These people went from being unknown to global fame in no time.
This year was great for many Nigerians on the internet. This list is packed with people who worked hard in their own ways, in silence, until the spotlight fell on them.
Here's a list of six of them:
1. Laolu Senbanjo:
Laolu has been putting in work for the past few years as a singer and artist. Against the wishes of his parents, he left Nigeria to focus on his art, abandoning a career as a lawyer. His art form which mostly involves complex lines and deeply layered doodling is as he calls it, "The Sacred Art Of The Ori".
This year, Nike picked him to become a Master of Air to design a T-shirt and sneakers for the AIR MAX CON 2016. He was the only black artist on the lineup.
That's not all.
The real global stardom came when Beyonce brought him on board to work as the "artist on set" of her critically acclaimed visual album, "Lemonade".
2. Emmanuella:
This little girl is undoubtedly the Queen of Nigerian Youtube. The popular Mark Angel Comedy videos feature her as the main character in the short skits which have garnered millions of views this year alone. While they didn't start making funny videos this year, the real fame came at Episode 48, titled "My Real Face". The 6-year-old is currently the youngest recipient of the Youtube Awards in Sub-Saharan Africa. The channel where she appears, Mark Angel Comedy, has been awarded the most subscribed creator in Nigeria.
3. Haneefah Adam:
Early this year, CNN, BBC, Mic, Huffington Post and almost every other media heavyweight were talking about the Barbie Doll's makeover.
Someone dressed her up in a cute little dress and dorned a hijab on the little things. She was calling it 'Hijarbie'.
Enter Haneefah Adam.
The Pharmacologist/Food Artist/Fashion Designer decided to create a line of barbie dolls for people who dressed like her; in long flowing skirts and hijabs.
Everyone loved it, and in no time, people from everywhere were asking where they could get it to buy for their little ones. That's not all. She's also famous for making almazing, mouth-watering food art.
She made this for Star Wars actor, John Boyega.
4. Abdulahi Olatoyan:
"Is this the world most dapper squeegee man?", that's the headline that announced Abdulahi Olatoyan to the world. The unemployed young man in Abeokuta decided to squeegee so he can raise money to start a business. An Instagrammer, Daniel shared his photo.
Uche Nnaji, founder of Ouch Clothing, stepped in.
And the rest, they say, is history.
5. Bobrisky.
He's the unofficial "King of Snapchat". The "glow up" evangelist is famous for his snaps and his bleaching cream business. He thrives on the speculation the maybe and maybe-nots of his sexuality. While all of this is more amusing than anything to Nigerians, his real controversy was going viral over sitting on a panel for an event6. Oresegun Olumide.
You might not know what Oresegun Olumide looks like,
But you definitely know his works.
The hyper-realism in Olumide's paintings is where he stands out. Incredible attention to detail. He got featured on CNN and got patrons for his work from literally everywhere.
7. Olajumoke Orisaguna.
This is unarguably the biggest star of 2016. She went from photo bomber to Cinderella in less than a month. TY Bello was taking a photo of British-Nigerian rapper, Tinie Tempah, Olajumoke walked into the set and in no time, the internet was searching for her.
By the time she was found, she got a major makeover, a house, scholarships, and internships. If we had to pick only one person for this list, it would without a doubt be Olajumoke.
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