The Nigerian entertainment industry has a wide varsity of comedians, creating laughter and captivating large audiences. Over the last 10 years, it has witnessed tremendous growth and has become highly lucrative.
The advent of social media has opened numerous opportunities for talented Nigerians to earn a living. In the midst of these, many skit makers have demonstrated exceptional skills in achieving both wealth and fame.
In 2023, several young new acts, such as Gilmore, Erekere, Layi Wasabi, Wizdom, and Kidbaby101, among other comedians, achieved significant breakthroughs in the industry.
However, let us delve into the top 10 richest skit makers in Nigeria, who have accumulated wealth in their career.
Mark Angel
Mark Angel is a Nigerian comedian, scriptwriter, and video producer.
Angel is best known for Mark Angel Comedy, a series of YouTube comedy shorts that feature child comedians from Angel’s family and neighborhood in Port Harcourt. Many of the shorts involve children, primarily his 13-year-old niece, Emmanuella, and 8-year-old girl Success Madubuike.
The 32-year-old comedian started creating content actively as a professional with Emmanuella, in 2013. The Mark Angel page is the first African channel to hit one million subscribers on YouTube.
In 2023, his channel secured the second-highest visited among YouTube content creators, following only Mama Chinedu.
On Instagram, Mark’s page claimed the top spot for the most visited and viewed content, accumulating over 44 million views in the past year.
The collective earnings for Mark and his team from YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram revenues are estimated to surpass $1.3 million over the same period.
Legendary comedian, Ali Baba, asserted that Angel was one of the richest comedians with a paycheck of $300,000 per month.
His estimated net worth is $1.25 million.
Sabinus
Nigerian comic star, Emmanuel Chukwuemeka Ejekwu, popularly known as Mr Funny or Sabinus, is one of the most popular content creators in Nigeria.
He began actively doing comedy skits while he was in university.
In 2015, Mr Funny decided to pursue his career further by uploading various comedy skits on his social media handles, especially Instagram.
In 2023, Sabinus experienced a remarkable year, obtaining several houses and new vehicles. However, the bulk of his earnings came from hosting stand-up shows in London and the US.
Over the past 12 months, Oga Funny garnered over 30 million views on Instagram and 13.7 million on YouTube.
Diverging from Mark Angel and his team, the 28-year-old comedian expanded his reach, amassing an impressive $360,000 (N325 million) from his successful stand-up performances.
Sabinus, who recently announced his hit cinematic movie, ‘Dead serious’, is valued at $900,000.
Broda Shaggi
Broda Shaggi, whose real name is Animashaun Samuel Perry, started his comedy in 2015. He got inspiration for his comedy from comedian Baba Sala.
Being one of the country’s most successful content creators, Shaggi has gradually metamorphosed into different spheres of the entertainment industry.
Broda Shaggi won honours for his comedic ability and adaptability, including the Best Actor in a Comedy prize at the Africa Magic Viewer’s Choice Awards in 2022.
He is reported to be worth over $1 million thanks to his impressive 12.3 million Instagram followers and 1.86 million YouTube subscribers, as well as earnings from lucrative endorsement deals like Glo, Predator energy drinks, Odogwu general bitters among others.
However, in 2023, Shaggi was seen delving more into music as he dropped a new track, Ijo Loka, which became an instant hit.
Cute Abiola
Kwara state-born content creator Abdulgafar Abiola is one of Nigeria’s most popular content creators. He is currently the special assistant on Youth to the Kwara state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq.
The father of one has amassed a large audience with his extraordinary talent as an online content maker and comedy actor.
Cute Abiola has achieved enormous recognition in the entertainment industry for his humorous depiction of Lawyer Kunle.
Over the last 12 months, Cute Abiola has reached 22.4m views on Instagram, with 3.1m comments and 123k comments.
The 27-year-old comedian is the second most followed content creator on Instagram, with over 5m followers.
His estimated net worth is said to be $800,000.
Sydney Talker
Renowned Nigerian content creator and comedian, Sydney Egere, known as Sydney Talker, stands as one of the most underestimated skit makers in Nigeria.
His impact on the burgeoning community of content creators often goes unnoticed. Sydney is the individual instrumental in propelling talents like Carter Efe, Pankerooy, Zfancy, Shank Comics, Nasboi, and several other comedians into the spotlight as content creators.
In collaboration, they’ve dropped multiple hits like Annabella, With You, Carry Me Go and more.
Sydney, in 2023, shattered the record for the most views garnered by a skit he did with Hilda Baci. On YouTube in 2023, he has hit 33.6m views, with 163k new subscribers.
Sydney is valuable to have earned approximately $700k in personal income.
Aside being a comedian, he founded Neville Records in 2022, and singed young artiste, Khaid. He was nominated for the 25 Under 25 Award organized by SME100 Africa.
Brain Jotter
Emmanuel Chukwuebuka Amuzi is one of Nigeria’s most followed content creators, with over 3.3m followers on Instagram and 1.22m subscribers on YouTube. He has over 5m followers on Facebook.
According to Dataleum, Brainjotter garnered 29m views on YouTube with 148k new subscribers over the last 12 months.
Over the last 12 months, the comic was seen to have done philanthropic works, helping a woman with skin ulcers have surgery done. He also supported a disabled boy he met selling pure water in traffic.
If the numbers by Dataleum are anything to go by, Brainjotter, over the last 12 months, has earned over $600k.
Like every other Nigerian comedy, Brain Jotter also loves cars. He bought himself a brand new Ford Kuga last year worth millions of naira which he shared on his Instagram channel. Ford Jeeps are capable, versatile and efficient. The Jeep is spacious with a strong engine that is reliable and durable.
Kie Kie
Bukunmi Adeaga-Ilori, popularly known as Kie Kie, is a prominent actress, model, comedian, fashion designer and content producer, best known for her YouTube account Kie Kie TV.
Her YouTube channel has almost 305K followers as of April 2023.
Kie makes money from her television and online careers, according to sources. She also earns money via brand marketing and endorsements. Kie Kie’s net worth is believed to be at $400k.
Kie Kie has also featured in a number of blockbuster movies, including Traffic, Mimi, A Simple Lie, Ile Owo and lots more.
Josh2funny
Chibuike Josh Alfred, often known as Josh2Funny, is a multi-talented Nigerian entertainer. He has had a big impact on the comedy world as a comedian.
Josh2Funny, who was born on December 18, 1990, in Anambra, has a huge following across social media platforms thanks to his humorous abilities.
His ability to make others laugh with his sense of humour makes him stand out.
He keeps drawing crowds in with his outstanding talents, solidifying his position as one of Nigeria’s top comedy skit makers.
In 2023, Josh2funny added feather to his cap as appeared on “America’s Got Talent” to showcase his skills to a worldwide audience. Despite facing three consecutive auditions in one day, Josh persevered and wowed the crowd with his rap performance, faux speed reading, and magic tricks.
Josh, who is expecting second child with his wife, Bina, estimated net worth is said to be $250k.
Layi Wasabi
Isaac Ayomide Olayiwola, popularly known as Layi Wasabi, hails from Osun state and stands out as one of the most significant breakthrough stars of 2023.
He has transformed into a widely recognized figure, establishing his distinct identity through clever wordplay and character portrayal.
In 2023, Layi amassed an impressive 30.6 million views on Instagram, claiming the highest number of likes and comments among all skit makers in the country on the platform.
He garnered 4 million likes and 315,000 comments on Instagram alone. Layi’s Twitter presence is equally noteworthy, with over 27 million impressions in the past 12 months.
Layi Wasabi’s accumulated net worth is estimated to be $200,000.
Taaooma
Maryam Apaokagi is her real name but she is popularly known as Taaooma in her career as a Nigerian comedian. and content creator who was born in Ilorin, Kwara state.
She started her career as a content creator in 2015 and later joined the Chop Life group of comedians, through which she grew to make a great impact in the industry.
She currently serves as the CEO, and founder of Chop Tao, a food company, and directs for The Greenade Company, a cinematography firm. She is known for playing multiple roles in her skits and acts simultaneously.
These are Taaoo (herself), Iya Taaoo (her mother), Baba Taaoo (her father), Tayo (her brother), Teni (her sister) and Quadri (her neighbor’s son)
She has been nominated for various global and national awards and won a few too. She won The Gage Award as the Best Online Comedian of the year, 2019 as well as the Nigeria 25 under 25 awards as a Social Entrepreneur. In 2020, she was nominated in the MAYA Awards Africa as the Skit Maker of the Year and Content Creation (Vloggers and YouTubers) in The Future Awards Africa.
Her estimated net worth is $200k.
Maraji
Maraji’s real name is Gloria Oluruntobi popularly known as Maraji. She started her comedy skit career in 2015 and has become one of the richest skit makers in Nigeria.
Maraji makes money from acting, endorsement, and acting. There is no doubt that she is super talented when it comes to making comedy, for this reason she has over a million followers on social media. Also Maraji is among the beautiful female comedians in Nigerian. She is everybody’s crush.
Maraji, who had recently welcomed her second child is valued at $140k.