Showbiz
Valentine’s Day in Nigeria: Love, Heartbreak, and Connection
Spotify’s latest Valentine data signals that Nigerian listening is becoming more emotionally expansive, not more predictable. Across the Jan 1 to Feb 4 comparison window, Nigeria saw strong growth in mood-led playlist creation from 2024 to 2025, with rizz up +58%, simp up +66%, and yearn up +305%. From 2025 to 2026, we could see rizz up +82% and yearn up +170%. Together, these shifts point to a culture that is naming attraction, vulnerability, and longing in real time.
A New Language for Modern Love
On Valentine’s Day, Nigerian listeners moved between local and global love soundtracks, with Burna Boy, John Legend, and Billie Eilish appearing in the same emotional universe. What stands out is not one dominant mood but the growth of multiple moods at once. Using rizz and simp as love-coded signals, and yearn as a heartbreak-coded signal, Spotify data shows both sides rising sharply. Love-coded playlist, rizz behaviour grew by +58% to +82% from 2024 to 2026, while heartbreak-coded behaviour yearn grew by +305% and then +170% over those same periods.
This is emotional literacy in action, with listeners using playlists to process what they feel without having to flatten it into one story.
Nigerian Gen Z is driving this change. Data points to a generation building a working vocabulary for modern relationships, one that allows confidence, tenderness, and uncertainty to exist side by side.
The Duality Generation
Among 18 to 24-year-olds on Valentine’s Day, nearly 60% of listeners skewed heartbreak, while almost 40% leaned into love. They are not choosing one emotion over another. They are holding both at once and building listening habits that reflect that complexity.
The pattern is visible across gender, too. Men accounted for over 65% in heartbreak and 61% in love song streaming, while women represented just over a third in both cases, showing that both groups are actively engaging the full emotional spectrum on the day.
Geographically, heartbreak listening is concentrated in urban centres, with Lagos leading, followed by Abuja, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, and Benin. The map is culturally telling. Young Nigerians in major cities are using music as a live emotional archive of romance, ambiguity, and recovery.
Sharing the Feeling
Nigerians are not processing these emotions in isolation. Valentine’s Day 2025 was the “Blendiest” day in the preceding year, signalling peak shared listening behaviour through Spotify Blend. Partners, friends, and crushes used collaborative playlists to merge Afrobeats, street-pop, and R&B into shared mood spaces.
Top Blend tracks on the day included Fido’s Awolowo, Smur Lee’s, Shallipopi, ODUMODUBLVCK’s JUJU (with Smur Lee & Shallipopi), BNXN, Rema’s “Fi Kan We Kan,” and Rema’s “OZEBA.” In direct song shares, listeners chose emotionally direct records such as Future’s “WORST DAY,” Drake’s “GIVE ME A HUG, Asake’s “WHY LOVE”, Rema’s “Baby (Is it a Crime)”, and Drake’s “NOKIA”. The signal is clear: sharing is not just social behaviour, it is emotional communication.
Beyond Romance: Community, Friendships, and Faith
Valentine’s listening also shows Nigerians broadening the meaning of connection. Globally, Galentine playlist creation rose by over +70% year on year, with +20% growth already recorded this year. In Nigeria, this aligns with how friendship and peer support are increasingly central to how young listeners mark the day.
The podcast picture adds another cultural layer. Faith-based voices remained highly visible on 14 February, alongside relationship-centred conversations, reflecting a listening culture where romance, spirituality, and community wisdom coexist rather than compete.
Spotify also recorded a +20% increase in Valentine’s Day playlist creation globally in the latest comparable seasonal window, reinforcing that this period remains one of the strongest emotional moments in the listening calendar.
“Valentine’s Day in Nigeria is no longer a single-note romance moment. We are seeing listeners embrace love and heartbreak as equally valid emotional realities, and use music to move through both with honesty. What stands out is the confidence to name complex feelings and the willingness to share them with others,” says Phiona Okumu, Spotify’s Head of Music for Sub-Saharan Africa.
This year’s Valentine’s data presents a portrait of a generation redefining connection: emotionally fluent, culturally hybrid, community-oriented, and unafraid of contradiction.
Showbiz
Dividends: A Must-Watch Series on Africa Magic
A new kind of story is unfolding on Africa Magic Showcase, and it’s one that feels all too familiar.
Dividends, a gripping Nigerian dramedy, dives into the emotional and financial fallout of a failed Ponzi scheme, placing everyday realities at the centre of its storytelling.
Premiered on March 30, 2026, Dividends airs Mondays to Wednesdays at 8:30 PM WAT on Africa Magic Showcase (GOtv Channel 8), and is also available for streaming on DStv and GOtv Stream, making it easily accessible for viewers to follow every twist as it unfolds.
At the heart of the series is “The Golden Bars,” a too-good-to-be-true investment scheme that ultimately collapses, leaving devastation in its wake. What follows is a layered narrative that tracks the lives of three strangers brought together by shared loss of money, stability, and, in many ways, identity.
Through its characters, Dividends explores themes that resonate deeply within the Nigerian context: the lure of quick wealth, the pressure to succeed, and the quiet resilience required to rebuild when everything falls apart. It’s a story that doesn’t just entertain, it reflects.
Leading the story is Riyo David as Isa, alongside a dynamic cast including Ronnie Dikko, Omattuteejames, Cassiee_jae, Floydigbo, and Koko_ashley, each bringing depth to a narrative shaped by ambition, desperation, and consequence.
Blending drama, suspense, and social commentary, Dividends sparks conversation. As the series unfolds, viewers can expect to be drawn into a world where choices carry weight, and every decision has a ripple effect.
For audiences looking for something both engaging and thought-provoking, Dividends fast becoming one to watch.
To upgrade, subscribe, or reconnect, download the MyGOtv App or dial *288#. For catch-up and on-the-go viewing, download the GOtv Stream App and enjoy your favourite shows anytime, anywhere.
Showbiz
5 Best AI UGC Video Generators Tested
User-generated content (UGC) continues to shape how brands connect with audiences across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. However, producing consistent and authentic content at scale often requires significant time, budget, and coordination with creators. This is where an AI UGC video generator becomes a practical solution.
These tools allow marketers and creators to generate UGC-style videos using AI avatars, prompts, or templates—reducing reliance on traditional production workflows. Below are five of the best AI UGC video generator platforms in 2026, with Pollo AI leading the list for its ad-focused capabilities.
1. Pollo AI
Pollo AI is a specialized AI UGC video generator built for creating high-volume, user-generated style ads with minimal effort. It allows users to generate videos by adding a product link, uploading images, or simply describing the ad. There is also an option to upload a reference ad, making it easier to recreate successful formats or adapt viral video styles for new campaigns.
The platform supports a wide range of formats, including UGC ads, explainer videos, story videos, news-style clips, and music videos. It also enables users to clone video ads or replicate viral content patterns, which is useful for rapid creative testing. This flexibility helps teams produce multiple variations quickly without rebuilding content from scratch.
A key strength of Pollo AI is its lifelike AI avatars with accurate lip-syncing. These avatars simulate real creators, offering diverse demographics and natural delivery styles that make videos feel more authentic. Combined with built-in voiceovers and background music, users can easily produce polished UGC-style ads without hiring actors or influencers.
The workflow is straightforward: upload a presenter image, input a script, adjust video settings, and generate the final output in minutes. Many teams adopt solutions like AI UGC video generator with Pollo AI tools to scale campaigns efficiently while maintaining control over messaging and creative direction.
Key Features of This AI UGC Video Generator
- Generate ads from product links, images, or prompts
- Clone viral videos and replicate ad formats
- Lifelike avatars with realistic lip-sync
- Multiple formats including UGC ads and story videos
- Built-in voiceovers and music customization
Best Use Cases
Pollo AI is well-suited for performance marketing, especially for brands running paid campaigns on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. It works well for rapid A/B testing, influencer-style ads, personalized campaign creatives, and even as a YouTube outro maker to create engaging endings for video content.
2. Pika AI
Pika AI is a creative-focused AI UGC video generator that emphasizes visual storytelling and stylization. It allows users to turn simple prompts into short, engaging video clips, often with dynamic motion and artistic effects that resemble user-generated edits seen on social platforms.
The platform is designed for speed and experimentation. Users can quickly generate multiple variations of a concept, making it easier to test different creative directions. While the output may lean more toward stylized visuals than hyper-realistic UGC, it can still capture attention effectively in crowded feeds.
Pika AI also offers intuitive controls for adjusting motion, transitions, and overall tone. This makes it accessible for beginners while still providing enough flexibility for creators who want to explore unique visual styles.
Key Features of This AI UGC Video Generator
- Prompt-based video creation
- Strong visual stylization and effects
- Fast rendering for short clips
- Simple and accessible interface
Best Use Cases
Pika AI is suitable for meme videos, creative experiments, and short-form content designed to stand out visually on TikTok and Instagram.
3. Runway
Runway is a more advanced AI UGC video generator that combines AI-powered generation with professional editing tools. It supports text-to-video and image-to-video workflows, along with features like background removal and motion tracking.
The platform is particularly useful for users who want greater control over the final output. Instead of relying solely on automation, creators can refine details and adjust elements throughout the editing process. This balance between AI assistance and manual control makes Runway versatile across different skill levels.
While it may have a steeper learning curve compared to simpler tools, Runway delivers high-quality results suitable for more polished UGC-style content.
Key Features of This AI UGC Video Generator
- Text-to-video and image-to-video generation
- Advanced editing tools and controls
- High-quality output
- Flexible workflow for creators
Best Use Cases
Runway is ideal for branded campaigns, product videos, and UGC-style content that requires additional editing and refinement.
4. HeyGen
HeyGen is an avatar-driven AI UGC video generator focused on creating talking-head style videos. It allows users to input scripts and generate videos featuring realistic AI presenters with natural lip-sync and expressions.
The platform supports multiple languages and voice options, making it suitable for global marketing campaigns. Its structured workflow ensures consistent results, which is useful for businesses that need uniform messaging across multiple videos.
Although it is less flexible in terms of creative formats compared to other tools, HeyGen excels in producing clear, human-like communication in video form.

Key Features of This AI UGC Video Generator
- Realistic AI avatars with lip-sync
- Script-based video generation
- Multi-language support
- Consistent output quality
Best Use Cases
HeyGen works well for explainer videos, product introductions, and localized marketing content that requires a human presence.
5. CapCut AI
CapCut AI is a widely used AI UGC video generator that combines AI features with traditional video editing tools. It offers capabilities such as auto-captioning, background removal, and template-based editing tailored for social media content.
The platform is especially accessible, making it a popular choice for beginners and casual creators. Its templates are often aligned with trending formats, helping users quickly produce videos that match current content styles.
CapCut AI also integrates smoothly with social media workflows, allowing users to edit and publish content efficiently without switching tools.
Key Features of This AI UGC Video Generator
- Easy-to-use interface
- AI-powered editing tools
- Pre-built templates for trends
- Social media integration
Best Use Cases
CapCut AI is best for quick content creation, including TikTok videos, Instagram Reels, and short-form clips that follow trending formats.
Final Thoughts
Choosing the right AI UGC video generator depends on the user’s goals. Pollo AI is particularly strong for scalable ad production and campaign testing, while Pika AI focuses on creativity and visual experimentation. Runway offers advanced control, HeyGen specializes in avatar-based communication, and CapCut AI provides accessibility for everyday content creation.
As demand for UGC-style videos continues to grow, these tools offer practical ways to produce engaging content efficiently while adapting to different creative and marketing needs.
Showbiz
How to Vote in AMVCA 12: Step-by-Step Guide for Fans Across Africa
The Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards 12 is here, and beyond the glitz and glamour, fans across Africa have a powerful role to play, deciding who takes home some of the biggest awards of the night.
With 11 out of 32 categories open to public voting, this is your chance to support your favourite actors, filmmakers, and content creators.
Voting officially opened on March 29, 2026, and runs until April 26, 2026, ahead of the awards ceremony on May 9, 2026.
Here’s a simple step-by-step guide to help you cast your votes.
Step 1: Visit the Official Voting Platforms
Go to the official Africa Magic voting platform via: The Africa Magic website: www.africamagic.tv/amvca and the MyDStv or MyGOtv mobile app.
Once there, click on the “Vote” section to begin.
Step 2: Register an Account
If you’re a first-time user, create an account by providing:
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Full name
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Year of birth
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Gender
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Country/location
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Mobile number (in international format)
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Password
You’ll receive a verification code (OTP) via SMS or WhatsApp. Enter it to activate your account.
And if you’re already registered? Simply log in.
Step 3: Log In
Use your:
Registered mobile number
Password
Step 4: Choose Your Favourite Nominees
Browse through the voting categories and select your preferred nominees.
Public voting categories include:
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Best Digital Content Creator
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Best Short Film
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Best Scripted M-Net Original
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Best Unscripted M-Net Original
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Best Indigenous M-Net Original
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Best Indigenous Language Film (West, East, South, North & Central Africa)
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Best Movie
Step 5: Allocate Your Votes
You can cast up to 100 votes per platform.
Distribute your votes across multiple nominees or go all-in on your top favourites, it’s your call.
Step 6: Submit Your Vote
Click “Vote” to submit, and your votes will be counted immediately.
Important Things to Remember
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Voting is free (data charges may apply)
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Only selected categories are open to public voting
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Voting closes on April 26, 2026
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Late votes will not be counted
The Africa Magic Viewers’ Choice Awards is more than just an awards show; it’s a celebration of African storytelling shaped by both industry experts and fans like you.
So don’t just watch, vote, support your favourites, and be part of the moment.
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