By Hassan Habibat Temitayo
The Trendupp Awards is an annual ceremony that celebrates excellence in Nigeria’s digital and social media landscape. Established in 2021, it honors content creators, influencers, and brands that have made significant contributions through creative content, impactful campaigns, and innovative projects across platforms like Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Twitter (now X), and Facebook.
The awards, themed as “The Force of Influence,” highlights individuals and entities that have shaped the Nigerian social media space. Since its inception, the Trendupp Awards has recognized nearly 300 content creators, influencers, and brands across various niches and platforms.
It celebrated the achievements of influencers, content creators, and brands that have significantly impacted Africa’s digital landscape between March 2024 and March 2025. Held at the Balmoral Hall, Federal Palace Hotel in Lagos, the event recognized 17 outstanding winners across various categories :
Folagade Banks won The Force of Comedy Skits Category which aims to honor creators with the highest engagement and viral power in the comedy niche.
Another Category, The Force of Creative Art celebrates those commanding top engagement in art forms such as painting, writing, video production, and dance. This year’s edition had Hausa as the Winner.
Opeyemi Famakin won The Force of Food Content category, it aims to recognize creators who infused creativity into food content, driving strong audience engagement.
The Force of Lifestyle Content is awarded to those dominating lifestyle niches like beauty, travel, and fashion with exceptional engagement, and this year’s edition had Afije Kose Omakhoa known as Liquorose as the winner.
The Force of Online Sensation honors individuals who broke through the social media noise to command attention and the Winner is Joseph Onaolapo known as @JayOnAir
The Force of Instagram is celebrating the most engaging and viral content creators on Instagram and the Winner is Tomike Olajumoke Aria Adeoye known as @TomikeAdeoye.
The Force of X (Twitter) is recognising those leading impactful conversations and threads on the X platform (formerly Twitter) and the winner is Suleiman Adebayo known as @Pooja,
The Force of TikTok is honouring creators with the highest engagement and viral power on TikTok and the Winner is Chinye Elijah known as @Crispdal
The Force of Social Good is recognising those who used their platforms to advocate for the social good of their communities or country and the Winner is Mukoro Ereremena Michelle known as @KingMitchy,
The Force of Virality is celebrating creators whose content achieved high shares, likes, reposts, and talkability and the Winners is Amadou Elizabeth Aminata and Hamzat Habeeb Adelaja known as @Peller and @Jadrolita.
The Force of Collaboration (Endowed by DottsMediaHouse) is honouring brands that strategically leveraged impactful partnerships with creators and the Winner is Kunle Soname known as @Bet9ja,
The Force of YouTube is recognising the most engaging and viral content creators on YouTube and the winner is Chinonso Ukah known as @Nons_Miraj,
The Force of Influence (Nigeria) is recognising the influencer with the highest overall impact in Nigeria’s social media space and the Winner is Ruth Erikan James known as @VeekeeJames
The Force of Influence (Regional)is celebrating creators with strong influence in other African countries outside Nigeria and the the Winner is Makhosazane “Khosi” Twala, known as @KhosiTwala,
Force of the Pod is honouring podcasters delivering education, engagement, and impact through their shows and the Winner is Adebayo Ridwan Abidemi known as @Isbae_U (Curiosity Made Me Ask Podcast
The 2025 edition also introduced new categories and recognized outstanding achievements in the digital space. Veekee James, clinched the ‘Force of Influence (Nigeria)’ award, and Pooja, a first-time nominee, won the ‘Force of X (Twitter)’ award.
Each award category celebrated unique facets of the continent’s social media scene from viral comedy skits and impactful advocacy campaigns to standout performances on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, as well as emerging talents poised to become the next big names.
The Trendupp Awards continue to serve as a beacon of recognition for digital excellence, inspiring content creators across the continent to strive for creativity, consistency, and engagement in their work.
This story is published as part of the writer’s internship with Nollywire, facilitated by the National Association of Campus Journalists (NACJ), Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto (UDUS).