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Sparkling into the New Year: Faces of 2017

By Akinlolu Oluwamuyiwa
04 January 2017   |   8:58 am
 As we stride into the New Year, this issue is dedicated to three people we can look forward to captivating us through our televisions and social media, in 2017. Even as the country is faced with economic hardships, the media provides a wave of new generational energy each year. This year, we are delighted to…

 As we stride into the New Year, this issue is dedicated to three people we can look forward to captivating us through our televisions and social media, in 2017. Even as the country is faced with economic hardships, the media provides a wave of new generational energy each year.

This year, we are delighted to welcome many new faces into the media industry. We were exposed to shows such as The Voice Nigeria and Skinny Girl in Transit, and observed bloggers evolve. There was no shortage of entertainment on various platforms, from Africa Magic and Ndani to Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Surrounded with room for improvement, the industry is enriched with a lot of positivity as we look forward to 2017.

 

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Chike Osebuka

Known for his outstanding performance as the first runner up in The Voice, the international music show that made a debut in Nigeria in April 2016. Although Chike Osebuka did not win, he is recognised as the breakout star and a face to look forward to this year.  His bubbly personality and unique melody had the country voting their hearts out.

According to Chike, music has always been a part of his life. The 23 year old picked up the talent “subconsciously”. The singer who believes firmly in following one’s dreams stumbled upon The Voice audition after getting a haircut in Port Harcourt. He explains, “One Saturday has lead to all this six months later.”

After a brief, detailed conversation we found out about his slight obsession with humming and Indomie.sparkling

“I can be having a conversation with you and I start humming something and rhythms… I might be in an important meeting and I am like something just happened, let me step out and I am actually going out to take notes on the rhythm, it might work. Apart from that, I just get inspired every time I eat Indomie. You won’t get it. Because I eat it at the wrong times, when I am ready to do something creative. So once I just eat it, I am like these noodles are going to bring out great vocals.”

As Chike looks back on his year, he talks about his notable achievement being not only partaking in The Voice Nigeria but also being much bolder than he had ever been.

 

Sharon Ooja Egwurube

While on the acting side of things, we caught up with Sharon Ooja Egwurube who best recognised as Tiwa’s sister Shalewa in the Ndani series Skinny Girl in Transit.  The show revolves around the life of Tiwa, while she battles with her weight and societal norms. As a fresh-faced Northerner, Sharon recently moved to Lagos five years ago, from Kaduna. Although the actress is still new to Nollywood, her character in the show is quite remarkable for its insight into the lives of 22-25 year old girls in Nigeria.

Not far from her bouncy on screen personality, in real life Sharon comes across as extremely lively as she gladly describes herself as a “local babe”. She explains; “Most people think I am stuck up but I am not.” sparkling

Sharon credits God with her rise to fame, as her initial career path never included acting. After changing her course from business administration to mass communication at Houdegbe North American University, she says; “I legit bumped into acting. I went for a photo-shoot, this was like in 2013, after the shoot one of the women there, said she would like to call me for an interview and that is how I came in contact with Ndani TV. After that they started using me for so many other things, and I’ll just say it’s God because I never planned to act but I love every bit of it.”

The proclaimed food lover has a bright future ahead. Sharon expresses her deep enthusiasm for the New Year, as she says, “I don’t think anyone is as excited as me for 2017.”

2016 brought about a new generation of creative people who are no longer just bloggers and photographers or simply designers as a general hobby. We began to see people who combine various skills into a unique category after studying to pursue a career as a creative.

 

Adenike Adegboye

With an impressive following of 10,000 people on social media, Adenike Adegboye is a perfect of example of the new multiskilled creative breed.  She describes herself as a designer, blogger, street style photographer and stylist. After obtaining a history and international relations degree at Babcock University, she explains, “That was my first degree because my parents didn’t want me to go into artsy stuff; they wanted a ‘proper’ degree. So I did that at first before I went to study in Italy.”

Adenike was destined to be a creative from the start as she recalls buying her first sewing machine 12 years ago, with her Christmas money. Although her parents did not support her creative tendencies at first, she was always encouraged by her mother to be useful with her hands.

“My mum believes that you can’t be broke if you know how to do stuff with your hands. So, after my Jss3 exam, we had this three-month break, so she told me to go learn from a regular tailor on the street and for me that was how it started.” Sparkling

Adenike’s interest in photography and blogging developed when she interned for a professional street style photographer in Italy.

After her debut at the GTB fashion weekend in October last year, the exceptional creative is looking forward to working on her brand as she puts her design talents to good use in 2017. According to Adenike, the world should be expecting a “ready to-wear collection as well as a bridal-wear line, late next year.”

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