Written by Yaw Tollo
Ogechi Ukonu was born with a funny bone and all her life she’s found to be the funniest person in the room. A serious remark could literally send her friends or family spiralling on the floor from spasms of laughter. But the world did not know of such an impressive talent until everyone was forced to stay home in the hit of a global pandemic that changed our world.
The Canadian-based Nigerian Ukonu known on social media as @Caramel.Plugg became a viral sensation in 2020 on multiple platforms when her skits found their way to the feeds of netizens.
It evoked a sense of relatability especially for her peers and her content gave adults an idea of what it is really like to be a digital millennial. Despite the success of Ukonu’s skits and content creation career, she’s also been met with harsh criticism and tongue lashing from several quarters on the internet. According to the critics, her content lacked humour or as others said, it was forced and was almost like flogging a dead horse. However, these words didn’t stop, if anything it’s helped her to love herself more and do what she loves. Ogechi recently landed some juicy ambassadorial deals, due to her content reaching bigger audiences than before and her acceptance by some already celebrated media faces.
During her recently organized “Meet and Greet” in Ghana with her teeming fandom, Ogechi Ukonu sat with Glamour to give us a peek into her amazing world and the future of this blazing content creator.
GLAMOUR: Your page Caramel. Plugg became a hit sensation in 2020 -when did it finally dawn on you that you had become a viral celebrity?
Ogechi: It dawned on me in the same year 2020 after my contents kept on going viral over and over again
GLAMOUR: Let’s rewind a little bit — who is Ogechi Ukonu— and what makes her tick?
O: Ogechi Ukonu is a video creator and entertainer who was born in Nigeria but studied in Canada. I wouldn’t refer to it as “tick” but rather who she really is. Ogechi Ukonu is a bubbly girl who loves music and expresses herself through videos.
GLAMOUR: People have found your content to be both relatable and funny especially during the pandemic. Did you intentionally set out to create this content that has bridged geological and generational gaps??
O: No tbh! I didn’t have any specific reach in mind. I just wanted to create content by expressing myself. It’s genuinely an honour to know that my content was used to bridge gaps – I don’t get to hear this every day - I’m really thankful.
G: During this period of finding social media fame, we can imagine that there have been positive and some challenging outcomes. What are some of them??
O: Of course, they’ve been positive and some challenging outcomes and they include:
- Good Exposure
- Strong Connections
- Good influence
- The power to impact the people
- Pressure
- The need to be guarded
G: Can you tell us the major lessons you’ve learnt from being in the limelight as a comedian and Youtuber?
- Be authentic
- Don’t compare yourself to anybody else
- Learn from your mistake
- Always be ready to try new things
- Be very Humble
G: You have also launched a merchandise brand, landed some pretty exciting endorsement deals and collaborated with some big names in the industry. How do you feel about all of this??
O: I feel like a blessed crazy cool kid.
G: You currently just climaxed a Meet and Greet in Ghana and did a group trip to Zanzibar. How has the experience been exploring different African cultures??
O: Amazing and I’ve been having so much fun and life has been going great. It’s really cool getting to meet people who support you from other parts of the world. Life has been amazing.
G: Name 3 female content creators that you admire and why you admire them.
- Taoma
- Funke Akindele
- Wofai Fada
I admire them because of how they distinguish themself from other content creators and how they’ve been able to pave the way and infuse hard work into content creation.
G: In the personal arena — are you seeing someone?? If yes, how has fame affected your relationship positively and negatively? If no, has fame affected your chances of finding someone??
O: Hahahahaha I think I’ll skip this question ☺️😌
G: If you had to work on a project with any celebrity of your choice. Who would it be and why??
O: Sho Madjozi, Nasty C, Funke Akindele I Love them
G: Aside from your bonnet, what are 3 things in your closet that you can’t live without??
O: My robe, my joggers and socks.
G: Back to Bonnets, there has been a raging debate recently on the internet with people calling it “Ghetto” to wear them outside. What are your thoughts?
O: LOL, I don’t think it’s ghetto. I feel like people should be allowed to do whatever they want to do, and should be free to express themselves in any way they want to. Plus, bonnets are in vogue right now and it’ll only be normal to see people want to wear that outside
G: What are your plans for the rest of 2021?
O: To be more financially stable and to create more content.
