By Ghazali Ibrahim
A Nigerian graduate, Bello Sammy Olajuwon, has shared how her academic study of comedy helped her examine the humour techniques used by popular skit maker Layi Wasabi.
Olajuwon, who uses the username Omo Bello on X, said she analysed Wasabi’s skits using Conversation Analysis as the primary theoretical framework for her Bachelor of Arts degree in English.
In a post on X, she expressed excitement about applying her academic training to the comedy content of the skit maker, whose performances are known for wordplay, sarcasm and exaggerated courtroom-style conversations.
“As someone who has always enjoyed the wordplays and sarcasms in Layi Wasabi’s skits, it was a pleasure analysing how humour is achieved in his skits using Conversation Analysis as the primary theoretical framework,” she wrote.
Reflecting on her academic journey, Olajuwon added humorously: “B.A. English? Been there, questioned my sanity, I survived.”
Reacting to the development, Layi Wasabi congratulate the young graduate with a repost and captioned, “The type of blush that I blushed seeing this!! Grateful beyond words!🙏🏽❤️ Congratulations on an amazing dissertation✨”.
Her post highlights how popular Nigerian comedy can also serve as material for academic inquiry, particularly in examining how language, conversation patterns, sarcasm and wordplay are deployed to produce humour.
Wasabi, whose real name is Ismail Adebayo, has built a following with skits that frequently draw on formal English, legal language and dramatic exchanges to create comic situations.
