00:00Across Nigeria, short comedy skits posted on platforms like TikTok, YouTube and Instagram
00:16are no longer just entertaining millions.
00:19They're creating jobs and powering a fast-growing industry.
00:24Abuja-based comedian Stanley Milius, known as Gospel Al-Aji, started making skits back
00:31in 2017, long before the industry took off in 2021.
00:37His political and social satire character, Honourable Member, now earns him millions of
00:43views and a large online following.
00:47He says things changed even more in 2024 when his content became fully monetized.
00:53Apart from you making money, you make friends and you make new families that watch after
01:00you.
01:01So that's what content creation has given me so far.
01:03Apart from that other benefit I had in content creation, I'm an ambassador to a real estate
01:10in Abuja, my Abuja home, I've been given plots of land, almost five plots of land.
01:18The skit business is now part of Nigeria's wider creative industry.
01:23Valued at about $31 million, it employs thousands of young people, camera operators, editors, scriptwriters,
01:32sound technicians and digital marketers.
01:36Analysts save a low cost of entries, helping more young Nigerians tap into the digital economy.
01:43Many more Nigerians now see the fact that they can put out their personal content, their
01:48creativity, their skill, their own knowledge base and they can earn money from that.
01:52It's affecting the economy because many more Nigerians now are tapping into their creative
01:58side.
01:59But creators say the sector still faces challenges.
02:03Many skit makers lack the technical know-how to properly set up their pages and maximise
02:09earnings, something Stanley says cost him years of revenue.
02:14I've worked for more than five or six years creating content and it is the platform that
02:23is making the money inside of me because one, I do not have the proper knowledge of setting
02:28up my page.
02:29Despite the gaps, experts say the future looks bright.
02:34With more creators gaining digital skills and more Nigerians consuming online content,
02:40the sector is expected to expand rapidly.
02:42I feel that in the next one year, the current figure we have now would triple.
02:48Because first of all, expertise, more Nigerians are learning the skill, understanding, more
02:54Nigerians are beginning to watch that space.
02:56Nigeria's skit economy is now part of a broader creative boom that includes Nollywood, Afrobeat
03:04and fashion.
03:05Experts say it contributes millions of dollars annually and is helping diversify Nigeria's
03:11income away from oil and as more creators professionalise and global audiences expand, skit making is becoming
03:19one of Nigeria's strongest digital exports.
Comments