Isbae U and Obasanjo: Revisiting the Olodo Uprising
By: Deji Yesufu
The first newspaper in Nigeria was the Iwe Iroyin fun Awon Ara Egba ati Yoruba (A Newspaper for the Egba and Yoruba People). It was founded by the Rev. Henry Townsend in 1859. In 1854, Townsend established a printing press in Abeokuta and, in 1859, went a step further by beginning the Iwe Iroyin to enlighten the Yoruba people by increasing literacy, while also reporting the news and influencing public opinion.
Townsend understood that his job as a missionary to the Egba people could not only be limited to preaching the gospel alone; there was also a need to bring development to the society where he preached. He saw a close relationship between the growth of a community and the literacy of that community. Therefore, it is safe to say that journalism in Nigeria finds its root in Christian missions, and it has as its driving motive the educating of the populace and the shaping of public opinion for the general good.
Those of us who write opinion pieces do not generally report news; rather, we try to mould opinions so that society can be directed towards a positive end.
The “Olodo Uprising” was a phrase coined by the rapper Ycee in a podcast published in June 2026, where he made the point that the Nigerian society of today was moving from a Yahoo Culture towards a Peller Culture. He described the whole phenomenon as an “Olodo Uprising”. Olodo in Yoruba could be translated as “dullard”. Therefore, the Olodo Uprising is a culture where individuals, through a sudden rise in social media publicity with its corresponding revenue in dollars, suddenly become the face of popular culture.
These individuals, Ycee clearly pointing at persons like Peller and Jarvis, are not contributing anything meaningful to society through any beneficial intellectual product. They are simply persons who have suddenly gained visibility because one or two celebrities have promoted them on social media. They are eccentric; they are unique in their anti-social behaviors; they are generally not educated; they have millions of followers on social media, and the visibility they have gained via Tik-tok or YouTube has plunged them into obscene wealth.
They are the new face of Nigerian youths and, for whatever it is worth, they are at least better than the Yahoo boys. It is in this category that I would wish to put Isbae U and his podcasts.
YouTube algorithm has suggested Isbae U’s interview with former President Olusegun Obasanjo to me a couple of times. When I eventually took the time to watch it, I was put off completely by Isbae U calling Obasanjo “Sege”, and I stopped watching. Now, I understand that the “Curiosity Made Me Ask” podcast is not meant to be a serious show per se; I understand that there are podcasts that are meant not just to enlighten people but to make the public laugh, to entertain viewers, and to reveal the softer part of celebrities who are generally known to be serious-minded persons.
Despite this, I could not stand a 30-year-old Yoruba boy calling a 90-year-old former head of state and president, war veteran, and arguably the most historical individual living in Nigeria today “Sege”. There is no modernity in this world that would allow me to watch that kind of nonsense. I was forced, however, to return and complete watching the podcast because I saw a number of positive reviews on it by individuals I respect on social media.
I knew what I would encounter while watching it, but there was no way I could comment on the podcast without enduring watching the 41-minute show.
Bae U began the whole discussion by positing a fact that he had housed, fed, and paid the salary of Obasanjo while he was president of Nigeria. Again, when you understand that the program is meant to entertain viewers, you will understand why he made that point. Obasanjo eventually corrected him and said that it was Nigeria as a country that employed him, not individuals like Bae U.
Now while the podcast was meant to be entertaining, one could see the Olodo factor that Ycee had suggested is a prominent feature among young and popular social media persons. Obasanjo could define “adjective” right off his heart – a product of years of proper learning at Primary School level, Bae U could not find a definition for “pronoun”. It is either he did not know it at all, or his craft does not allow him to think that deeply.
The whole scenario was eventually covered with the jocular banter between him and the former Nigerian president. It is also interesting to know that while Obasanjo knows individuals like the King of England, he does not know who Don Jazzy or IShowSpeed is. One part of the exchange that I enjoyed the most was Obasanjo’s comment on Charly Boy. It is good to hear that Charly Boy took care of his old man until the man died. It is a duty all of us owe to our parents; it was a timely reminder for me.
A nation’s growth, prosperity, and productivity cannot be separated from the intellectual might of its people. Nigeria cannot afford to continue to have individuals with average minds as the face of its popular culture. Isbae U kept making the point that he was giving Obasanjo a platform because he has close to 900,000 followers on YouTube and he earns a handsome sum from social media.
It is a tragedy of the greatest magnitude that Isbae U would have that number of followers on YouTube, but Edmund Obilo, the cerebral Ibadan broadcaster, can barely boast of 70,000 followers on YouTube. The problem is not with the content producer; the problem is with the consumers of the content. If we have more persons consuming Isbae U’s garbage than Obilo’s thinking, we must blame ourselves for this.
It is the Olodo Uprising made manifest in all of its realities. The founders of media in this country, persons like Henry Townsend, never intended for media to be for jokes and entertainment alone; they saw that media could be a means of educating the public and molding opinion positively. An educated citizenry would not be easily swayed by money politics; they will make informed choices of the kind of leaders they want; and they will bring such persons to political office. In return, these individuals would serve the society and build it up.
It is not likely that the people who need this message the most would conclude reading the article. But those who do, I hope you will go back to your social media feeds and unfollow as many “influencers” there who are not adding to your mind. The quality of a society cannot be separated from the quality of the minds of the popular faces in its culture. Perhaps the day Bae U succeed in bringing Prof. Wole Soyinka to his podcast would be the day I will begin to take him seriously.
Deji Yesufu is a Christian Public Analyst. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached at naijareformed@gmail.com
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