Renowned comedians and entertainers celebrated at the inaugural Nigeria Comedy Awards, with Mr Macaroni, Taaooma, and Kiriku among the notable winners.
The Nigeria Comedy Awards, held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos on September 24, showcased the exceptional talent within the country’s comedy industry.
Notable figures, including legendary comedian Ali Baba and veteran actress Shola Shobowale, graced the event.
The event, eagerly anticipated by fans and industry insiders, saw Layi Wasabi claim the prestigious Revelation of the Year Award, accompanied by a N1 million reward.
The same prize went to the popular young comedian Enorense Victory, known as Kiriku, who triumphed in the “Best Comedy Kid” category..
According to the chairman of WapTv, Wale Adenuga, the maiden comedy award ceremony was carefully organized after winning the franchise to produce Nigeria comedy awards, and it was carefully assembled by a great team of professionals – the likes of Debbie Odutayo, Bunmi Davies, and Omoh.
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Other notable winners included but were not limited to; Bright Okocha as best stand-up Comedian (male), Helen Paul as Best stand-up comedian(female), Adebowale Debo as Best comedy skit maker(male), Maryam Apaokagi aka Taaooma as Best comedy skit maker (female).
The category for special recognition award was clinched by Shola Shobowale, Alibaba Akpobome, the Ajasco family, and Wale Adenuga himself amongst others.
The music industry was not left out as Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tubaba and Alexander Abolore aka 9ice sent the crowd agog with an electrifying performance.
Adenuga said comedy has always been his passion from: Cartoon Magazine (1976); to Papa Ajasco movie, Nigeria’s first English comedy Film (1984), to Papa Ajasco & Company, Nigeria’s longest running TV comedy Series (1997); and to the recent Akpan & Oduma series with over 120 million views on Youtube and Facebook.
He said, “Also, the intentional infusion of comedy into our award-winning Dramas – Superstory and the Babington Family and WapTV our 24-hour Family Entertainment TV Network has made the brands very popular across the globe.
“Having won the franchise to produce Nigeria Comedy Awards, we took a step in faith, and carefully assembled a great Team of Professionals – the likes of Debbie Odutayo, Bunmi Davies, and Omoh to actualize the spectacular event we are witnessing today.”
According to him, Nigeria’s comedy industry, as a subset of the country’s entertainment industry, is very large and diverse-cutting across comedy TV series, Stand-Up Comedy, Comedy Movies, MusiComedy, Comedy Shows, Funny Skits, Newspaper Cartoons, Animation and Executive Humour.
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He said the that WapTV had done its best “to reward excellence in all these areas.”
Adenuga said, “Not only is my heart full of joy for accomplishing this historic awards night, I am also elated that 24, 2023, marks first, my 75th Birthday; second, the presentation of my biography; third, the 48th Anniversary of my blissful marriage to Ehiwenma, my beautiful jewel of inestimable value and (4) the 20th Anniversary of PEFTI Nigeria’s foremost Film Institute.
“Firstly, we are grateful to Lagos State Government for supporting us immensely as the Host City. As we are well aware, the Lagos State Government has been very supportive of the Entertainment Industry over the years, especially in terms of equipping our Youths with the requisite knowledge and skills needed to support the actualization of the Smart City Project, while giving them a brighter future.
“We are very honoured that the State Government has added our Annual Nigeria Comedy Awards to the many entertainment projects they have been partnering with. Secondly, we thank the several Corporate Brands who believed in us and partnered with this event to make it bigger than we anticipated – Indomie, Airtel, Malta Guinness, Peak, and Fanta – you are all truly appreciated. – Film House Cinemas, AIT Network, Royal Roots Radio, TV and Cinemas, Pop Thirdly, we thank our media partners Central, African Movie Channel, Rave TV, Smooth 98.1fm, Goldmyne TV, Kennis 104.1fm and our Viewers worldwide. Thank you all for your invaluable support.”
He commended the Nigerian Comedians, charging them to “keep up spreading joy and laughter.