#WithChude

For 6 months last year, Oluwadolarz suffered from depression - and no one knew about it. He couldn’t function. He couldn’t create. He couldn’t even leave his room. He finally opens up about this in this exclusive interview. What caused the depression? He suddenly saw his career crater and felt he was ‘un-blowing’ while watching his colleagues grow in leaps and bounds. It’s a familiar story, isn’t it?One day his mother finally had enough, and he tells me what she did that finally made him find a way out of depression. It’s also the reason his mother started making skits. It’s such a beautiful story, to hear him tell it. Then he tells me about that time an anonymous person came online to accuse him of abuse and then disappeared, leaving him panicked and having to defend himself. He also learnt that not everyone who likes his posts wishes him well. Then we talk about having his first child with his wife while navigating the #EndSARs protests - and for the first time, he opens up on what exactly he apologised to his wife last year. He says he was “tested as a man and he failed the test woefully.”What did we not talk about? I think I now have a mind-crush on Oluwadolarz - because this conversation was so honest, so real, vulnerable, inspiring and magical all at once. I try never to stereotype, but I honestly was not ready for this level of depth. This conversation WILL bless you.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For speaking up against what he considered injustice in school, Mr Macaroni was expelled just before convocation. It was the fight of his life.How did that transform his life?Why did that radicalize him? What did his journalist father say about all of it?How did that prepare him for that time when the Nigerian Police stripped him naked?And how long can he keep fighting while still remaining a pop culture brand?“Any brand that is not happy with my activism - bye bye!” he says. This interview goes deep into the heart of what makes this young man special.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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He was arrested by a battalion of Nigerian police men at his home for leading protests at #EndSARS - tortured in the system long after the protests ended. Then began an ordeal that lasted more than one year - as the Nigerian government stormed his house, took him away in his boxers, slept in a prison cell without a roof, passed from location to location at night, locked underground and then taken to court in secret. The police denied that they arrested him or knew him. They wanted him to disappear completely. For protesting against police brutality, Eromz became a victim of police brutality. How did he escape?He tells me the story, exclusively, today.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How did Falz become so iconic? Was it inevitable that the son of the great Femi Falana would bring help bring the Nigerian government to its knees years ago? And how has he managed to do that while still maintain his place as a singer actor and a mover of the culture? We go deep in this conversation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Vector says he has paid a very steep price for insisting on being himself in a country like Nigeria - he has been shadow banned, he says. But he insists on being himself, making his art, and speaking his mind, telling me he has no fear of any man who owns a mic. From studying witchcraft at the University of Lagos to teaching his daughters how to box and defend themselves, this ‘song of a gun’ tells me about growing up amidst the violence of Lagos Island, being detached without being inhuman, how his wife and daughters have helped him understand tenderness and why he didn’t cry when his father passed. We speak about regrets he may have about the epic scuffle with MI, why exactly that was a battle he had to fight and recent misunderstandings in the media of what he said about Burna Boy, Nigeria - and that time Portable heard Vector rap about ‘Zazu’ (Lion King’) and thought he was being attacked.Then I ask him if he is happy with where his career is today. Everything about this episode is fire. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When Rico Swavey - #BBNaija contestant and singer - died in a motor accident in October 2022, the nation was in shock. He was well loved.His mother, Halima Hassan watched him die in her own arms in a Lekki hospital - asking the doctors to leave her with his corpse as she begged him to come back to her. Months after, as friends and family watched her walk the streets aimlessly, unable to cope with the loss of her son, she had to check into a mental facility.He was the second son of hers to die while she was alive.In this exclusive interview, on the second anniversary of Rico’s passions, she joins me to talk about the premonition she had of his death, his last days and his last moments - and how behind the scenes, her son struggled to get his colleagues to support his music.She also talks about how she survived the loss and found her way back to mental and emotional recovery.Then, she shares with me Rico’s unfinished business - and the solemn promise she made to him as she cradled him in her arms for the last time. This episode will move you.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

in February, we re-launched #ChudesBookClub with Jay Shetty’s incredible book ‘The 8 rules of love’ which, literally, changed my life.It upended everything I thought I knew about the practical matters of intimacy and relationships - and helped me rebuild the foundations of how I approach love, attraction and relationships. After seeing how it transformed so many of the participants long after the event, we decided to make it into a 3-part special that you can access.If you’ve been struggling with love and relationships and have a sneaky feeling you’ve been doing this all wrong, I can’t recommend this book enough.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February, we re-launched #ChudesBookClub with Jay Shetty’s incredible book ‘The 8 rules of love’ which, literally, changed my life.It upended everything I thought I knew about the practical matters of intimacy and relationships - and helped me rebuild the foundations of how I approach love, attraction and relationships. After seeing how it transformed so many of the participants long after the event, we decided to make it into a 3-part special that you can access.If you’ve been struggling with love and relationships and have a sneaky feeling you’ve been doing this all wrong, I can’t recommend this book enough.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In February, we re-launched #ChudesBookClub with Jay Shetty’s incredible book ‘The 8 rules of love’ which, literally, changed my life.It upended everything I thought I knew about the practical matters of intimacy and relationships - and helped me rebuild the foundations of how I approach love, attraction and relationships. After seeing how it transformed so many of the participants long after the event, we decided to make it into a 3-part special that you can access.If you’ve been struggling with love and relationships and have a sneaky feeling you’ve been doing this all wrong, I can’t recommend this book enough.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I’ve had so many A-list guests come on the show to talk very honestly - and often for the first time - about divorce. The comments and emails we have seen after these interviews showed me how deeply those truths have resonated. So we decide to do a special episode that combines the greatest, deepest, most powerful things my guests have shared about confronting and surviving the end of a marriage over the past four years.We have Shaffy Bello, Jim Iyke, Tonto Dike, Damilola Adegbite, Stanley Okorie and Olumide Emmanuel amongst others. As I listened to this special episode again, I was struck by the great gift these guests gave me and the great service they have done for my audience - speaking so openly, truthfully and realistically. If you’re dealing with a difficult marriage, left a marriage and don’t know what to do, find yourself alone or confused in a marriage, or just want to know the truth about marriage, this special episode is for you. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How exactly did MKO Abiola die? How exactly did former head of state, Sani Abacha die? What role did Wole Soyinka, IBB’s late son, Femi Falana, Bola Tinubu, RMD’s late wife MEE, Shehu Sani, Kudirat Abiola and others play in this macabre story?And why exactly should you be grateful?I go way back - through my narration, a panel of Nigerians remembering that terrible period Gen Z may be unaware of, and exclusive interviews with Abiola’s son Abdulmumuni, activist Dapo Thomas who fought alongside Abiola, and June 12 historian Abraham Oshoko. ABIOLA vs ABACHAAn October 1 SpecialThe full episode is available tomorrow 7am on @Chude on YouTube and on withChude.com. It’s the first of our special series celebrating 25 years of democracy in Nigeria. #WithChude#TheCCCPodcast#AbiolaVSAbacha Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How exactly did MKO Abiola die? How exactly did former head of state, Sani Abacha die? What role did Wole Soyinka, IBB’s late son, Femi Falana, Bola Tinubu, RMD’s late wife MEE, Shehu Sani, Kudirat Abiola and others play in this macabre story?And why exactly should you be grateful?I go way back - through my narration, a panel of Nigerians remembering that terrible period Gen Z may be unaware of, and exclusive interviews with Abiola’s son Abdulmumuni, activist Dapo Thomas who fought alongside Abiola, and June 12 historian Abraham Oshoko. ABIOLA vs ABACHAAn October 1 SpecialThe full episode is available tomorrow 7am on @Chude on YouTube and on withChude.com. It’s the first of our special series celebrating 25 years of democracy in Nigeria. #WithChude#TheCCCPodcast#AbiolaVSAbacha Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chude: You need to know in life, the things that you can do and you cannot do. Many years ago, I received another invitation to join the government in Nigeria at the highest levels, and I called my second mother, Obiageli Ezekwesili. I said, ‘Aunty, he’s putting me under pressure; he wants me to join this government’. So she asked me a question: “In your deepest of hearts, do you think that you could truly make a difference in that position at this time and will it give you joy?”I thank God she framed the question like that because it became very easy for me to answer. I said no. Ali Baba says when Obasanjo wanted him to be a minister at the time, he didn't do the things that they asked him to do “because he knows himself.”Sometimes, people ask me, why don’t I join the government? I say it’s not, because of some moral superiority because government needs to be joined. We need people to join government, we need politicians, we need public servants but one must look at one’s self and say: is that the environment in which I would most thrive?Can I wake up every morning and still keep my Soul and Spirit in this position?Will I get joy from doing this?Will I feel a deep sense of satisfaction doing this thing no matter how much it will ‘change my life’?Many people have gotten into positions that have robbed them of their integrity their soul’s purpose, of what makes them special. And most times it’s because we feel that every opportunity that comes we must grab, that every road or door that opens that we must enter. We need the presence of mind and self-awareness to know what is for us and what isn’t for us - and to stay in our most authentic truth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Saidi Balogun says he almost died after this accident - nobody thought he was going to survive. He was bed ridden for three months.And then, many years later, he confronted the worst business decision he ever made - he invested N25,000,000 in a movie, the movie was pirated and he only made N800,000 For the first time ever, he reveals that - already a celebrity - he was penniless and homeless. So, his mother asked him to come back to Nigeria and to visit her in Lagos Island - where she had some of the pirated copies. Then she said to him: “Do you remember when you were lifeless, and nobody thought you were coming back to us and I stayed with you and I nursed you and you came back and you lived? If you could survive that, you would survive this.” He learnt that life can be breathed into any situation. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How exactly did Obasanjo change AliBaba’s life? Why did people doubt for years that he was making millions as a comedian - and insist his first wife was funding his lifestyle? What does he feel about not having a national award - when he essentially built the comedy industry? What does he think about the public battles between Basketmouth, AY and others? And what has learnt from a life of so many accomplishments and so many boundaries broken? Then: the legend shared with me gist for days! Soooooo much inside gist about the most hilarious moments with Nigeria’s politicians, chief executives and diplomats. You have to hear the stories! This one? Another #WithChude classic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Bed ridden for three months after his car somersaulted and he almost died, Saheed Balogun learnt the greatest lesson of his life - that he can survive anything. A few years later, he invested N25 million in a film, pirates ravaged the film and he only made N800,000 in return. He says he has never said this anywhere; he ended up homeless, penniless and wanting to end his life. His mother reminded him: Do you remember when you were in the hospital almost lifeless and nobody thought you were coming back to life? Well, here he is now - and he has come to testify. In addition, we discuss how he has managed the marriage ‘scandals’, how he has dealt with the Baba Ijesha controversy, and why he is unabashed in his support for Bola Tinubu, even if some of his fans disagree. A veteran with 40 years in the industry under his belt, #WithChude today.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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What does it mean to be a trans woman or trans man? Also, what’s the difference between a trans persons, a cross dresser and a drag queen? And what’s the difference between sex, sexuality and gender?Does identity trump biology? Are trans identities unfair to biological men and women? Is it fair to call it ‘trans ideology’? Is this the reality of the world that you have to accept? These are questions and realities the world and Nigerians are dealing with, reacting to, wrapping their heads around. And today, on #ChudeExplains, we dive in DEEP. On the show, we have a trans woman, we have a trans man, we have people who are allies of trans people, and we have people who are skeptical of trans identities. We have a robust, insightful debate - and I hope this brings more light than heat ❤. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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