The Bokku Mart ad controversy exposes deep-seated digital prejudices and weak advertising oversight in Nigeria. In this edition of Telecoms Clinic@ITREALMS, REMMY NWEKE examines the urgent need for ethical regulation, cultural sensitivity, and responsible influencer marketing practices.
The controversy surrounding the recently deleted Bokku Mart online advertisement has once again exposed Nigeria’s uneasy intersection between digital influence, ethnic sensitivity, and weak advertising oversight. What began as a routine promotional video by a supermarket chain has spiraled into a national debate about prejudice, brand accountability, and the dangers of unregulated influencer marketing in the digital age.
The now-deleted video featured Lagos-based influencer @DefolahBby, who had been contracted to showcase the affordability and product variety available at Bokku Mart, a fast-rising retail chain with outlets across Lagos and Abuja. In the video, she cheerfully displayed staple items such as garri, beans, rice, and beverages, highlighting the store’s competitive prices and quality.
The line that ignited firestorm:
The now-deleted video featured Lagos-based influencer @DefolahBby, who had been contracted to showcase the affordability and product variety available at Bokku Mart, a fast-rising retail chain with outlets across Lagos and Abuja. In the video, she cheerfully displayed staple items such as garri, beans, rice, and beverages, highlighting the store’s competitive prices and quality.
The line that ignited firestorm:
However, amid her presentation came the line that ignited the firestorm. While holding sachets of garri and beans, she said, “You mean I can get beans and garri Ijebu at Bokku without any Omo Igbo cheating me?” She then added, “It’s so relaxing to shop without someone pulling you from the left and right, shouting my colour.”
Those few seconds of dialogue triggered a wave of public outrage. Many Nigerians, particularly from the South-East, condemned the statement as ethnically charged and derogatory. The remark was viewed as reinforcing long-standing stereotypes about Igbos being dishonest in business dealings, a prejudice that has persisted through decades of inter-ethnic mistrust and cultural misrepresentation in Nigeria.
Floods of hashtags:
Within hours, social media was flooded with criticism. Hashtags such as #BokkuMart #BoycottBokkuMart and #SayNoToTribalAds began trending across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and TikTok. The outrage was amplified by the viral nature of digital communication, where public sentiment spreads rapidly and reputational damage becomes instant.
Under pressure from the public and civic commentators, Bokku Mart swiftly pulled down the video and issued a public apology on its verified Instagram account. “We sincerely apologise for the content of a recent promotional video that has offended members of the public,” the company stated. “The comment made in the video does not reflect our values as a pro-Nigerian brand committed to unity, inclusion, and respect for all ethnic groups.”
The management described the remark as “unintentional,” adding that it was a result of inadequate internal review during production. It also promised to institute better oversight and cultural sensitivity training to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Dispelling ownership rumours:
Although the company’s owners have largely maintained a low public profile, Bokku Mart has built its retail model around affordability and accessibility, with a strategy that blends local sourcing with modern retail experience.
Ironically, that same strategy, which depended on social media influencers to connect with young, digitally active Nigerians, has now placed it in the centre of an ethical storm.
Beyond one influencer:
Those few seconds of dialogue triggered a wave of public outrage. Many Nigerians, particularly from the South-East, condemned the statement as ethnically charged and derogatory. The remark was viewed as reinforcing long-standing stereotypes about Igbos being dishonest in business dealings, a prejudice that has persisted through decades of inter-ethnic mistrust and cultural misrepresentation in Nigeria.
Floods of hashtags:
Within hours, social media was flooded with criticism. Hashtags such as #BokkuMart #BoycottBokkuMart and #SayNoToTribalAds began trending across X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and TikTok. The outrage was amplified by the viral nature of digital communication, where public sentiment spreads rapidly and reputational damage becomes instant.
Under pressure from the public and civic commentators, Bokku Mart swiftly pulled down the video and issued a public apology on its verified Instagram account. “We sincerely apologise for the content of a recent promotional video that has offended members of the public,” the company stated. “The comment made in the video does not reflect our values as a pro-Nigerian brand committed to unity, inclusion, and respect for all ethnic groups.”
The management described the remark as “unintentional,” adding that it was a result of inadequate internal review during production. It also promised to institute better oversight and cultural sensitivity training to prevent similar incidents in the future.
Dispelling ownership rumours:
Bokku Mart is owned by Adewale Adeyemi, who is the founder and CEO. He is a Nigerian entrepreneur, and the company was launched by Atreos Ltd on September 30, 2022. This dispels rumors that Bokku is a foreign-owned company.
Ironically, that same strategy, which depended on social media influencers to connect with young, digitally active Nigerians, has now placed it in the centre of an ethical storm.
Beyond one influencer:
The Bokku Mart episode brings to light a larger issue that extends beyond one brand or influencer. It exposes the growing tension between creativity and cultural sensitivity in Nigeria’s digital economy. Advertising has always walked a delicate line between persuasion and offence. In the past, traditional advertising went through multiple layers of regulatory scrutiny before it could reach the public.
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In this unregulated environment, a remark that might once have been dismissed as “market humour” or local banter now assumes national and even political significance. The real-time nature of social media magnifies every misstep.
A careless phrase becomes a digital wildfire, and brands are often left scrambling to contain reputational damage after the fact. The Bokku case underscores this challenge vividly, a single sentence, uttered without malice but without mindfulness, became a nationwide discussion on ethnic respect and marketing ethics.
ARCON in the heart of controversy:
At the heart of the controversy lies the question of regulation. Nigeria’s advertising landscape is governed by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), formerly the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has denied approving such advert.
The ARCON Code of Advertising Practice clearly stipulates that all advertisements must be legal, decent, honest, and truthful, and must not offend public decency or discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or religion.
Ordinarily, the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), which functions as ARCON’s vetting arm, screens all advertisements before they are broadcast or published. However, influencer marketing has created a grey zone that existing regulations have not yet caught up with. Many influencers and even brands regard social media videos as personal content rather than formal advertising, thereby avoiding pre-approval by ARCON.
That gap has created a regulatory vacuum. In this space, commercial messages can be crafted and distributed widely without oversight. As a result, the advertising ecosystem now depends on public outrage, rather than preemptive regulation, to correct mistakes.
According to analysts, this approach is unsustainable. If ARCON and the broader communications industry do not evolve to include digital influencers within their regulatory purview, more incidents like Bokku’s will occur.
Observers noted that ARCON must now move toward a more inclusive digital oversight system. That means recognising that influencer promotions are indeed advertisements, subject to the same ethical and cultural standards as traditional media campaigns. This shift will require collaboration between regulators, marketing agencies, and social media platforms to ensure accountability in content that reaches millions of Nigerians daily.
Deeper issue of digital prejudice:
Beyond regulatory lapses, the Bokku episode also highlights the deeper issue of social prejudice. The reaction to the video was not just about advertising; it was about the collective fatigue of a people constantly misrepresented. Ethnic stereotyping remains one of Nigeria’s most persistent social wounds.
Decades after independence, many Nigerians still carry biases shaped by history, migration, and competition. In everyday conversations, jokes, and even movies, certain groups are portrayed through narrow lenses, as greedy, lazy, or loud. These stereotypes have seeped into the nation’s cultural fabric and, when echoed in digital media, become even more corrosive.
The influencer’s casual use of the phrase “Omo Igbo” as shorthand for dishonesty reflects a troubling normalisation of prejudice in online discourse. It suggests that discriminatory language has found new legitimacy in the unfiltered, attention-driven world of social media. What once belonged to whispered market jokes or ethnic caricatures has now gone mainstream through algorithmic amplification.
Rewarding engagement metrics:
This phenomenon is part of what analysts describe as Nigeria’s digital prejudice; a system where biases are not only expressed but also rewarded through engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. In such an environment, outrage itself becomes a form of visibility, and even brands sometimes exploit controversy to drive attention.
Some observers have suggested that Bokku’s marketing team may have underestimated how such language could backfire, believing that shock value might translate into virality. Instead, the result was reputational damage and an industry-wide debate about ethics.
The implications of this controversy extend beyond Bokku Mart. It calls attention to the urgent need for a new digital media ethics framework, one that goes beyond gender and decency to explicitly address tribal, racial, and cultural representation.
ARCON in the heart of controversy:
At the heart of the controversy lies the question of regulation. Nigeria’s advertising landscape is governed by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), formerly the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) has denied approving such advert.
The ARCON Code of Advertising Practice clearly stipulates that all advertisements must be legal, decent, honest, and truthful, and must not offend public decency or discriminate on the basis of ethnicity, gender, or religion.
Ordinarily, the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP), which functions as ARCON’s vetting arm, screens all advertisements before they are broadcast or published. However, influencer marketing has created a grey zone that existing regulations have not yet caught up with. Many influencers and even brands regard social media videos as personal content rather than formal advertising, thereby avoiding pre-approval by ARCON.
That gap has created a regulatory vacuum. In this space, commercial messages can be crafted and distributed widely without oversight. As a result, the advertising ecosystem now depends on public outrage, rather than preemptive regulation, to correct mistakes.
According to analysts, this approach is unsustainable. If ARCON and the broader communications industry do not evolve to include digital influencers within their regulatory purview, more incidents like Bokku’s will occur.
Observers noted that ARCON must now move toward a more inclusive digital oversight system. That means recognising that influencer promotions are indeed advertisements, subject to the same ethical and cultural standards as traditional media campaigns. This shift will require collaboration between regulators, marketing agencies, and social media platforms to ensure accountability in content that reaches millions of Nigerians daily.
Deeper issue of digital prejudice:
Beyond regulatory lapses, the Bokku episode also highlights the deeper issue of social prejudice. The reaction to the video was not just about advertising; it was about the collective fatigue of a people constantly misrepresented. Ethnic stereotyping remains one of Nigeria’s most persistent social wounds.
Decades after independence, many Nigerians still carry biases shaped by history, migration, and competition. In everyday conversations, jokes, and even movies, certain groups are portrayed through narrow lenses, as greedy, lazy, or loud. These stereotypes have seeped into the nation’s cultural fabric and, when echoed in digital media, become even more corrosive.
The influencer’s casual use of the phrase “Omo Igbo” as shorthand for dishonesty reflects a troubling normalisation of prejudice in online discourse. It suggests that discriminatory language has found new legitimacy in the unfiltered, attention-driven world of social media. What once belonged to whispered market jokes or ethnic caricatures has now gone mainstream through algorithmic amplification.
Rewarding engagement metrics:
This phenomenon is part of what analysts describe as Nigeria’s digital prejudice; a system where biases are not only expressed but also rewarded through engagement metrics such as likes, shares, and comments. In such an environment, outrage itself becomes a form of visibility, and even brands sometimes exploit controversy to drive attention.
Some observers have suggested that Bokku’s marketing team may have underestimated how such language could backfire, believing that shock value might translate into virality. Instead, the result was reputational damage and an industry-wide debate about ethics.
The implications of this controversy extend beyond Bokku Mart. It calls attention to the urgent need for a new digital media ethics framework, one that goes beyond gender and decency to explicitly address tribal, racial, and cultural representation.
Rare attention to ethnic steroetyping:
While ARCON has in the past sanctioned organisations for gender bias or religious insensitivity, the same level of attention has rarely been given to ethnic stereotyping, even though such biases remain among the most divisive in Nigeria.
Past examples underscore the importance of vigilance. In 2022, Sterling Bank was sanctioned after it released an Easter advert comparing the resurrection of Christ to the rising of “Agege Bread.”
The bank apologised, but the incident demonstrated that even seemingly harmless creativity can cross moral lines.
Similarly, MTN once faced backlash for an advert celebrating the boy child, which critics claimed ignored gender balance. Both examples led to tighter scrutiny of gender and religious imagery in advertising. Yet, as the Bokku case shows, ethnic sensitivity remains a blind spot in Nigeria’s media regulation.
Opportunity for reform:
The Bokku controversy therefore presents an opportunity for reflection and reform. It reminds both regulators and practitioners that Nigeria’s diversity is its strength, not a trope for commercial gimmicks.
It challenges advertising professionals to move from token apologies to structural solutions, to invest in training, cultural literacy, and responsible storytelling. Brands must begin to see sensitivity not as a constraint on creativity but as a strategic asset. In a multicultural nation like Nigeria, inclusivity is not just a moral duty; it is smart business.
Invariably, the fallout from the Bokku Mart advert serves as a mirror to Nigeria’s digital prejudices and the regulatory gaps that enable them. It reflects how unchecked creative freedom, when mixed with social ignorance, can undermine national cohesion.
Past examples underscore the importance of vigilance. In 2022, Sterling Bank was sanctioned after it released an Easter advert comparing the resurrection of Christ to the rising of “Agege Bread.”
The bank apologised, but the incident demonstrated that even seemingly harmless creativity can cross moral lines.
Similarly, MTN once faced backlash for an advert celebrating the boy child, which critics claimed ignored gender balance. Both examples led to tighter scrutiny of gender and religious imagery in advertising. Yet, as the Bokku case shows, ethnic sensitivity remains a blind spot in Nigeria’s media regulation.
Opportunity for reform:
The Bokku controversy therefore presents an opportunity for reflection and reform. It reminds both regulators and practitioners that Nigeria’s diversity is its strength, not a trope for commercial gimmicks.
It challenges advertising professionals to move from token apologies to structural solutions, to invest in training, cultural literacy, and responsible storytelling. Brands must begin to see sensitivity not as a constraint on creativity but as a strategic asset. In a multicultural nation like Nigeria, inclusivity is not just a moral duty; it is smart business.
Invariably, the fallout from the Bokku Mart advert serves as a mirror to Nigeria’s digital prejudices and the regulatory gaps that enable them. It reflects how unchecked creative freedom, when mixed with social ignorance, can undermine national cohesion.
It also underscores the urgency for regulators like ARCON to adapt to the realities of digital communication. Social media is now the dominant space for advertising, and until its content is held to the same standards as television and print, incidents like this will continue to recur.
Lessons:
The lesson is clear. Advertising, whether traditional or digital, carries power; the power to shape perceptions, bridge divides, or deepen them. In a country as diverse and complex as Nigeria, that power must be exercised with care.
The Bokku Mart ad may have been a mistake, but it is one that has forced an important national conversation about who we are, how we see one another, and how our words, even in jest, can either build bridges or burn them.
If Nigeria’s advertising industry takes this moment seriously, it could mark the beginning of a new era in which creativity walks hand in hand with conscience.
For now, Bokku Mart stands as a cautionary tale, a digital misstep that revealed far more about the nation’s underlying fractures than its creators could ever have imagined.
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Lessons:
The lesson is clear. Advertising, whether traditional or digital, carries power; the power to shape perceptions, bridge divides, or deepen them. In a country as diverse and complex as Nigeria, that power must be exercised with care.
The Bokku Mart ad may have been a mistake, but it is one that has forced an important national conversation about who we are, how we see one another, and how our words, even in jest, can either build bridges or burn them.
If Nigeria’s advertising industry takes this moment seriously, it could mark the beginning of a new era in which creativity walks hand in hand with conscience.
For now, Bokku Mart stands as a cautionary tale, a digital misstep that revealed far more about the nation’s underlying fractures than its creators could ever have imagined.
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