Vanessa Obioha
The late Afrobeats sensation Mohbad whose death was shrouded in controversy was one of the top searches on Google Nigeria. In the company’s trending searches of 2023 in Nigeria released Monday, Mohbad emerged as the top search in Nigerian News and Loss. Meanwhile, Nollywood actress Moyo Lawal’s search dominance extended to People and Nigerian Actors, fueled by the leak of a sex tape in September. Asake emerged as the leading figure in the realm of Nigerian Singers, securing the first position, followed by Khaid and Shallipoppi. His resonating track, ‘Lonely at the Top,’ also secured the number one spot on the trending songs list.
The entertainment landscape witnessed a shift towards streaming platforms, with Prime Video’s ‘Gangs of Lagos’ and Netflix’s ‘Shanty Town’ claiming top spots in trending movies and video series searches, respectively. Interestingly, the absence of Big Brother Naija in the top 10 video series list is notable. Instead, ‘Big Brother Titans,’ a unique iteration featuring only South Africa and Nigeria, secured the fourth position.
In a year marked by elections, Google Search trends revealed a keen interest in political and economic matters. Searches for ‘Who Is…’ and ‘What is…’ reflected concerns about the 2023 presidential elections and the concept of fuel subsidy respectively.
