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Apostle Femi Lazarus, others top Spotify most streamed podcasts in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa

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Online streaming platform, Spotify, has unveiled the top five most streamed podcasts in Nigeria, Kenya and South, for 2024.

Spotify’s Sub-Saharan Africa Podcast Manager, Ncebakazi Manzi, in a statement on Thursday, said that “Apostle Femi Lazarus” remained the most streamed podcast in Nigeria.

Manzi said others were: “Motivation Daily by Motiversity”, Success Addicted Podcast with the voice of Earl Nightingale ; Napoleon Hill ; Jim Rohn and many more”, “Apostle Joshua Selman and The HonestBunch Podcast.

She said the top five most streamed podcasts in South Africa were: “The Joe Rogan Experience”, “The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett”, “What Now? With Trevor Noah”, “Motivation Daily by Motivarsity” and “Podcast and Chil with MacG”.

For the top five most streamed podcasts in Kenya, Manzi said they were: “The97sPodcast”, “So This Is Love”, “The Mkurugenzi Podcast”, “Mic Cheque Podcast” and “The Sandwich Podcast”.

She described podcasts as one of Africa’s favourite ways to tell stories.

She said with almost four billion minutes of podcast audio played in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2024, the continent’s appetite for the content had become loud and clear.

“South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya listened to the most shows this year, with South Africa contributing over two billion minutes.

“The numbers don’t lie. Podcasting is here to stay because it lets creators take control of their narratives and tell these stories on their terms while bringing their community along for the journey.

“Podcasts are personal, but trends do exist across the continent’s leading markets and beyond,” she said.

Manzi said that motivational shows around issues like managing finances, relationships, personal goals and health remained popular across the three leading countries.

She said shows like “The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett”, “Motivation Daily by Motiversity” and “The Success Addicted Podcast” have attracted listeners who wanted to get their lives in order and learn from the stories of inspirational people.

“Audiences in Nigeria and South Africa embrace shows about spirituality.

“Christian Motivation had one of the most shared episodes in South Africa while “Apostle Joshua Selman” maintained his popularity in Nigeria for another year.

“As the continent’s second-largest podcast market, Nigeria listened to 700 million minutes in 2024 and it created half of the new shows published in Sub-Saharan Africa this year.

“Even though spirituality dominated Nigeria’s top charts, the continued popularity of shows like “I Said What I Said” and “The HonestBunch Podcast” tell us that listeners also want conversation-style shows.

“Listeners in Kenya and South Africa also showed affinity toward these shows,” she said.

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I was pregnant with twins last year but had a miscarriage, says Annie Idibia

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Annie Idibia, the wife of Nigerian singer 2Baba, has revealed that she recently suffered a miscarriage.

In a recent episode of the reality TV series ‘Young, Famous and African,’ Annie disclosed she had the miscarriage while pregnant with twins last year.

The 40-year-old said despite already having two children, losing the pregnancy was “hard” on her.

Annie also said she struggled to open up about her loss to people because she was not comfortable. She added that only her husband and mother were aware of the miscarriage.

“The whole of last year, even in the group, I was not coming out enough. I was pregnant with twins but I had a miscarriage,” she said.

“I wish I had someone in this group to tell me I’m pregnant. I would be having a baby, and then we lost that. It was hard.

“I was not even sure if I could even share this with any of my friends. It is only Innocent and my mom that knew about it.”

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Bayo Akinfemi narrates how he struggled to make it in Hollywood

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Bayo Akinfemi, the Nigerian-born Hollywood star known for his role in the American television sitcom ‘Bob Hearts Abishola’, has recalled his journey to fame.

In a recent interview with Teju Babyface on YouTube, Akinfemi, 55, detailed the struggles that shaped his acting career.

The actor said he relocated to Canada to pursue his passion by enrolling in film school while juggling multiple jobs to make ends meet.

Akinfemi, who played ‘Goodwin Olayiwola’ in the five-season sitcom, revealed that he returned to school in his 40s and had classmates the same age as his children.

“I went to Canada in 1998, my wife was there. We were classmates at the University of Ilorin and we had been dating since then,” he said.

“I joined her in Canada and the first thing I did was to go to film school. I had the opportunity to really pursue my dream. After film school, I started working as a production assistant.

“There was nothing I didn’t do while I was in film school while trying to survive. I drove a taxi at night and worked in construction. I go to school in the morning, drive taxi in the evening, on weekends to work in construction, work in painting— I did all of that.

“There were times when I wanted to go back home. There were frustrating moments where I asked myself if this was a mistake, moments of doubt and regret. I was also getting pressured back home because Nollywood was beginning to develop and a lot of my friends were doing well.

“I was getting calls to come back home but I said no I’m not coming back. I stayed because I began to feel closer to Hollywood and to see that my dream was actually achievable.

“After film school, I was working on movie sets with Jackie Chan, Johnny Q when Denzel shot it in Toronto. Just being exposed to all of that made me feel like I was getting closer to this Hollywood thing.

“Directing is what I wanted to really do, I didn’t want to be an actor anymore. I started making short films and working on all these movie sets. I eventually got an agent who tried to get me into acting and the acting thing just took off.

“When I got to Canada in 1998, I was 29 years old. When I went to film school, I was in school with 19-year-old kids while I was in my early thirties but that was in Toronto.

“When I moved to Los Angeles I went back to school at USC, I was in my 40s in school with kids the same age as my kids. At that point, there was no turning back.”

Akinfemi was born in Ilesa, Osun state. He is an assistant professor of theatre practice at the USC School of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles.

The actor is currently a regular on the series ‘Bob Hearts Abishola’, a CBS/Warner Bros sitcom in its fifth season.

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How God used me to reunite my dad, sister after 47 years – Tonto Dikeh

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Tonto Dikeh, the Nollywood actress, has revealed “how God used” her to reunite her father with her long-lost sister Chinyere after 47 years.

The actress-turned-politician shared her testimony at a recent service at the Streams of Joy International.

Dikeh revealed that the reunion occurred nearly three years ago after she attended a service, where she prayed for her father’s “peace of mind”.

The 39-year-old said two days later, she received a private message on Instagram from a woman claiming to be her sister.

The movie star said after verifying the woman’s identity, she confirmed that she was indeed her sister, whom her father had abandoned 47 years ago.

Dikeh said her father had been carrying the guilt of abandoning his child for decades.

“My testimony is one of love, togetherness, peace, healing of broken hearts. It is a joy, my family,” she said.

“At about 130 weeks ago, I was on New Season Prophetic Prayers and Declarations (NSPPD) in the morning. Papa was praying and declaring and prophesying into people’s lives. I picked up something he said that lost people will be found. I did not lose anybody, but I answered amen.

“And around that same time, I have this amazing man in my life, he is my father. My father is a sweet man. He has lost so much in his life. He has lost his first wife, second wife, lost his brother, father, and mother. He was a broken man.

“I did not know how God was going to use Streams of Joy to bless my father. To give him the peace that he needed in the remaining years of his life.

“Two days after Papa made the declaration, I went into my DM and miraculously saw the email. It says, ‘I think I am your sister.’ I just went back to when I was a child. My father told me a very beautiful and sad story about how he left. I asked her what her name was, and she told me. I asked if her name was Chinyere, and she said yes.

“47 years before my father came back to Nigeria, he had a daughter. He left that lady when she was five to seven months old, and he never went back.

“She never knew who her father was. He never knew what her daughter looked like but had knowledge he had a daughter. God brought both of them together. And I introduced them together and they have been speaking since then.

“My testimony happened 133 weeks ago. I waited so much for this miracle to be perfect. I wanted God to heal his broken heart. I also wanted God to heal my sister because she thought she had a father who hated her.”

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Bodex F. Hungbo, SPMIIM is a multiple award-winning Nigerian Digital Media Practitioner, Digital Strategist, PR consultant, Brand and Event Expert, Tv Presenter, Tier-A Blogger/Influencer, and a top cobbler in Nigeria.

She has widespread experiences across different professions and skills, which includes experiences in; Marketing, Media, Broadcasting, Brand and Event Management, Administration and Management with prior stints at MTN, NAPIMS-NNPC, GLOBAL FLEET OIL AND GAS, LTV, Silverbird and a host of others

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