Broadcasting
Modella Wins First BBNaija Showmax Task

Thursday night saw all 24 BBNaija housemates gather in the arena for their first Showmax task, which Modella won.
For the Showmax task, Biggie asked each level to split into two groups. Each group was expected to choose a genre, develop an idea for a Showmax original, and present a scene from their show to Biggie. Dotun, Sheggz, Daniella, and Khalid were called out and designated as the representatives of their groups.
Dotun and his team had the honour of starting the night’s task, presenting a comedic drama titled ‘The Barbecue Man’. The play was centred on the barbecue man who chose to settle Mama Ejiro (Allysyn), and Papa Ejiro’s (GiddyFia) marital issues as well as Mama Bobo (Doyin) and Papa Bobo’s (Dotun) fights by pimping the women to Ejike (Deji), a struggling artist in the community.
The second buzzer’s sound marked the end of the first team’s performance, and it was Khalid and his team’s turn to present their original. Their comedic drama, titled ‘Love and War’ showed a session between a marriage therapist and three couples.
The first couple, The Jacobs (Christy O and Khalid), had issues due to financial constraints, followed by the Emekas (Ilebaye and Kess). The marital woes of the latter stemmed from the husband’s inability to satisfy his young wife sexually. The last couple (Amaka and Groovy) had problems due to the wife’s local fashion style. At the end of the drama, Biggie commended the play and described it as a good performance,
Next up was Sheggz’s team. Their performance was a reality show titled ‘Big Brother Season 7 Next Step’. The show followed the drama at Bella and Sheggz’s traditional wedding, where two of the groom’s exes, Diana and Chi Chi, disrupted the couple’s joining. The bride’s best friend, Chomzy, added more drama after objecting to the marriage. Eloswag acted as the MC and photographer, while Hermes was the groom’s brother. In Biggie’s words, “it was indeed a chaotic wedding”.
Daniella’s group presented last. The team opened their performance, titled Alakala (Nightmare), with a poem. The horror drama followed Modella, who found herself in a strange land with PharmSavi and was tormented by the Grim Reaper (Cyph) and a demon (Phyna). She was rescued from the strange land by a woman (Daniella) who pushed her to use her imagination. The mini-play emphasised the power of imagination. Biggie described their drama as a good performance.
To round up the night of great performances, Big Brother recognised the best act from each group. Adekunle emerged as the best act from Dotun’s team, while Groovy was the best act from Khalid’s team. On Sheggz’s team, Biggie mentioned that the group had an array of good acts, and the best performers were Diana, Hermes and Bella.
Biggie also announced that Daniella’s team had a couple of awesome performers, but Daniella and Modella were the best.
Overall, Modella emerged as the individual winner of the Showmax Task and the content creator won herself a cameo in an upcoming Showmax original.
As a reward for the house level with the overall win, Biggie rewarded Level 2 housemates with some time in the pool house.
Showmax is a standalone streaming service that offers you various award-winning content. If you love amazing shows like The Real Housewives of Lagos, Ghana Jollof, the best of HBO movies and series, kids’ content or Live Football matches. Simply signup on to www.showmax.com and get started.
The BBNaija experience on Showmax for fans this year is on the next level with lots of BBNaija content, including the exclusive talk show BBNaija S7: The Buzz, hosted by media personality Toke Makinwa, the Eviction Vodcast, and Secret Diaries, which are short clips from the Diary Room, as well as Daily and Weekly Highlights episodes to download to your phone to watch later.
For the second year in a row, BBNaija fans across sub-Saharan Africa, the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland enjoy front-row access to all the activities in the Big Brother houses on Showmax. You can catch all the drama from as low as ₦1,200 on mobile.
Broadcasting
A Billion-Dollar Obsession in 90-Second Bites

About ₦2 billion changes hands in bets every day (KPMG Gaming Outlook 2025), driven by a 60-million-strong punter base that treats wagering as both entertainment and side-hustle. Industry revenue is on pace to hit US $3.63 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) by December 2025 – roughly the size of Nigeria’s entire recorded-music market.
Smartphones rule this universe: more than 90 percent of slips now start and finish on a handset, which is why the market leaders obsess over data-lite apps and USSD deposits almost as much as odds feeds.
Our Litmus Test for “Best”
To separate hype from heft we graded each book on the nine variables that still matter after the banner ads fade:
- Odds edge & market depth – average margin on EPL, NPFL and niche sports
- Live tech stack – cash-out latency, in-play uptime, streaming rights
- Payout speed & reliability
- Responsible-gaming tools (RG) – time-outs, self-exclusion, deposit caps
- Licensing strength & dispute history
- Promotions that actually pay
- Product breadth – virtuals, jackpots, prediction games, casino
- Financial resilience – operating cash flow, retail footprint, VC war chest
- Cultural traction – agent networks, grassroots sponsorships, meme power
The Heavyweights – and Why Each Owns a Piece of The Best
Operator | What They Nail | Ticking Time-Bombs | Verdict |
SportyBet | Biggest traffic (≈ 57 M visits / month), sub-5-second cash-outs, crazy-low EPL margin (~4.5%). | Still no retail city hubs; crash loops on older Tecno devices. | Mobile kingpin |
Bet9ja | Heritage trust, retail agents in 20 states, jackpots like Super9ja; circa ₦10 billion monthly handle. | Dated UX; odds less sharp since 2024 revamp. | Legacy war-horse |
BetKing | Data-driven odds, Genius Sports in-play feed, renewed deal with Gamble Alert for RG training. | Slower KYC queues at peak traffic. | RG poster-child |
Surebet247 | NLRC Permit 0001081; cash-first agent model with mobile slip tracking; boosted welcome bonus to ₦150k; full cash-out on domestic basketball. | Android app, iOS app; livestream rights still pending. | Mobile dark horse |
1xBet & Betway | Global market buffet, esports, crypto options. | Offshore-licence optics; occasional geoblock glitches. | International muscle |
NairaBet, AccessBET, Msport, Premier Bet, BetPawa | NairaBet = pioneer cachet; Msport & BetPawa blitz TikTok; Premier Bet just signed Francis Ngannou. | Each misses at least one core pillar (RG tooling, market depth or fast payouts). | Specialist niches |
Two Deep-Cut Insights the Billboards Won’t Show You
- Women are quietly reshaping the market. According to University of Abuja (“according to data from the University of Abuja”), 30 percent of urban Lagos women now gamble regularly, and a 2025 field survey found daily spend often tops ₦50,000 despite lower median income.
- Mobile-money betting dents student wallets. According to Lagos State University, mobile-money deposits explain 26.7 percent of the variance in student financial well-being – a stat that should make every platform’s RG desk sweat.
So, Who Actually Wins?
- Premier-League diehards who live for lightning-fast in-play cash-out: SportyBet wears the crown.
- Corner-shop loyalists who still like to chat with a clerk: Surebet247 Betshop nails the cash-plus-mobile sweet spot.
- Jackpot chasers who want EPL on Saturday, Ugandan Super League on Tuesday, and darts on Thursday: Bet9ja is still the Swiss-Army knife.
Punters who value self-exclusion toggles and deposit caps (you should): BetKing edges ahead.
In reality, “best” is contextual. Odds hawks, live-stream junkies, crypto degenerates and agent-network stalwarts will all point to different logos. What you don’t want is a bookie that melts down at 89′ when Villarreal finally scores.
On that front, the four names above – plus a rapidly innovating Surebet247 mobile bet shop – look built to survive Nigeria’s next data-price hike and the NLRC’s tightening audit screws.
The rest? Keep one eye on their uptime dashboards – and the other on your bankroll.
Broadcasting
Nigeria Week Ahead: Inflation, Oil and Naira in focus

By Lukman Otunuga, Senior Market Analyst at FXTM.
A flurry of high-risk events may pump global financial markets with fresh volatility this week.
Top-tier data, including US Inflation, the unofficial start of earnings season, and US Congress “Crypto Week,” among other themes, could spell fresh opportunities.
Amidst this, uncertainty over global trade will add to the mix after President Donald Trump threatened 35% tariffs on the EU and Mexico over the weekend.
Regarding US inflation, this may impact bets around Fed cuts in the second half of this year. Markets are forecasting CPI to rise 2.6% from 2.4% in the prior month, with core CPI rising to 2.9% from 2.8%. Signs of rising prices may shave bets around the Fed cutting interest rates – boosting the dollar as a result.
Closer to home, Nigeria’s June CPI data due July 15 is expected to show signs of cooling inflationary pressures. This could offer some relief to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which aggressively hiked interest rates throughout 2024. Inflation is expected to have eased to 21.4% year-on-year from 23% in May – marking the 4th consecutive month of decline. However, the slowdown is largely a technical adjustment aided by the recent gains in the Naira amid higher non-oil exports and a weaker dollar.
The CBN is scheduled to meet later this month and will most likely keep rates unchanged at 27.5%.
One key challenge for the country will be how to re-tweak its budget for lower oil prices. Indeed, the budget was based around oil production at 2 million barrels and oil prices of $75. Brent is trading around $70 with the nation producing 1.544m b/d of crude in May according to OPEC. Nigeria is hoping to raise production to 1.9m b/d by the end of 2025. But its impact on the economy may be muted if oversupply and tepid demand keep oil prices subdued. Brent is up 4% this month but still down over 6% since the start of 2025.
Broadcasting
EFCC Re-Arraigns Echefu, TStv CEO for Allegedly Defrauding Ex-Minister of N1Bn, $1.3m

Bright Echefu, chief executive officer, Telecom Satellites Limited (TStv), and three co‑defendants appeared before the Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday on an amended twelve‑count indictment brought by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). The charges allege money laundering, tax evasion, and investment fraud involving approximately ₦1 billion and $1.3 million.

Bright Echefu, chief executive officer, TStv
In addition to Echefu, the defendants are TStv Executive Director, Felix Igboanuga, Telecom Satellites Limited itself, and Briechberg Investment Ltd.
According to the April 5, 2025, amended charge sheet the EFCC accuses the quartet of defrauding Mr. Tanimu Turaki, Managing Director of Kalsiyam Global and former Minister of Special Duties, alongside BYI General Limited, out of a combined investment of ₦1 billion and $1.3 million. The commission has also included a ₦66 million alleged tax default.
The revised indictment lists:
Count 2: ₦33,909,542.47 in unremitted Company Income Tax
Count 3: ₦13,519,382.00 in unremitted VAT
Count 4: ₦19,488,860.00 in unremitted PAYE
Counts 5–12: Various fraud‑related transactions, including ₦380 million from Kalsiyam Farm, ₦400 million from BYI General Ltd and $1.35 million in loans secured under false pretences.
All defendants pleaded not guilty once again. At the hearing before Justice Mohammed Umar, Echefu’s lead counsel, Senior Advocate Eyitayo Fatogun, informed the court of ongoing settlement discussions with the complainants.
“There are moves to settle this matter and there was a meeting on Saturday between myself and the Nominal Complainant as it is about investment,” Fatogun stated.
“The Defendants have paid some money and I was thinking that the matter be adjourned for report of settlement.”
EFCC counsel A.S. Tomwell confirmed receipt of those payments but emphasized the necessity of entering a plea before considering any adjournment. The court thus ordered the formal reading of the charges and adjourned the trial to October 15, 2025.
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