2021 was a recovery year for Nigeria’s entertainment industry with several wins and thrilling acts. While music stars continued their dominance in Africa, they also had a stint on the world stage with Grammy wins for the country. Several musicians emerged proving their readiness to take over from the old-timers. It was the same with the movie industry, with Mo Abudu that led others to show that Nigerians are ready to compete on the world stage. Several Nigerians made their marks within and outside the continent in fashion.
The Nigerian movie industry has witnessed several comebacks from the Living in Bondage and Rattle Snake, while in the last two years there had also been Omo Ghetto: The Saga; Ghost and the Tout; King of Boys: The Return of the King; and the last might not have been heard as a trilogy of the King of Boys could surface in 2022. Kemi Adetiba tweeted in response to a tweet that: “The full premise for King of Boys – Season 3 (KOB3) just came to me now”, fueling speculations of a return of the highly accepted series. Unlike the prequel, the sequel was a seven-part series that was released on Netflix on August 27.
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With Ayinla, Swallow and A Naija Christmas, Kunle Afolayan has shown the great potentials of the Nigerian movie industry. The films by the award-winning producer and director have shown that indeed he is a big weight in the Nigerian movie industry as his partnership with Netflix to produce three diverse films: a historical drama, folklore and a character drama. With the successes of Ayinla, Swallow, A Naija Christmas in 2021, Kunle Afolayan has raised the bar higher for himself, and fans need not worry about his track record as they can be assured of award-winning movies in 2022. He is already on set of Anikulapo in Oyo State.
“We are on a quest to make another history. KAP FILM VILLAGE & RESORT/ANIKULAPO THE MOVIE,” Afolayan posted on his Instagram page.
While the reunion of the Okoye brothers is no longer news, but fans are eager to see what the reunion will yield in 2022. With snippets of few performances in 2021, the “rock-it” crooners and high-energy dancers have shown they can still get Nigerians and Africans “squared” with energetic choreography and lovely renditions of past hits at various shows within and outside Nigeria since their reunion. But will they make a comeback in 2022?
Also, in the music industry, Oyinkansola Aderibigbe, Ayra Starr got to the limelight in 2021 having signed with Mavin Records. She rocks the music industry with her sonorous voice and charming identity. Fans will expect her to shine brighter in 2022 and build on her songs that topped the charts in 2021. Zazoo Zeh dominated the airwaves in December and fans will expect Habeeb Okikiola aka Portable to also bolster his fame which has seen him share the stage with top musicians in the country.
As seen in the industry, each year comes with new talents and discoveries and with the depth of endowed Nigerians, music lovers should expect to see more in 2022 as the music scenes take a global outlook.
How will Davido’s N250m be shared? This is the year, the N250m raised by Davido and pledged to charity will be shared. With over 1,000 applications received since he said the money would be donated to charity, fans are waiting to see the outcome of the committee set up to disburse the funds.
Also, 2021 saw several defamation cases among celebrities. In 2022, fans will know the first person to pay or apologise in national dailies.
