Top Nigerian Bloggers 2012

In May 2011, we debuted our top bloggers in Nigeria list. Ever since then, readers have urged us to update the list to be more reflective of present day blogging trends in Nigeria. From humble beginnings, blogging in Nigeria is quickly becoming a respected and recognized media segment, bringing together a community of people with similar interests to engage, discuss with and entertain one
another. It is amazing how much can change in the blogging world in less than a year!
Today, popular Nigerian blogs in many ways drive the media conversation. Newspaper houses and radio station have time and time again in the past year brought issues popularized in the Nigerian blogosphere to mainstream audiences. Some have even found their way to the international media’s consciousness.
With Nigeria’s vast Diaspora audience and massive population, the sky seems to be the limit for bloggers that have mastered the art of informing, engaging and entertaining people. Read… Why every Nigerian on the Internet should start a blog
In picking this year’s list of top Nigerian bloggers, we are using multiple criteria:
Alexa Rank/Popularity – Like last year, we will be using popular web information site, Alexa.com as a guide. However, this year, we won’t be using it in isolation. Alexa ranks sites using a combination of average daily visitors  and pageviews from users from that country. It is not always accurate but overall, it gives a good sense of current trends and top visited internet properties in a given country.
Influence – Our experience from last year reminded us of the fact that just because a site is popular does not mean that it is influential. An important metric for us this year is the level of influence a blog has. Can the blog’s content influence trends and opinions in the wider Nigerian populace? How quickly does a site’s opinion influence the general public’s perception of a given topic and how quickly is it picked up by mass media?
Brand - In addition to the site’s popularity and influence, we will also be focusing this year on the blog’s brand. Branding is very important to us at CP-Africa as we believe African startups should focus on building trustworthy and long term brands. In ranking the blogs, our focus will be on how well the blogs have created brand awareness and stickiness around their content.
These three factors have influenced our ranking of top bloggers in Nigeria.
Without further ado, find below our 2012 list of top bloggers in Nigeria.

1. Bella Naija

Uche Eze of BellaNaija.com has continued to grow what has become the nation’s most recognized fashion and entertainment brand into one of the country’s top Internet destinations. Watch Uche Eze on CNN here. From weddings to music, the blog has created its own signature blend of entertainment, feeding its active and engaged readers with its unique reporting style and diction. Past features on CNN and Oprah have only helped to cement the blog’s image as the “go-to” destination for what is cool and trending in the entertainment space. As Nigeria’s Internet population continues to grow, it appears the best is yet to come for the online pioneer.

2. Linda Ikeji

Linda Ikeji’s blog virtually exploded in 2011 with its back to back online culture posts that influenced mainstream media on multiple occasions. From entertainment to politics, the prolific blogger engaged a rapidly expanding mass of online readers. And if this fast growing video of her is anything to go by, she could make it big extending her content to YouTube thus further connecting with her ever expanding audience. Alexa statistics indicate that her blog is more popular than many newspaper houses online. That her personal blog attracts more of an audience than newspaper houses with armies of reporters illustrates the power of new media in present day Nigeria. What makes the trend even more shocking is that this is only the beginning.

3. Techloy

It is virtually impossible to think of startups and Nigeria without thinking of Loy Okezie. As a pioneer in the space, Loy Okezie has been one of Nigeria’s most vocal startups advocates profiling Nigeria’s evolving tech ecosystem with consistency and insight. His launch of his new blog brand, Techloy last year helped cement his leadership in the space, providing a refreshing web 2.0 hub for all things startups and technology. But even more compelling is the blog’s increasing influence in shaping public perception about front burner technology issues. Its consistent coverage and scoops of all things ranging from the innovative to the controversial in the technology space has helped shaped what can often be a static space into a vibrant arena of conversation and discourse.

4. Notjustok

Mola Ogundele and his team at Notjustok.com continue to grow what is arguably Nigeria’s best known online music brand. Over the years, it has become the number one online hub for new music in Nigeria dictating what’s hot and what’s not in the Nigerian music scene. Its partnerships with top producers and musicians in the space has only led to more popularity and its signature brand name repeated at the start of songs has made its way and back from the web to Alaba. 2012 seems poised to bring even more popularity for the online music site as Nigerian music increasingly goes international.

5. YNaija

Led by Chude Jideonwo of RED Media Group, Young and Nigerian or YNaija as it is popularly known has since its inception been bent on fulfilling its mandate of being in its words, “the high priest of Nigerian culture.” Read our interview with Chude Jideonwo here. The culture driven site has been unrelentless in accomplishing its mission, churning out culture rich content and shaping conversations across its affiliated media platforms. It is clear from the brand’s energy that it plans to be here for the long haul and through content strategies such as job aggregation and the infusion of content specifically targeted at Nigeria’s fast growing digital natives, the blog seems poised for more growth in the months ahead.