INTERVIEW: How Loneliness, Hunger Led Me To Skit-Making — Motell

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?

Honestly, I don’t know where to put the blame. I don’t know if I should say the government or the farmers. Inflation is affecting the prices of garri, please, let this garri cost drop, so that those who I’m begging can give me.

Many public figures speak out on social issues and governance—have you made a conscious decision about how you engage with such topics?

No, it’s not.

Sometimes I do. I have a few friends who are politicians as well, and we do talk.

And sometimes, I’ll say this, our discussion is so deep that I get to understand them. Yes. Some of my political friends, they try as much as they can, but you can’t please people.

Of course, presently, the economic situation is crazy. But I do have some deep conversations with a few people, my friends. Sometime last month or two months ago, they protested against bad governance and all.

I had messages, dm (direct message) saying Motel, you should join, I don’t jump into things like that.

And they went as far as saying is it because it’s not happening to your family? Excuse me, I’ve had family members who have been victimised. I’m not one who actually jumped into anything because some people believe I should, and even some of these people who come to me saying, ” Ah, motel, look at what is going on. You’re supposed to use your platform to speak against the government.

I look at these people’s platforms. You have influence, too, and there is nothing on your page. Do you understand? So I understand when people do all of that, but I need to have some conversation with some of the close friends in politics.

I may not know the meetings you might have had. I may not know what is going on in this aspect. And they’ll sit me down and break it down with me, and to be frank, not every news you see on the internet is true.

Your skits are typically short, sharp, and engaging—what informs this creative choice?

Well, I’ve been doing longer skits before now. But in our industry, you need to think very fast. And if you don’t, you will be left behind. So there is innovation everywhere. You need to try as much as you can to evolve.

So I started with at least two to three-minute skits. And later made it a little bit longer. And I saw the engagement, nice storytelling still.

I do hear things like a skit is dying because it is so saturated and stuff. No, it is not. You can’t say skit is dying or skit is dead.

Skit is like art. So you can’t say art is dead. It’s longing.

You need to look for a way to evolve. Yes. Because if you say skit is dead, some people have not even started, and they are planning to start.

So what do you want them to do? Should they give up? The answer is no. You should instead know by yourself what the next step is, what is needed to evolve. That way, you would be able to educate those who are coming or who are looking up to you.

Personally, I sat down and discovered that presently, people don’t have time. I’m not saying that those people who actually do long skits, interesting ones, are not evolving; actually, they are Interesting with nice storytelling, and they have their engagements.

Everybody has their audience. But for me, I am a deep thinker, and my kind of skits are organic. I don’t do too much.

It has to be relatable. So for something to be relatable, it has to be short. People don’t have time; they have a whole lot to do. So don’t expect people to just sit on your page on a video and be like, where is the humour now? We need to see it. Just make it fast and enjoyable.

How do you manage audience expectations and reactions, especially when people applaud your work so highly?

When I see such comments, I’m always like, yes, okay what’s next. I don’t feel too comfortable with compliments.

Oftentimes I get long paragraph messages like Motel. It has really been a rough day, a rough week, but I just came across you. Today is the first day I discovered you and it’s crazy. Your page heals and stuff.

I’m like, thank you, Lord. Thank you, God. And the next thing I ask myself is, what’s next?.

So these things, they don’t really get to me but how do you keep it going to sustain it? Because you have to keep it going. And I also understand that people get tired. So you don’t have to keep giving them the same content. I get comments like this guy actually drops the same content, but it’s still funny.

I still don’t let that get into me. These are humans we are talking about. So they tend to change. So we try to think and look for how to make the next one better than the previous one.

You recently introduced silent skits—what inspired this shift, and how do you adapt to new creative styles?

I just think, as I said, I grew up in a locality. I was born and raised in Akwa-Ibom state, and I have seen some things and, you know, especially from my mom.

She’s a typical African mother, her name is Nancy and I love her a lot. She does not even need to say anything, just her stare you will just know you’re in trouble. Those experiences then birthed this new approach. And because a lot of African mothers are alike in that pattern of training, it was easy for everybody to understand the message,

There’s a recurring “neighbour” character in your skits—can you tell us more about this person?

I don’t know. It’s the neighbour that don’t want to be unveiled. We have so many people as neighbours, but that female neighbour whose voice is heard in almost all the skits gives an interesting and engaging energy. Sometimes I don’t know when she closes the door.

Really?

Yes, I don’t know when she shuts the door, I don’t need to know actually, but once the door is shut, I need to stop talking and she knows the timing.

Can you walk us through your creative and brainstorming process?

I write down my scripts. I review them and I try to see if I will laugh at this. Some days I record at least 15 times. And that has enabled me to be consistent with posting every day.

I post every single day on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram.

But sometimes it does not work that well. What you watch and it’s not funny to you as the creator. It might be funny to others.

I take an example from the content I did by the window. When I was doing the window content, calling my friend Philip, there was this video that went viral that I did not believe would. The video where I was hailing him. Philo, Philo. Philadelphia, Philadelphia. So, I did that content, I watched it, and I was like, okay, should I post this one? I recorded another one. I posted the rest. That one was still there.

I delayed. I dragged until one faithful Saturday, when I was just bored, to tell you how I didn’t even regard that content. I didn’t post it on my Instagram, I didn’t post it on my TikTok. I went and posted it on my Twitter, where I didn’t have enough engagement. After posting it there, people started reaching out to me on WhatsApp.

Ah, Motel, we saw this, your video. People are using the sound on TikTok. I said, but I never post on TikTok now.

So, when I went on TikTok, I posted the video again, and people started using the sound under my own post. So, I had close to a million users in a few weeks.

I was like, “ Oh, wow. So, that post alone gave me over 500,000 followers. Wow.

I mean, Mercy Johnson used the sound. A lot of people used the sound because it’s a relatable sound. You’re hailing somebody you want to borrow money from, only for the person to hang up.

So, when I posted it on Instagram, people were like, really? So, it’s this guy who owns this sound? So, it increased my number of followers. I was like, ” Oh, this thing doesn’t work this way.

So, yes I brainstorm. I work. I do a lot of work.

You recently crossed major follower milestones on Facebook and celebrated it—how did that feel?

Yes, I did.

How would you describe that milestone and what it means for your journey?

It does serve as a special inspiration for me to do more because every day I check. I’m young. So, I need to work. So, I handle my socials myself.

Yes, I check my numbers and see if they are increasing. If I notice any glitch, I put in work. This is my office. So, it really inspired me, and I just have to keep it What brought about the content creation idea is loneliness. I was in my room. Lonely and hungry. I decided to try something.

Looking ahead, how do you see the future of content creation in Nigeria?

I don’t know. I can’t even tell, honestly. Asking me about the future, I think, in a way, is equivalent to asking how to define my own way of consistency. I never knew this short content was going to go this viral.

So, right now, I would tell anybody that the future of this industry is that you have to keep it going, try to meet up with what is trending, try to evolve, and know that you have to really capture people’s attention with what you’re doing. It’s okay to start small.

It’s okay to start, even if it doesn’t make sense, be consistent in the process. I don’t know how to say this is the future. But the truth is, content creation is the new crude oil.

Based on your experience, what advice would you give to upcoming skit makers?

You have to keep it going. I started three years ago, on April 13th. It doesn’t have to make sense. As I said, you also have to understand that it’s not going to be easy. You have to be careful.

You have to be ready to take the pain. There was this skit I watched way back, I think 2018 or 2019, where someone went to meet his boss in the office. Informing him of the intention to venture into content creation.

And the boss‘s response was like bring this form, sign that you’re ready to cry, I’m ready to take curses and abuses. What kind of rubbish content is this? Sign that you are ready to get one comment in one year.

So, it’s not going to be easy. I get messages like, “ Can you put me through on how to be a better content creator? I didn’t even know how to be better. Right now, I even feel I’m not even better.

Have people ever commented on your appearance or how it contributes to your content?

People do tell me that I look funny. I even got paid for that one. They will tell me Just come to my show. You’re not doing anything.

Just be around. Just sit down.

You’ve collaborated with several established creators—how do you navigate relationships in what many consider a competitive industry?

Well, when I started, I started alone. I just wanted to keep doing what I do.

Keep doing my thing until I am discovered. Shout out to Tunde Ednut and Don Jazzy. These are the people who first put out my content on their platform. When people say that I’m collaborating with other colleagues, I don’t see that as a problem.

Even my colleagues, they see my kind of content. They’ll be like, okay, fine. This guy has been doing well.

The beautiful thing is that it’s just him, his face. Whoever is behind the camera, I guess the person should be, maybe his sister, his friend or somebody who wants this person to grow.

Not somebody that is struggling like, ah, it’s only my voice that is out there. Let me also show my face. So I started content creation alone. I built it brick by brick.

So even if it tries to collapse, it won’t collapse. I will rebuild it brick by brick.

Don Jazzy has been accepting my collaboration. I post on Instagram, and I send collaborations, and he accepts them immediately. And I go to his DM to thank him.

And funny enough, he does not respond. He has never responded. Until recently, he just responded.

He was like, “how far guy” I’ve really been busy and I understand. Don Jazzy is a busy person. So for him to accept your collaboration is a whole lot.

Do you have plans to transition into filmmaking?

Yes, I have plans to go to the big screen and to do big things.

What message would you like to share with your fans?

My fans are my angels. I just want to thank you for riding with me from day one. I see comments like, I’ve been watching this guy since 2023, that’s true.

Thank you. I can’t thank you enough. I can’t thank everyone, even for some of you who just discovered me.

I mean the share, the engagement. I’ll just put, it’s not even up to five minutes, and I’m seeing over a hundred comments. Do you people sleep on my page? Thank you.

I don’t take it for granted. Please keep sharing. I have lots of new concepts coming, I’ve not even started.