By: Odeh Favour Adiya
Popular brand influencer and actress, Oluwabukunmi Adeaga-Ilori, well known as Kiekie, has decried the growing wave of destructive online criticism fueled by the quest for clout and monetisation, warning that the trend is actively damaging Nigeria’s creative industry.
Speaking on Tuesday as a panellist at the QEDNG Creative Powerhouse Summit in Lagos an event themed ‘What Creatives Need From Nigeria’ Kiekie noted that social media has turned into a major stumbling block for content creators who, unlike professionals in other sectors, face relentless scrutiny from the general public.
While acknowledging that constructive critique remains essential for growth, the content creator cautioned that online commentary must be approached with responsibility rather than malice.
“That I end my skit with “problem” means there’s a problem. I have a lot of problems that are relatable to other Nigerians. As a creative, I think there’s a new problem building right now, and that problem is social media itself.
I have been working on social media for more than 15 years, so I have been a huge fan of social media. But I would say this, and since we have media here, hopefully it gets to a bigger audience,” she said.
Comparing creative arts to corporate roles, she observed how public exposure leaves entertainers unusually vulnerable to harsh feedback.
“Just like bankers, when you go to work, they only report to their portfolio managers. But as creatives, we sort of report to the public, so they get to judge our work, scrutinise it, and critique it, and that’s beautiful because in criticism, in a way, you find the need for improvement,” she explained.
However, she expressed deep worry over the surge of content creators who intentionally trash creative projects simply to farm views and earn revenue from digital platforms.
“The challenge we have nowadays is because we have a few platforms that are paying people just to talk. People now just want to talk, and they are just talking,” Kiekie remarked.
She further pointed out that such negative campaigns risk scaring away potential investors who might lose confidence in projects, thereby sabotaging the broader creative economy.
“When they come and say, ‘Oh, this particular project is minus 10, minus 100,’ that person has said so just because the person wants some form of reaction from the social space. So that particular video or tweet could get about 10 million views, and maybe those 10 million views could get them like two thousand dollars, so they’re able to pay their rent, change their tyres and so on. But what you’re doing is you’re watering down an entire industry,” she stated.
Kiekie, who also highlighted her background as a professional fashion designer, appealed to members of the public to exercise empathy and restraint when evaluating creative productions.
“Critique, say what you must, but be mindful of how you say it. Because what we do is to entertain doesn’t mean that it doesn’t take blood, sweat and tears from us. So before you critique that, make sure that that critique is genuine and honest, not because you want to gain some form of clout or get some numbers from it just so that you can earn from it,” she added.
