It is perhaps one of the most talked about issue in the comedy circle of Nigeria’s entertainment industry.

The rise in the number of social media comedians and the diversifying of pioneers of stand-up comedy in the country have been interpreted by many as the latter being gradually chased out of relevance and means of livelihood.

The ubiquitous nature of the social media also has not helped limit the idea in no small measure, as online skit makers rake in millions from their YouTube content.

A lot of the online skit makers have attained fame as quickly as one can snap his fingers, with brands snatching them up to become their ambassadors in multi-million naira endorsement deals.

However, dispelling the thoughts, popular Nigerian skit maker, Lawrence Osarenkhoe, better known as OfficialMCCasino, or MC Casino, opined that both categories of colleagues play different roles in the sector.

OfficialMCCasino, who has been in the industry for 20 years, averred that skit makers cannot threaten the survival of traditional stand-up comedians.

“Online skit makers, I repeat, online skit makers can never threaten the survival of traditional stand up comedians in Nigeria. It’s not possible, they cannot, because they perform different role in the ecosystem”, OfficialMCCasino recently said.

Speaking further , OfficialMCCasino stated, “They all have their different niche. 90 percent of online skitmakers cannot anchor event, they cannot do stand-up comedy. So I think everybody is surviving differently”.

OfficialMCCasino is also a Master of Ceremony. The University of Benin (UNIBEN) graduate explained that though he recognised the gift, he had to develop and build capacity in that area.

“As a Master of Ceremony, it came naturally. I grew myself. I think I was born with it, I think learnt the business of anchoring an event. I watched so many clip, did so many research on public speaking, I attended lecturers and seminars on public speaking, so I trained myself on being a good master of ceremony”, said OfficialMCCasino.

The married entertainer was a student union activist during his undergraduate years at UNIBEN. He explained the reason for his activism.

“I find out in my life that I have this follow-come activism spirit in me. I want to speak for others, I don’t like oppression, I hate when people are being opposed, when there by an individual or institution, so i found out that the only way I can legitimately fight for the rights of other people, fight for the oppressed is to be part of the student unionism and by the grace of God, after my tenure, I was given an award as the best executive for that year, that was 2010/2011 academic session. Our achievements are there, and we left some granite-cast legacies there,” OffcialMCCasino stated.