What a year it has been and truly what a lot to process. If we thought 2023 was a lot to handle, 2024 sure has proven us all wrong. With how turbulent 24’ was, the ability of Nigerians to find joy in the smallest things remained constant. From the never-ending TikTok trends and slang to big celebrity weddings, and even a revival of the age-old Wizkid-Davido war, we indeed have a lot to unpack.
Here is an overview of the most viral issues and trends that graced the social media space in 2024.
‘No gree for anybody’
The year kicked off with the phrase ‘no gree for anybody’ which took off majorly through the power of TikTok and X (Twitter). Nigerians took the phrase to heart, and it became a rallying cry for standing up for oneself.
TikTok trends
In 2024, Nigerians had a vast number of TikTok trends spanning from music to fashion, art, and even news. Some of the most popular TikTok trends include the ‘gwo gwo gwo ngwo’ dance challenge, ‘pose for me’ challenge, ‘ugly dog prank’, Shallipopi’s ‘Pluto dance’? ‘Tshwala bam’ dance challenge and much more. Let’s not leave out the funny comment sections or hilarious phrases that trended on TikTok for weeks.
Celebrity weddings
2024 was the year of love, with celebrity weddings taking center stage. From Kunle Remi’s January nuptials to Davido’s June wedding, it seemed like every other week, a celebrity was saying “I do”.
Veekee James wedded in February, Moses Bliss (March), in April was Theophilus Sunday, Yinka Ashogbon (Ashluxe), and Salem King while Wofai and Andrea Iyamah got married to their partners in May.
Like Davido, Sharon Ooja picked June, while July was for Segun Obe and Amand Dara. Dimma Umeh and Yhemo Lee chose August while September was for Prudent Gabriel & Okopi Peterson.
The year is yet to end and maybe there’s a celebrity wedding still in store for us.
Wizkid vs Davido
One bright Tuesday in April, Wizkid posted a trending meme of Davido on his knees (a picture from one of his alleged mistresses), and as expected, last year’s bromance went up in flames. From April, it’s been a long and constant back and forth, exchange of words on X, slight digs, and subtle shade on IG stories. The feud seemingly got worse after the release of Wizkid’s new album ‘Morayo’ and some artists like Portable and Ladipoe claim the feud is only a marketing strategy. Surprisingly Burna is nowhere to be found in this chaos. Alas, in 2025, we hope for a longer-lasting bromance.
Big Brother Naija: No Loose Guard
Big Brother Naija is a staple show each year, but 2024’s edition came with a twist that got Nigerians excited — the housemates came in pairs. Now unlike previous seasons where housemates would come in as strangers to each other, this season brought us paired housemates ranging from twins to friends and even a secretly married couple. It was a debate for weeks about who the money would go to and this is one of those seasons where the winner wasn’t very clear — X would trend with his phrases like “the money is married” or “the money is energetic” after the two paired top contenders ‘WANNI X HANDI’ and the married couple ‘DOUBLE KAY’. Biggie even threw in an additional twist of unpairing the housemates, drama, betrayal, and gossip and at the end, the money was indeed married and KellyRae of ‘DOUBLEKAY’ was announced winner of BBN season 9.
Chidimma Adetshina’s Miss Universe controversy
For years to come, Chidimma will be noted as a record-breaker who made history as the first Miss Universe Nigeria to make the Miss Universe Top 2. Chidimma’s path to Miss Universe was not without controversy. Born to a Nigerian father and a Mozambican mother, she faced criticism and withdrew from the Miss South Africa pageant due to her nationality. This prompted Silverbird Group, organizers of Miss Universe Nigeria, to invite her to participate where she won the pageant and the rest is history.
Money spraying
What a shock it was when ‘mummy of Lagos’ Bobrisky was arrested and sentenced in April to six months in Kirikiri for spraying naira. Her sentence was a shock not only because she was a first-time offender but because naira spraying had never really been regarded as a serious offense. Many speculated she was merely a scapegoat as punishment for being awarded ‘Best Dressed Female’ at Eniola Ajao’s movie premiere. EFCC was truly standing on business this year as the Cubana Chiefpriest was also charged with the same offense shortly after. Cubana’s luck was perhaps a good lawyer who got him to plead ‘not guilty’ unlike Bob or special anointing but he was let off with a fine. Nigerians were careful not to spray naira carelessly subsequently and we hope this good behavior is permanent.
Bobrisky vs VDM
It seems Bob couldn’t catch a break this year. Shortly after her release from prison, social media activist VeryDarkMan shared an audio in which Bobrisky purportedly claimed that she bribed some EFCC officials with N15 million to drop the money laundering charge against her and that she wasn’t remanded in prison. Just like that, the matter escalated grievously, with the house of representatives inviting both parties for an official probing and a full-blown investigation to enquire if she served the six-month sentence in a private apartment and not in prison.
Meanwhile, Bobrisky, who was arrested twice, departed Nigeria for the United Kingdom with apparently no plans to return.