Award winning Nigerian, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, Wizkid

Award winning Nigerian, Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun, Wizkid

MOBO AWARD: Ex-President, Jonathan congratulates Wizkid

Former Nigeria’s President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has congratulated Award Winning Nigerian Musician, Ayodeji Balogun, popularly called Wizkid for winning the Best International Act award at the 2017 MOBO Awards.

Jonathan said he was always happy when Nigerians were doing well at home or abroad.

On his Facebook page, Jonathan posted:

”When Nigeria does well, I cannot help but feel well. My happiness is tied to the happiness of Nigeria and when Nigerians break records and take the name of Nigeria to greater heights it exhilarates me. Thank you Wizkid for raising Nigeria’s flag high for the positive, not the negative. Your emergence as the Best International Act at the #MOBOAwards is a proud moment for Nigeria. And the fact that you emerged over JAY-Z and Drake makes it even more celebratory. WELL DONE. GEJ.”

Ayodeji Ibrahim Balogun (born 16 July 1990),[3] better known by his stage name Wizkid (sometimes stylised as WizKid), is a Nigerian singer and songwriter. He started recording music at age 11 and managed to release a collaborative album with the Glorious Five, a group he and a couple of his church friends formed. In 2009, he signed a record deal with Banky W.‘s record label Empire Mates Entertainment (E.M.E). He rose to prominence in 2010 with the release of the song “Holla at Your Boy” from his debut studio album, Superstar (2011). “Tease Me/Bad Guys“, “Don’t Dull“, “Love My Baby”, “Pakurumo” and “Oluwa Lo Ni” were also released as singles from the Superstar album. Wizkid’s self-titled second studio album, Ayo, was released in September 2014 and was preceded by six singles: “Jaiye Jaiye“, “On Top Your Matter”, “One Question”, “Joy”, “Bombay” and “Show You the Money”.

In 2016, Wizkid achieved international recognition following his collaboration with Drake on the global hit, “One Dance“, which reached number one in 15 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia. In addition to his solo work, Wizkid has collaborated with several other artists and was featured on the hits “Girl” (with Bracket), “Fine Lady” (with Lynxxx), “Sexy Mama” (with Iyanya), “Slow Down” (with R2Bees), “The Matter” (with Maleek Berry), “Pull Over” (with KCee) and “Bad Girl” (with Jesse Jagz).

Editorial Chief, Nigerian Bureau

Kings UBA is a Nigerian journalist and writer. I have reported for major local and international news organisations. I write satire. In 2017, I started contributing stories primarily to Discover Africa News Network. I can be reached on editorkingsuba@gmail.com. I currently manage Discover Africa News social media handles