Who said Genevieve Nnaji can't act?
Plus: Olamide's new song with Seyi Vibez, Tunde Onakoya being dragged, Timini birthday shoot, Ojude Oba 2025, Grammy 2026, BET Awards 2025, Tems FIFA performance, Mayorkun new album, CKay and more...
Welcome to The Feed, where Dennis has fully formed his opinion on the Chess in Slums founder Tunde Onakoya (whom I have met) incident. Onakoya broke the World Record for the longest Chess Marathon and went to Aso Rock, where he presented the plaque to President Bola Tinubu. He also gifted the president a gold-plated Adire chessboard.
The move has since been heavily criticised, with many arguing that he should not have gone to Aso Rock. The thinking is what you might expect: that bad governance created the slums in the first place.
For me, it is less about putting him in our shoes (as some have suggested) and more about approaching holistically. We are the citizens, and they are the government. Even if we think bad leaders should be held accountable, our country still owes it to us to be celebrated when we make huge achievements. We can’t allow our frustrations with bad elected officials to deny us our rights.
I think you get my point already, but I will also liken it to a world in which people begin to reject the Nobel Prizes in protest of the Swedish government. You can as well do that, but the person who chooses not to has not failed some moral test. There have been a lot of tensions at Columbia University about bad leadership. But Columbia University awards some of the most prestigious awards in journalism, including the Pulitzer Prizes. I think you know what I’m trying to say with this reference.
But also, if we truly want to fix the slums and not just post about them online, we need the government to do it. We will have to get our hands dirty working with the government, which Onakoya hinted was his goal with building what he has called “the Largest Chess/STEM institute in the world.”
Now, that being said, for the even more important gripe I have. How can someone open their mouth and say Genevieve Nnaji, the Ada Mbaise can’t act? I don't even blame you. I blame Mark Zuckerberg. People just say anything these days. If you have not watched Mirror Boy, Ije or Lionheart, let me not even see your leg in the comments.
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Celebrity
→ Timini adds a new age: Timini didn’t play as he celebrated his birthday with these super-dapper looks.
→ Spotted: Wizkid at the 18th annual Tribeca Festival Artists Dinner, hosted by Chanel.
→ Consciously coupling: Only a few couples have been married for a while, but still give us content like Ibrahim Suleiman and Linda Ejiofor.
Online Entry
→ Why so cryptic? Iroko TV's boss Mary Njoku made a cryptic post about not knowing what to do that got the internet talking.
Bops
→ Grammy 2026: Grammy Award organisers, the Recording Academy, has introduced two new categories ahead of 2026: Best Traditional Country Album and Best Album Cover. The event will take place Feb. 1, 2026. Nominees will be announced on November 7, 2025.
→ The Legend never dies: Fela Anikulapo-Kuti has been inducted into the 2025 Grammy Hall of Fame for his 1976 album, Zombie.
→ More wins for Tems: Tems will perform with Doja Cat and J Balvin at the first-ever FIFA Club World Cup Final halftime show in July.
→ BET Awards 2025: Ayra Starr won the Best International Act at the 2025 BET Awards.
→ The Year of the Snake: Vector posted these BTS images from his upcoming project, “The Year of the Snake.”
→ Second act: CKay has dropped his sophomore EP, CKay The Second, about love and loss.
→ The Mayor returns: Mayorkun has released his new album, Still The Mayor, which is packed with party-starters about night out and excess.
→ The Best New Music This Week:
>> Olamide saved the week with the visualisers for “99,” featuring Seyi Vibez, Asake, Young Jonn, and Daecolm.
>> Ladipoe has dropped a new song, “Folashade.”
>> Zerrydl has dropped his latest single, “Mi Amigo,” also about “gettin’ aza” and buying “whips.”
>> One of my favourite tracks from Mayorkun’s new album so far is “Blessings On Blessings” with Davido.
Cine Club
→ On Making Ìfé: In 2020, Pamela Adie released Ìfé, the first full-fledged lesbian movie in Nollywood history. In a deeply personal essay for Zikoko, she opens up about how the lack of lesbian representation in Nollywood led her to produce it. See an excerpt below:
I grew up with no language or framework to understand queerness. I didn’t know any openly queer people, and I certainly didn’t see myself in Nollywood. I followed the script I was handed: I married a man. I wasn’t in love, but it felt like the “normal” thing to do — the thing that would make my family proud, the thing society expected.
→ Nigerian box office:
→ Recommendation: The 10 Best Nollywood Movies to Watch on YouTube (June 2025)
Pod Gems
→ DJ Obi on world record: DJ Obi dropped by the Afropolitan Podcast to discuss his Guinness World Record. “My plan was a PR stunt,” he said.
→ Juma Jux on making “You”: Juma Jux joined the Afrobeats Podcast for a chat about making “You,” his wedding track.
→ ISWIS: The ladies invited Justin Irabor for a personal chat on black tax.
Baffs
→ Local Champion: This is Us has unveiled its latest collection called “Local Champion.”
→ Ojude Oba 2025: See what we scored the celebs at the festival here. See some of my best looks below:
Farooq Oreagba
Tomike Adeoye
Tobi Bakre
Adedoyin Alatishe
Vector
Bookshelf
→ As the Earth Dreams: Canadian indie book publisher House of Anansi Press has announced As the Earth Dreams, an anthology of Black Canadian speculative short fiction, to be published on October 14, 2025. Edited by Terese Mason Pierre, the ten contributors include francesca ekwuyasi (Butter Honey Pig Bread), Suyi Davies Okungbowa and Chinelo Onwalu. See more details here.
→ Dan David Prize 2025: British Museum research archaeologist, Abidemi Babatunde Babalola, won a Dan David Prize. He will receive $300,000 to support his research.
One Good Article
This week, my One Good Article is this piece that I wrote about a Nigerian man who competes in beauty pageants. I have always been curious to know what they thought about it, especially in Nigeria, where men in pagentry carry all kinds of connotations.