Meet Okokobioko: Nigerian-born Ghanaian comedian and MC

MyNigeria’s Novieku Babatunde Adeola speaks to comedian and event MC, Okokobioko in a no-holds-barred interview.

The mass migration of Nigerians to West African neighbors, Ghana for “greener pastures” is a trend that has become an obvious burden for the host country.

In the past decade, Nigerians have thronged Ghana in their numbers for business, education, family, and leisure.

One of such is Nigerian-born Ghanaian comedian and event MC, Nana Osei Bonsu also known as Okokobioko in showbiz. Born in Agboju, a peri-urban neighborhood in Lagos to a Nigerian mother and Ghanaian father, he paints a picture of how life started for him.

Okokobioko said he wasn’t born with a silver spoon. He recollects with a smile how he lived in the popular face-me-I-face-you type of house in Nigeria.

"...I lived in two different places. I was born in Agboju, precisely, Iya Soko street, opposite Casco, adjacent Moradayo street. I remember that place very well," he said with a grin. So that was where I was born. In a serious face-me-I-face-you compound,” he added.

He continued: “We had thirty-something neighbors and each of them get like five five children [have five five] so the compound was like a community. I had loads of friends and neighbors growing up".

The Nigeria he was referring to was the country of the early 2000s. It was arguably safer for kids at the time. Parents would let their children play with their friends till odd hours without fear of them getting kidnapped or abducted. The absence of smartphones at the time meant that kids in the neighborhood could socialize and bond well.

Despite living in areas mostly characterized by vices such as smoking, teenage pregnancy, stealing, and a host of others, he said “he was never influenced by his environment,” noting that all he wanted to do was to make people laugh.

He credits his parents for being funny. "I come from a funny home. My dad is funny, my mum is funny. My mum is from Warri so I think it runs in the blood.”