KOKO’s Celebrities Of The 90s: From Cyril Stober To Olamide Badoo And Everyone In-Between

Last week, we started the conversation on the long and sometimes tortuous journey that the TV screen in Nigeria has been through. Long gone are the days when we had to display our mountaineering skills just to adjust the TV antenna and get good reception. Thanks to YouTube and the likes (pun intended!), we only have our couch-potatoing skills to worry about. And our love for the TV then was not born out of appreciation of the sturdiness and ugliness of the big hefty boxes just as much as our addiction to screens now is definitely not an impassioned attempt to save the world. Rather it was the faces on them that kept us occupied. And it was not a pretty large crowd. So who were the members of this exclusive club and who are their direct replacements in 2017? (You can read the first part of this post HERE.)5. Cyril Stober: Cyril was not a favourite of mine growing up. His presence on TV meant I had to endure an extended period of listening to adult blabber. But surely and slowly, he started to grow on me. We learnt to trust him to state the truth and we took his on-screen opinions as the true judgement of the situation. No one else in this list is as vintage as Cyril and no 2017 replacement on this list is as futuristic as his too. Because his place has been taken over by Twitter. Twitter in 2017 is what Cyril was in 1990s – people believing what comes out of it/him without questioning, most-widely reliable form of information and a lack of understanding of just how power he/it is.6. Regina Askia: If there was ever a queen of the sultry in the 1990s, Regina would be it. I had a crush on her as did countless other puberty-approaching boys. After ending up as the runner-up in the Nigerian beauty queen pageant, she took a detour into the movie industry and her success was one of the best recorded in the 1990s. She soon had her dedicated cult following until her abrupt exit from the movie scene later on for family commitments. Kehinde Bankole is her heiress apparent – former beauty queen, sultry and most importantly, a dedicated set of fans that pride themselves for not being populist.7. MKO Abiola: SDP was a synonym for change in the 1990s. Abiola was the long awaited Messiah to shepherd Nigerians into Canaan. He was a commercially successful but religious man who was moved by his passion for his fellow country men. He was well liked and respected by all. The June 12 annulment and his suspicious death were the only bad chapters in an otherwise story-book life. Cue 2017, and we have Yemi Osinbajo – a son of South West Nigeria too, a man successful outside politics too, a man moved by religion and compassion too and a man that is arguably universally loved by all nations. Neither became/presidents but were/are close enough to be respected as one.8. Kanu Nwankwo: Papilo was the golden boy in the golden footballing era. He was lanky, had a distinct toothy grin plus he enjoyed relative success in a society tagged as the apex of footballing – England. Much was expected of him in his youth as per national team but overall, he disappointingly fell short. Plus when he finally came into maturity, the team around him was not on par. An averagely successful national team career but much success in his club. Just like Mikel Obi. Heralded as the next best thing in football after leading the national youth team to success, the following years with Nigeria did not measure up to expectation although he would go on to win medals with his English club.9. Tony Tetuila: Golden-haired boy Tony Tetuila was the first pick of club DJs around the nation. He had a distinctive sound and his songs were usually trending even years after release. He also enjoyed relative success internationally even though his songs was for the streets. He enjoyed a sudden burst of fame and adulation and no one else comes to mind in 2017 apart from Olamide. Badoo is the bright-haired king of streets with hits after hits after hits, also enjoying some success abroad. He has a distinctive sound and most importantly for someone looking to define an era, he had swagger!Photo Credit: Getty

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