Azuka Ogujiuba blasts Toke Makinwa, Says She Almost Cheapened and Marred 2014 Headies with Dry Jokes and ‘Fake-Ness’

Toke Makinwa

ThisDay newspaper columnist Azuka Ogujiuba used her Saturday column to talk about the 2014 Headies in an article titled ‘The Good, Bad and Ugly of 2014 Headies Awards’ and in her post she talks about everything from the show itself to the hosts of the night – Basketmouth and Toke Makinwa.

She talks about Toke Makinwa’s hosting at length. Read in part her thoughts on Toke Makinwa:

She obviously loves the limelight; she enjoys being called and seen as a celebrity, and she loves the good life of being a star, which sincerely is not a crime and it is equally her business anyway. For me as a journalist, if I am to pick any of the known on-air personalities to interview then Toke Makinwa will never make number 50 on my list because I don’t know what she wants to

tell the world about her career and personal life again. Her life is practically on the social network but it is truly her choice. There is no doubt that she works hard and can be aggressive. She probably wants to be the most popular radio personality and, of course, probably has to add the ‘fake it till you make it’ attitude into everything she does. Her strategy is working for her. I actually used to think Toke was loved and revered by her fans until she co-hosted the 2014 HEADIES awards. Initially, I thought she had butterflies in her stomach, because I have been a victim before, when I had to present an award to the family of the late Dagrin, who died a month before the award in 2010. When I saw the crowd watching me on stage I was scared and immediately become dumb, I was so overwhelmed by stage fright that D1 came to my rescue. Through that short time the crowd booed me off the stage, and it should be worse for a wanna-be celebrity like Toke whom I used to think has more fans than the likes of Funke Akindele, Tu face, Geneveive Nnaji and co, because that is how Toke Makinwa rates herself. Maybe she thinks she falls in the category of A-list celebrities. Well, to some people she might be.

She almost cheapened and marred the show with her dry jokes and her ‘fake-ness’, trying to be who she is not. I think Animashaun imagines his event as a huge joke that was why he opted for Toke. The fact that Toke presents ‘Trends’ does not mean she has the capability to host such a big show and a large crowd. And the crowd was not merciful at all, as the audience made Toke realize she was not wanted on stage; nobody replied her calls or laughed at her jokes. They just wanted her out of the stage every time she came out in any of her horrible outfits which, as usual, were given to her free by designers, who also have fallen prey to her ‘fakeness’. The response was so bad that at a point I felt so sorry for her. Less I forget, I also wore an outfit courtesy of Kina Buti to the awards night.

Her second outfit was a sequin jumpsuit, which got the audience laughing when she walked up to the stage. I didn’t see her at first because I was actually chatting on my blackberry phone, but the laughter from the crowd made me look up quickly. People talked openly not caring who was listening, and I heard from the seat behind me someone asking ‘Why is this girl fooling herself? What nonsense is she wearing and why would she wear a ‘Padded Butt’ in this kind of outfit? Another said she looked like she wore pampers, and the comments and laughter at Toke’s foolery went on and on. And I just thought to myself who is actually her stylist? Who is doing this to Toke? Or is she her own worst enemy? She made it worse when she tried to thrill the crowd with her various dance steps which she did badly as the crowd continued to bully and boo her. It was so hard not to laugh, as she kept making jest of herself on stage. Toke invited Julius Agwu on stage to assist her in dancing shoki, and Julius Agwu flawed and also threw jibes at her and her ugly/funny jumpsuit. It was then with the large crowd that I realized Toke has this ‘we love to hate you kind of personality’. She’s liked as much as she’s disliked and draws negative and controversial attention. In a way, I think she loves anything negative or positive as long as she is seen on the pages of newspapers, magazines and for her stories to be on the blogs. For people like Toke any publicity is cool as long people know or read about her. As long as it makes her join the league of ‘celebrity world’ she does not care.

Her third outfit was made in adire with a funny big bow. It was equally ugly and drab; I don’t know which designer made the outfit and, the fourth outfit reminded me of a turkey for thanksgiving. I don’t understand the dress or is it the feathers? Biko, who is her stylist, I ask again and, the exchange of wigs, was that really necessary?

During the awards she did everything she could to make the crowd happy but they were very hostile to her, to the extent that at one point she plead with the crowd to accept and laugh at her jokes or even applaud her efforts to make them enjoy the show, but the crowd still ignored her until Basketmouth as usual came to her rescue. Even her jokes at Basketmouth’s marriage was quickly hushed and halted by him.