Beginning our series reviewing the year 2020, Adesoba Toluwalope highlights the most prominent events from the world of entertainment.
The year 2020 has been incredible; a year of many things to be thankful for. It was one with unexplainable events, unimaginable moments and most importantly, the year of a worldwide pandemic.
Although 2019 birthed the rampaging virus, it grew rapidly this year like a pyrifera. However, just before it spread beyond Wuhan into what eventually became a global plague, another tragedy would strike.
Kobe Bryant’s death
The Calabasas Helicopter Crash that claimed the life of the NBA legend, Byrant, and his 13-year old daughter, Gianna, happened on January 26, 2020, approximately 9:06 am to 10 am.
It came as a rude shock and the whole world mourned the great loss and lives of others on board when the incident happened. There were no survivors.
9ice not so nice
The 9ice scandal was another interesting topic that got Nigerians talking. The singer, also known as the ‘Alapomeji Crooner’ was caught in a cheating scandal with another lady while he was married to his latest wife barely one year into their union.
Pictures and videos surfaced the internet, showing the singer, born Alexander Abolore Adegbola Akande with a half-clad lady, while he fondles with the lady’s breast. 9ice later admitted wrongdoing.
K1 taps into royalty
Another notable scandal was that of K1 de Ultimate’s alleged affair with one of Alaafin’s wives. The rumours trended for several weeks on social media. The ex-wife, Queen Ola, denied all allegations concerning the rumour.
Rumour had it that she was sent packing from the palace as a result. The veteran Fuji artiste also denied the allegations.
A glass of Hennessey settles ‘snake and rat’
Interesting beef like the M.I and Vector’s long rivalry battle has been ongoing for years now. Fans have often compared the duo leading to the altercation, most especially on social media.
The singers publicly sent messages to themselves in 2019 on diss songs. M.I referred Vector as a snake in a song while Vector replied with a diss song titled, “Judas the Rat”.
However, the pair finally ended their spat as they met face to face on the third and final part of “The Conversation”, a Hennessy Nigeria documentary series in 2020.
Wizkid stares as Burna Boy, Davido renew rivalry
The Wizkid, Burna Boy and Davido’s saga have also been going on for years now. First, Wizkid was often compared to Davido, while their fans drag themselves on social media but lately the beef has been between Davido and Burna Boy.
The “Odogwu” singer and the “FEM” crooner were said to be close at some point but grew apart over time. There have been dissing tweets from both ends.
Digging into this beef, another reason these duos are beefing might be taken back to how Burna Boy was replaced with Davido as an appearance in the Coming to America sequel.
Burna Boy had also announced in March that he would be dropping his album in July and Davido jumped to that, stating he would also be dropping his album by July 2020.
Burna Boy’s response to that was, “July will be very funny and I shall laugh accordingly”. Davido tweeted to the artwork of Wizkid and himself and captioned it, “The 2 greatest of all time. No cap” It was a direct shade to Burna Boy.
Burna, however, replied to the tweet, “You can not play football, everybody knows you cannot play football and you are an embarrassment to your team. But your daddy bought the football team.”
This led, however, to an altercation in Ghana in December when Davido was rumoured to have visited a club where Burna Boy and Wizkid were and a physical altercation occurred between Burna and Davido.
The song “way too big” was rumoured to be for Davido while “FEM” is an illusion of the tension between them. FEM means to “shut up”, Davido also said, “Tell Odogwu we like to party”.
The ‘KokoMaster’ joins Fatoyinbo’s group chat
The rape allegations against D’banj may have been buried but not forgotten. The singer tied the knot with his lover, Lineo Didi Kilgrow on July 2, 2016, and his fans, families and friends were happy for him.
Although he lost his son, Daniel Oyebanjo in an accident in June 2018, he was blessed with another soon after.
However, in June, a lady, Seyitan Babatayo, made claims stating that the ‘KokoMaster’ raped her. Seyintan claimed the artist gained access to her hotel room without her knowledge after his all-white party some years ago.
Days later, D’banj denied all accusations saying all she has been saying are, “lies from the pit of hell”. As well as an apology, he also demanded that the sum of N100m is paid by the accuser within 48 hours or face legal actions.
This uproar led to a serious court battle between activists and the singer, claiming the latter is trying to scare the victim. The case was later dropped but D’banj is already being perceived in the same category as Biodun Fatoyinbo, a renowned cleric also accused of rape.
Coronavirus takes centre stage
Amidst all these, COVID-19 was still racing loud all through the world with some notable celebrities claiming to have contacted the virus.
Nigerian British actor and musician, Idris Elba, tested positive in March. He tweeted saying, “This morning I tested Positive for COVID 19. I feel ok, I have no symptoms so far but have been isolated since I found out about my possible exposure to the virus. Stay home people and be pragmatic. I will keep you updated on how I’m doing. No panic.”
The likes of Toke Makinwa, Omotola Kehinde and Chioma Rowland tested positive and recovered. However, American broadcaster, Dan Foster, wasn’t that lucky.
DJ Switch on the wheels of steel at #EndSARS
The #ENDSARS Protest was another unforgettable event of the year. The protest erupted after a video of a SARS Police officer shooting a young Nigerian surfaced on the internet. This brought about the “peaceful” protest that started in October 2020. The protest, however, took another turn when a group of thugs pounced and attacked the protesters.
Lekki tollgate shooting followed. On October 20, 2020, around 6:30 pm to 7 pm, some security agents believed to be soldiers opened fire on innocent peaceful protesters at the Lekki tollgate.
A Nigerian musician and disc jockey, Dj Switch, who was present at the event, recorded the incident Live on Instagram.
The AMVCA
The African Magic Viewers Choice Awards (AMVCA) 2020 was another memorable moment in 2020. The event was held at the Eko Hotels & Suites, Lagos on Saturday, March 14, 2020, and was hosted by Amina Abdi Rabar and IK Osakioduwa.
Leading the nights with a total of 8 wins was the movie titled, “Living in Bondage” that starred the likes of Ramsey Nouah, Kenneth Okonkwo and was produced by Steve Gukas, Dotun Olakunri and Charles Okpaleke.
The BBNaija stars, Mercy Eke and Mike Edwards, won the best dressed for female and male respectively.
King of Boys surprisingly didn’t win an award that night. Timini won the best actor in a drama for a movie, “Elevator baby” while Toyin Abraham won the best actress in a drama for the movie, “Elevator baby” as well.
