Driven by loneliness, hunger, and a relentless flow of ideas, Motell Solomon Ovat known by his stage name, Motell has emerged as a viral content creator after years of quiet persistence, achieving his breakthrough in 2026.
Motell, who’s from Cross Rivers State, did not initially pursue a career in skit-making. He spent several years working behind the scenes as a videographer, collaborating with content creators and filmmakers while steadily nurturing his own creative concepts.
In 2023, he took a decisive step by bringing one of those ideas to life – a spontaneous move that marked the beginning of his transition into content creation.
From that point, his journey evolved through consistency and authenticity. Drawing inspiration from personal experiences including moments of loneliness, hunger, and everyday realities, he began producing short, organic skits that resonated strongly with audiences.
In this interview with THE WHISTLER, Motell explains how persistence eventually paid off in 2026, when a viral breakthrough propelled him into the spotlight, earning him widespread recognition and a rapidly growing fan base across social media platforms.
Excerpts…
Can you tell us about your background and how your journey into skit-making began?
This wasn’t part of the plan at all in my whole life. Very accidental. Speaking of showbiz, I’ve always been a videographer. I’ve been working behind the scenes. I share ideas with skit makers. I work with skit makers. I work with filmmakers as well.
So I always have special ideas, and I share them. That’s how I managed to have this close relationship. Then I had this idea, that’s the idea of Philip’s friend, always calling Philip beside the window to ask for N1K (a thousand naira).
That was actually the skit that first went viral. Before I started it, as I said, it wasn’t the plan.
So I shared the idea with a friend of mine, two friends actually. Why don’t you guys do it? It didn’t really sit well with them. I don’t blame them because people have their differences. So I decided to try it, and that opened the way for me.
I was like, okay, this thing is working. Let’s keep it going.
At what point did you decide to transition from working behind the scenes to creating content yourself?
What brought about the content creation idea is loneliness. I was in my room. Lonely and hungry and I decided to try something.
How did your family react to your decision to venture into content creation, given your background?
Well, I lost my dad at a very young age. My mom, a very good trader, is hustling to make ends meet, to make sure we go to school. As I said, it wasn’t part of the plan.
So she tried all she could. Growing up, I’ve been this calm and quiet guy.
I don’t look for trouble. I’m just there on my own. I was always all about school, books and the like.
But as I said, certain things happen, and we don’t even know how they begin. But I also found out that I had a lot of ideas. I knew how to do a lot of things.
I knew how to paint. I mean, I tried music. So my mom and my sisters, because I have four sisters before me, they were just watching me. I come from a family where nobody discriminates against you. Do what you do. We’ll support you as long as it is good. Just keep doing what you do.
Your content often revolves around everyday experiences—how did the “garri” concept come about?
Oh, you know, in our society, looking at it, garri is at least one of the most necessary things you have in your house as a Nigerian.
Permit me to use the word Nigerian, because in my comments, I see some people from some African countries, they’re like, ” This is garri. They’ve not really had it before. They’ve not heard of it before.
So they would like to try it because Motel is always talking about this garri guy. So I grew up in a place where people often beg. Yes, some take it as an entitlement.
Yes, locality. So garri was this particular gold or diamond, that was easy to give out. And also, when I started, although I didn’t start with garri, the first content was when I heard a friend of mine who told me that raw rice could actually absorb water from a phone.
I was like, how? Maybe your phone gets wet, and you put it inside a bag of rice or something. So I came up with that idea, you know, going to meet my neighbour, I told him my phone fell into the water. If he could give me a cup of rice, and I further demand tomatoes, pepper and the like? Looking at it very well, not everyone can easily feel comfortable giving you other foodstuffs.
But garri is common in Nigeria, it is something you can ask anyone. And if the person has it, they’ll just give it to you. But my case is always different, they don’t give me.
Maybe because I ask too much.
Some viewers interpret your use of garri as a subtle reflection of economic realities—how do you respond to such interpretations?
Well, for now, I haven’t. Instead, I even get the opposite of it.
I get comments like some people who sell garri should actually reach out to this guy for adverts and collaboration. This is an opportunity. All those garri vendors, those who package their garri in such a way, Ijebu garri, reach out to this guy now.
And I’ve actually had a lot of bookings, which I’m yet to put out the content here. So, yes, those are the most comments I get. People don’t really make it look like because of my content, the price of garri is on the increase.
Are you personally concerned about rising living costs and how they affect everyday Nigerians?
