Of Fools, Memes and Rapper’s Delights
By Abdalla Uba Adamu It is interesting that just a few days ago, we were talking about general social media engagement, with reference to TikTok on Muhsin Ibrahim’s feed, with me advocating for greater immersion in all platforms, if not for research, then for entertainment purposes. Two events happened in the second week of November […]
By Abdalla Uba Adamu
It is interesting that just a few days ago, we were talking about general social media engagement, with reference to TikTok on Muhsin Ibrahim’s feed, with me advocating for greater immersion in all platforms, if not for research, then for entertainment purposes. Two events happened in the second week of November 2025 that validated this position – and proved the power of social media in agenda setting.
The first was on Tuesday, 11 November, 2025 when a heated confrontation erupted between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, and a Naval officer, identified as Lieutenant A. M. Yerima, over an alleged illegal construction on a disputed plot of land in Gaduwa District, Abuja. It was captured on amateur cellphone videos and became massively shared, providing news that no regular government owned media outlet will allow to be broadcast. Raw. Powerful. The video clip forced a paradigm change in our perception of Government officials. And young Naval officers.
Significantly for media studies, dozens of comedic memes sprouted all over the social media on the encounter, some greatly enhanced by Artificial Intelligence image manipulators. A villain and a hero emerged and provided endless hours of entertainment in a way no regular news channel will dare do. Gleefully aided by a general chasm of 57/24 year old “combatants.”
The memes accurately captured the moment, the tension and even the full dialogue. In doing so, they portray themselves as a vernacular form of political critique. In this case, they allowed citizens to frame the incident outside official/legal narratives. The humor made the event accessible, but beneath the humor was a clear public demand for restraint from public officials and appreciation of professional conduct by security personnel.
Historically, confrontations involving powerful figures were interpreted through newspapers, radio, and television. And carefully curated to avoid hurting sensibilities of the Government. Here, the first wave of meaning-making was done by ordinary users on X, TikTok, Reels and WhatsApp. This shows how authority over public meaning has shifted: from institutional media to decentralized, user-generated commentary. The memes became primary texts. Traditional media simply followed after the fact. The incident confirms that Nigerian digital publics have created a culturally distinct online political aesthetic.
Straight Bullet from the North
When I did a series on the historical development of Hausa Rap music genre, quite a few of my correspondents pointed out my omission of recent developments in the genre. I agreed with their observations, pointing out that I was looking at historical excavation of the changing forms of Hausa contemporary musics. Well, now it time for update.
The week saw how OG Abbah, a Rapper originally from Maiduguri, but raised in Abuja shattered the Hausaphone music sphere with a runaway hit, “Wayyo Allah Na” while the song became viral only recently, it was actually released on February 8, 2025. No one noticed it. So he started posting it every single day for over 220 days. On the 200th day, Blackchully, a tattooed female performer from Jos, mimed it wildly. With 10. 5 million followers, she provided him with massive free audience. That was in October. By November, the song had become a viral hit of the year, and more familiar for its second verse (which Blackchully mimed) and which goes like this:
Samu kuɗin ka kawai ka kashe / Kar ka bari su kashe maka /
Sanda ka ke name ba mai taya maka / Ruwa na dukan ka su kuwa suna ɗaka /
In baka ci ba, su ci maka / Kai da kudin ka kana haka /
Abu ma sai an saya maka? /
This verse is accompanied by profanity, but more of an exclamation mark than suggestive. The heartfelt message of the song – claim your success – created an instant connect with listeners in a more personal way than any political song could. The main clip of this verse, danced by OG Abbah himself and a motley crew of friends received 13 million likes. The song itself generated over 500,000 streams on music platforms in just October to November 2025.
“Wayyo Allah Na” spawned off dance challenges from Africa to Europe (one video has a Santa Claus in full regalia dancing to it in a clearly European town square). Another video was of twin, presumably Muslim girls miming the words to the verse, but adroitly stopping at the profanity line!
This runaway success drew the attention of some high hitters of Nigerian Afrobeats music scene, such as Mr. Eazi, Peller, Magnito, and Sabinus. Even up north, older and more established Rappers like BOC Madaki collaborated with OG Abbah to remix the song. The last I heard was OG. Abbah was bound for Lagos for a Christmas collaboration with Mr. Eazi, with a single scheduled to follow. This resilience in persistently posting his song over 200 times has paid off. Thanks to Blackchully for the repost which made it viral.
The next viral sensation of the month was the hard core Rapper Rumasa’u Adamu Muhammad, from Kaduna. Her stage name was Rumerh. She seems to be strategically positioning herself as a cross-genre artist (not purely Rap), which may help her reach broader audiences (both within Arewa and the larger Nigerian market).
Her blend of Hausa language backed by Afrobeats/Amapiano (as as OG Abba’s hit song, although her beat is raw Hip-Hop beat) suggests a negotiation of local identity and global modernity: she is not only preserving her linguistic roots, but also tapping into global/pan-African dance/mainstream forms. And witty lyrics, as for instance in “Streibullet”:
Somin tabi, bala’i duk na ba su lokaci /
Straight bullet from the North / Wallahi sai na ba su shi /
Na ruga, wai za su bi ni, to wuya ai za su ci /
Na basu North na ba su South / To da wanne za su ji?
[Kar ki bar ni kar ki barni] /To bari in baku shi
Ana ta hayya hayya / Ni da bebi muna sha’ani /
…
Na baza capacity na yi barci / Domin na isa
Such swagger and affirmation were also expressed in this line from an earlier verse in the song:
If you must propose / You must use a BMW
From a feminist/gender-studies perspective, her success signals how female voices in Northern Nigerian music are gaining ground. The two Northern artists – OG Abbah and Rumerh, for now – have woken up an interest in “Aboki Music” which was consigned to Hausa film soundtracks and political songs. Singing in Hausa, mixed with Enghausa but with an international beat, these two pave the way to Hausa music being categorized on various music platforms, including Apple Music as “World Music” – a genre shared by giants of African music such as Ali Farka Toure, Salif Keita, Youssou N’dour and Oumou Sangare. It is the beginning of a new dawn in Hausa popular culture.
Illus. Covers of Rumerh and OG Abba’s EPs