WahalaNetwork: How Kristen Dawodu built a trusted news platform

Wahalanetwork is a unique blog brand right at at the top of Nigeria’s blog chain. Founded by Oluwagbenga Oluwafemi Dawodu, fondly known as Kristen Dawodu, one of the country’s youngest media entrepreneurs, the platform has disrupted the traditional news flow, bringing credibility to the stream in the blogging sphere.

Wahalanetwork is Nigeria’s unrivalled home of gossip about Nigerian stars in the entertainment industry. Dawodu’s motive for establishing the platform is to change the dynamics about news coverage and bringing substance to gists surrounding celebrities.

Beyond the DNA of common blogging practices in Nigeria, Wahalanetwork operates a strict gatekeeping process, a major reason for its rapid rise to the top as the king of the entertainment blog amid competition, and a major reason Nigerians approve of it, in less than four years of existence.

“Wahalanetwork is a unique blog brand, aside from the fact that the blog has other platforms where news is disseminated such as Facebook, The Website (www.wahalanetwork.com), TikTok as well (even though the account is under development presently unlike other platforms that the blog has been active on”, the CEOr asserted in a chat session with the media.

“Wahalanetwork is the blog that makes most blogs provide evidence as other slides. Wahala network also gives back to the audience often; at intervals, the blog picked followers and rewards them with funds, airtime, and sometimes posting of content for some of the content creators that are followers of the blog’s account.

“Wahalanetwork stands for credibility, several contents are not even posted because of evidence. The blog has evidence for all posts uploaded on the blog. The credibility aspect of any news is the main focus of the wahala network”, added Dawodu

Wahalanetwork represents everything Kristen Dawodu is. As the news engine site marks its fourth year in a few months’ time, it holds a very strong influence in the Nigerian entertainment blogging circle, with its engaging yet controversial and insightful contents. Its under-30 Ondo-born CEO is a visionary achiever. The businessman attended the King Emmanuel Primary School in Ore, Ondo State, and Hallmark Secondary School in the Sunshine State.

The serial entrepreneur who holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Tai Solarin University in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, ensures high standards of operation at Wahalanetwork.

“We are in an era of fake news; where stories, photos, and videos can be manipulated just to defame a target. Any serious blogger or owner of popular media needs to be careful about the content it disseminates to the public,” he disclosed.

“This is one of the reasons nude content, even if it is related to A-list celebs won’t feature on WahalaNetwork. Most blogs are being careful of posting nude photos or sex tapes even if it will bring a lot of traffic, because of Instagram guidelines which, once flouted, make it easy for pages to be removed. Remember, the likes of  Tundeednut and Gossip Mill once had their pages removed and consequently had to start from scratch.

“I have spent a lot on my page and I have posted a lot of content. I don’t want to risk losing the page and then have to start all over again. Therefore, before we post any content, it goes through a thorough review to ascertain that it doesn’t go against Instagram guidelines.”