable-stayed bridge in Nigeria. Since 2019 he has served as Deputy Governor to Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the two men have shared responsibility for the administration’s THEMES development agenda.

The Candidate for 2027

Dr. Obafemi Hamzat won the All Progressives Congress governorship primary in Lagos and became the party’s candidate for the 2027 election. The result was announced on 21 May 2026 at the party secretariat in Ogba, Ikeja, and it showed him with 657,917 votes out of 657,974 accredited. His only challenger to reach the ballot, Lanre Jim-Kamal, received a single vote, and another aspirant, Samuel Ajose, withdrew before the exercise. The size of the margin reflects a party that had settled on its choice well before the primary was held. Reports from the state say that the party had already adopted him as a consensus candidate in April 2026.

In his acceptance remarks, Hamzat thanked President Tinubu, Governor Sanwo-Olu and the Governance Advisory Council. He promised to continue the work begun by Tinubu and later APC administrations in the state, and he listed the bus rapid transit system, the Blue and Red rail lines, the Adiyan waterworks and a number of roads and bridges as examples. He called these the arteries of the state’s economy. TheCable TheCable

Infrastructure and Transport

Transport remains the field in which Hamzat is most easily judged, because commuters see it every day. The Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge opened during the Fashola years and gave the Lekki peninsula a second major road connection to Ikoyi and Victoria Island. In the present administration, the Blue Line and Red Line rail projects have joined the older bus rapid transit corridors and the state’s ferry services. The aim is a network in which a passenger can change from rail to bus to boat without leaving the public system.

The cost of that ambition is real. Rail, toll roads and bridges on coastal ground are expensive to build and slow to pay back. He has said in public that Lagos needs a much larger budget than it has to meet demand in transport, education and health. Critics of the approach point out that long construction periods mean lower-income commuters wait years for relief, and that public-private financing brings its own burden of fees and contracts.

Technology and Public Administration

The technology portfolio gave him his first public reputation. During his time as Commissioner for Science and Technology, the state introduced an enterprise resource planning platform to manage its personnel and finances. Supporters credit the system with tightening payroll control and limiting leakage of revenue. The claim that Lagos was the first government in Africa to use the platform at that scale has been made in the campaign literature, and it should be checked against an official source before it is repeated in print.

He has carried the same interest into current policy. He has spoken in favour of teaching artificial intelligence literacy in schools, and he argues that Nigerian students should learn to build such tools and not only use those made abroad. Educators who share his aim add a practical warning. Many public primary schools on the outer edges of the state, in areas such as Badagry and Epe, still struggle with unreliable power and poor internet access, and a curriculum cannot run without them.

Education and Health

In education, the administration has worked to upgrade classrooms and reduce crowding in public schools across the five administrative divisions. Programmes such as EkoEXCEL were meant to bring modern teaching methods, including tablets, into primary classes. In health, the emphasis has been on primary health centres and on state-backed insurance under the Ilera Eko scheme, so that ordinary clinics carry more of the load now placed on large hospitals such as LASUTH.

Both sectors face the same difficulty, which is people. Nurses, doctors and teachers continue to leave Nigeria for better pay abroad. Health specialists argue that new clinics will not hold up without better salaries for the staff who work in them, and the same reasoning applies to schools.

The Challenges Ahead

Lagos is a city of millions that keeps growing. Waste collection, land use, housing and traffic all press on the state government, and each solved problem tends to draw more people into the city. A governor will inherit each of these tasks along with the debts and contracts of earlier projects.

Political participation is a further concern, and Hamzat has raised it himself. He noted that about 6.2 million Lagos residents were registered to vote in the last election, yet only about 1.2 million took part. A candidate who wins with such low turnout holds office without the broad mandate the figures might suggest, and Hamzat has urged party members to work harder at getting voters to the polls.

The Case He Makes

He presents himself as a man who knows how the state works. At a church anniversary service in Lagos, he said he was the best candidate because he understands the history and politics of the state, and he advised residents to be careful of politicians who promise everything during campaigns. His record gives him a strong claim to experience. The test for voters will be simpler and harder, namely whether daily life in the city has become cheaper, safer and easier to manage.

In all, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, brings an engineer’s training and a long public record to the contest for the Lagos governorship. His supporters point to bridges, rail lines and digital records as proof of method. His critics point to cost, slow delivery and the gap between large projects and household budgets. The 2027 election will decide which of these views carries more weight.

Redesigning Tourism For The Future: Nigeria Joins The Global Conversation On Ai And Digital Innovation

Travel & Hospitality

Ranks Screen

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September 28, 2026

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Redesigning Tourism For The Future: Nigeria Joins The Global Conversation On Ai And Digital Innovation

As the world marked World Tourism Day 2026 on September 27, stakeholders in Nigeria joined the global conversation on how technology and artificial intelligence are reshaping the future of tourism.

May be an image of dais — Director-General, NTDA, Ola Awakan

The 2026 celebration was held under the theme, “Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism,” a theme that reflects the growing role of digital technology and AI in the way travelers discover destinations, plan journeys, access services and experience different cultures. UN Tourism identifies digital transformation and AI as important tools for improving customer experiences, operational efficiency and sustainable tourism practices.

In Nigeria, the Director-General of the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), Ola Awakan, joined stakeholders at the Federal Ministry of Arts, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy to commemorate the occasion and reflect on the direction of the country’s tourism sector.

For Nigeria, the conversation comes at an important time. The country possesses a wide range of cultural, historical and natural tourism assets, from heritage sites and festivals to beaches, forests, wildlife, cuisine, creative traditions and historic cities. The challenge increasingly extends beyond having these attractions. It also involves how effectively they are documented, presented, discovered and accessed by audiences within Nigeria and around the world.

Digital technology presents new possibilities across that tourism value chain.

Artificial intelligence can support destination discovery, provide personalized travel information, assist visitors with itinerary planning and improve communication between tourism businesses and their customers. Digital platforms can also give lesser-known destinations greater visibility, while data can help tourism authorities and operators understand visitor behavior and improve planning.

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, noted in his World Tourism Day 2026 message that AI is already influencing how travelers choose destinations and how tourism experiences are designed. He also stressed the importance of ensuring that tourism workers, local communities and emerging destinations participate in shaping the sector’s digital future.

That principle is particularly relevant to Nigeria.

Technology should help amplify Nigerian stories rather than replace the people and communities behind those stories. The country’s cultural identity, traditions, history and local knowledge remain central to the tourism experience.

As Nigeria looks towards a more digitally connected tourism economy, the opportunity lies in using technology to make destinations more visible, services more accessible, experiences more seamless and tourism opportunities more widely distributed.

The future of Nigerian tourism will therefore require more than beautiful destinations. It will require better digital storytelling, stronger destination management, investment in digital skills, reliable infrastructure, quality hospitality services and meaningful participation from the communities that own and preserve the country’s heritage.

World Tourism Day 2026 provides a timely reminder that Nigeria’s tourism story must continue to evolve with the world while remaining firmly rooted in its people, culture and identity.

Happy World Tourism Day 2026.

OGWA IS ONE: One year of building a home for stories, people and impact

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September 28, 2026

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OGWA IS ONE: One year of building a home for stories, people and impact

One year ago, OGWA Studios was a decision.

Not a decision backed by a trust fund, a major investor or a co-founder. It was a decision to build something from the ground up, with whatever was available, and to see how far consistency, conviction and good work could take it.

For Prosper Light, the founder of OGWA Studios, the idea was simple.

There was a need for a platform that could spotlight talent, appreciate people and create opportunities for creatives who were still trying to find their place. Rather than wait for the industry to create that space, he decided to build one.

“While many people were waiting for opportunities, I thought, why not build one?”

That question became OGWA.

A year later, the company has grown into a creative ecosystem built around stories, people and impact. What began as an attempt to create a platform has developed into a studio producing films and documentaries, convening communities, creating learning spaces and building partnerships across the creative and social impact landscape.

But the first year was not without its costs.

OGWA was built largely from the founder’s own resources, and there were moments when keeping the company moving meant giving more than was available.

After one of the early productions, the budget had gone beyond what was planned. The work had to be completed, and there was little left afterwards.

On a video call with a friend, Prosper showed what had become his first meal of the day.

Peanut butter.

It is a small detail in the larger story of building a company, but it captures something essential about OGWA’s first year: the willingness to keep going even when the conditions were far from comfortable.

“There is only one option left: success. And I don’t know how to stop.”

That determination has become part of the culture of OGWA.

So has excellence.

From production to branding, communication, partnerships and events, the company has increasingly built a reputation around the standard of its execution. The people who work within the OGWA ecosystem are expected to operate at that level, regardless of their role.

The first year has also tested one of the founder’s earliest ambitions for the company: community.

OGWA was never intended to be only a production company. It was meant to create a space where people could see themselves, contribute, learn, connect and feel that they belonged.

Today, that vision is beginning to take shape.

The numbers tell part of the story.

In its first year, OGWA has produced four short films and one documentary, hosted five major events, including a film premiere, an intimate screening, a community gathering and two editions of its flagship masterclass, and reached 578 attendees across its events.

Its community has grown to 207 OGWA Insiders, alongside 7,601 followers across platforms, more than 47 brand partners and collaborators, and a monthly digital reach of over 100,000.

But the numbers are not the story by themselves.

The more significant measure may be the kind of people who have entered the ecosystem, the trust that has been placed in the company, and the growing number of rooms in which OGWA is being taken seriously.

Some of the collaborations formed in this first year would have seemed unlikely when the company began.

That remains one of the surreal parts of the journey.

For Prosper, however, the lesson has been less about luck and more about positioning.

“Positioning for opportunities is the key to unlocking opportunities. The value you place in your work translates into how you deliver, and ultimately how you are perceived.”

That principle has shaped much of OGWA’s first year.

The company has had to learn while building, build while producing and produce while figuring out what comes next.

And somewhere along the way, OGWA became more than the platform it was originally imagined to be.

It became a home.

OGWA bụ ụlọ.

A home for stories.

A home for people.

A home for impact.

One year in, OGWA is still building. But it is no longer building simply to prove that it can exist.

It has created enough to know what is possible.

It has gathered enough people to know that the community is real.

It has done enough work to know that the standard can travel.

And it has learned enough to know that the next chapter will require even more.

OGWA is one.

This is only the beginning.

IPROCOST Unveils Spidoo, a Smarter Mobility Platform Designed for Nigeria

Transportation

Tosin Ranks

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September 27, 2026

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IPROCOST Unveils Spidoo, a Smarter Mobility Platform Designed for Nigeria

IPROCOST Nigeria Limited has announced the launch of Spidoo, a new mobility platform designed to make personal, corporate and commercial transportation more convenient, reliable and accessible across Nigeria.

Built around the promise “Move Smarter,” Spidoo connects customers with verified drivers and vehicle partners through a modern digital booking platform, creating a more convenient way to arrange transportation for individuals, businesses, events and groups.

Three Ways to Move

Spidoo is being developed around three core mobility services. Book Charter, which is currently live, enables customers to pre-book Cars, SUVs, Siennas, Hiace and Coaster buses for corporate travel, events, group transportation, interstate journeys and travel within states.

The platform will subsequently introduce Ride Now, allowing customers to request immediate city rides or schedule journeys for later, as well as Courier, a motorcycle delivery service designed for the fast and reliable movement of packages within cities. Both services are listed as coming soon.

A Connected Customer Experience

Through Spidoo, customers will be able to enter their pickup and destination addresses, review estimated fares, select the service that suits their needs and monitor the progress of their bookings through the platform.

Beyond serving passengers and businesses, Spidoo is also designed to create earning opportunities for qualified professional drivers and vehicle owners. Owners of eligible cars, Hiace buses and Coaster buses will be able to apply to become partners, complete the required verification process and receive suitable transportation requests through the platform.

“Spidoo represents our commitment to building practical technology that responds to Nigeria’s transportation needs. Our goal is to give customers better mobility choices while enabling drivers and vehicle owners to earn from their assets.” Spidoo_Official_Press_Announcem…

Built for Trust and Responsible Growth

Spidoo is being developed with a focus on safety, partner verification, transparent pricing, trip notifications, customer convenience and operational accountability. The company plans a phased rollout, with additional features and service coverage to be introduced as the platform expands across Lagos and other states in Nigeria.

The launch positions Spidoo as a multi-service mobility platform serving not only individual passengers but also corporate organisations, professional drivers, vehicle owners and transportation partners.

Customers and partners are invited to join the growing Spidoo community.

Ride With Us. Become a Partner. Move Smarter.

Visit Spidoo

National Theatre to Host First Afrobeats Residency as Davido Marks Fifteen Years

Music Stories

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September 27, 2026

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National Theatre to Host First Afrobeats Residency as Davido Marks Fifteen Years

Davido has announced a three-night residency at the National Theatre in Lagos, scheduled to run from December 17 to 19, 2026. Billed as ORIADE: The Residency, the run will be the first multi night engagement staged by an Afrobeats artist at the historic Iganmu venue, and it arrives as Davido marks fifteen years in music.

Davido Is Bringing a Three-Night Residency to Lagos' National Theatre This December - DancehallMag — Davido

The singer made the announcement on September 18 across his social media platforms, alongside an official trailer and the music video for his single ‘On The Road.’ In the caption accompanying the post, he wrote that he was bringing the show home, calling it a homecoming rather than an ordinary concert.

A HOMECOMING BUILT AROUND ORIADE

The residency will mark the first full live performance in Lagos of ORIADE, Davido’s sixth studio album, released on July 31, 2026. The thirteen-track project takes its title from the Yoruba words ori, meaning destiny, and ade, meaning crown, and its lead single, ‘I Know Who I Be,’ features the South African producers JAZZWRLD and GL_Ceejay.

Across the three nights, Davido is expected to pair songs from the new album with material spanning his career, from his 2011 breakout single ‘Dami Duro’ through the hits that followed. Special guests have been promised for each night, though no names had been confirmed at the time of the announcement.

A LANDMARK VENUE, FRESHLY RESTORED

The National Theatre was built for FESTAC ’77, the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture, and has long stood as one of Lagos’ defining landmarks. The building has recently completed an extensive renovation, and the residency will serve as one of its first major contemporary showcases since the work was finished.

Speaking to CNN about the decision to stage the residency at home, Davido said bringing everything back home is very important for the culture. He added that the run had taken close to a year to plan, and that it was meant to show that African artists can stage major productions locally while supporting Nigerian businesses in the process.

TIMING AND THE DETTY DECEMBER CALENDAR

The residency falls within Detty December, the annual stretch when Lagos fills with returning members of the Nigerian diaspora and becomes, for a few weeks, the busiest live entertainment market on the continent. The second night, December 18, coincides with the opening night of the Livespot360 Detty December Fest, a thirteen-day programme across two stages that will be headlined that evening by Wizkid.

Industry observers have described the residency format itself as unusual for Nigeria, where major artists typically perform a single date rather than return to the same stage on consecutive nights. A residency spreads production costs across several nights in one venue instead of moving a full stage setup between cities, a model more commonly associated with Las Vegas and London.

TICKET ACCESS

Presale registration opened to members of Davido’s 30BG fanbase ahead of general sale, with tickets scheduled to go on sale on September 25, 2026. Pricing tiers and full seating details had not been made public at the time of writing.

The residency follows a year of heavy touring for Davido, including his 42 date 5IVE ALIVE Tour across twelve countries on four continents, his first appearance at Coachella, and his feature on the official FIFA World Cup 2026 album with the song ‘No Place Like Home,’ recorded alongside Major Lazer and Nelly Furtado.

WHAT THE RESIDENCY SIGNALS

For a Nigerian entertainment industry accustomed to single mega concerts during the December season, a three-night residency at a state-owned cultural monument represents a different kind of commitment, one that ties a global artist’s brand to the health of a single, newly restored venue over several consecutive evenings.

Whether the format takes hold among other major Nigerian acts, or stands as a onetime statement built around Davido’s own anniversary, will likely become clearer once the residency itself has played out and its production, attendance and ticket pricing are measured against the rest of the season.

Nollywood Makes History: Black Market Premiere Breaks Guinness World Record in Lagos

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September 27, 2026

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Nollywood Makes History: Black Market Premiere Breaks Guinness World Record in Lagos

Nollywood has written a new chapter in world cinema. On Saturday, September 26, 2026, the crime thriller Black Market drew more than 51,000 viewers to a single screening at Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos, and Guinness World Records confirmed the figure as the largest attendance at a film screening in one location. The achievement ends an eleven year record held since October 2015, when 43,624 people gathered at the Philippine Arena in Ciudad de Victoria for the premiere of the biographical film Felix Manalo.

Organizers had set out to gather 50,000 people for the event. By the close of the night, the crowd at Tafawa Balewa Square had grown well beyond that target. Lagos State Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat put total attendance at about 64,000. Guinness World Records based its qualifying count on the number of viewers who remained from the opening scene to the closing credits, a figure it set at 51,000.

The gates opened at two in the afternoon. A red carpet procession began around three, and the screening itself started at seven that evening, following hours of music, food and games that kept the grounds full long before the film began.

A STORY BUILT FOR THE OCCASION

Black Market comes from Rixel Studios, the company behind the 2025 release Red Circle. It marks the feature directorial debut of Fatimah Binta Gimsay, who wrote the script with Abdul Tijani-Ahmed. Nora Awolowo produced the film, working alongside FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production. The Lagos State Government supported the event through its Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture.

The film follows five market women who run a cross-border fuel smuggling operation in secret, a business that begins to unravel after one of their daughters is kidnapped. The story is set against a backdrop of fuel scarcity and mounting economic pressure, themes drawn from everyday life in Nigeria and rendered here with the weight of crime drama.

The cast includes Lateef Adedimeji, Linda Ejiofor-Suleiman, Omowunmi Dada, Scarlet Gomez, Teniola Aladese, Susan Pwajok, Ibrahim Yekini (known widely as Itele) and Uzor Arukwe. Their work on screen held tens of thousands of viewers through two hours of tension, and the crowd’s reaction at the final credits, cheers rising across the square, marked the record as much as any number did.

A NIGHT OF RECOGNITION

Dignitaries at the event included Deputy Governor Hamzat and Commissioner for Tourism, Arts and Culture Toke Benson. Nollywood figures in attendance included Kunle Remi, Stan Nze and his wife Blessing Obasi, Gabriel Afolayan, Femi Adebayo and Kunle Afolayan, among others who came to witness a moment years in the planning.

When Guinness World Records confirmed the new mark, the announcement was met with cheers, fireworks and a swell of celebration that carried across Tafawa Balewa Square. In remarks that followed, representatives of Rixel Studios described the night as a statement of Nollywood’s reach, and of its ability to draw an audience on a scale not attempted before in African cinema.

MILESTONE AT A GLANCE

Movie Title	Black Market
Production Studio	Rixel Studios, with FilmOne Studios, Signet Ring Studios and Switch Visuals Production
Director	Fatimah Binta Gimsay
Writers	Fatimah Binta Gimsay and Abdul Tijani-Ahmed
Producer	Nora Awolowo
Date of Achievement	September 26, 2026
Venue	Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos, Nigeria
Qualifying Attendance	51,000+ (Guinness World Records)
Reported Total Attendance	Approximately 64,000
Previous Record (2015)	43,624, set at the Philippine Arena, Ciudad de Victoria, Philippines

WHAT THE RECORD MEANS FOR AFRICAN CINEMA

The achievement gives Nollywood its first entry into this Guinness World Records category, and it does so at a scale many in the industry had discussed only as a theoretical possibility. A single open air screening has now outpaced a record set at a purpose-built fifty five thousand seat arena.

The comparison invites a wider conversation about how African film can reach its audience. Traditional theatrical rollouts remain the backbone of commercial cinema in Nigeria, but Black Market suggests that communal, event scale screenings can draw a following of their own, built on shared experience rather than ticket sales alone. Whether other producers follow this model, or come to see it as a rare case built around one ambitious premiere, is a question the industry will now have to answer.

Black Market moves next to a nationwide theatrical release, carrying with it a distinction no Nigerian film has held before it.

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