Olamilekan Agbeleshe, popularly known as Laycon, just won the big brother Naija reality tv show season 5 after 10 weeks in the lockdown house. He is a 26 year old singer and rapper and a graduate of philosophy from the University of Lagos. He recently released a song Fierce which topped the MTV base top ten chars for six months.
He won the prize worth 85 million in total. For winning, he would be rewarded with N30 million cash prize, an Suv from Innoson motors, a two bedroom apartment from revolution plus, a trip to Dublin courtesy of Guinness Nigeria PLC and other mouth-watering prizes.
Laycon, who people called son of grace won on Sunday, led by 60 per cent votes followed by Dorathy with 21.85 per cent votes. Nengi had 15.03 percent votes while Neo and vee had 1.94 percent and 1.18 percent votes, respectively. The win got people celebrating in the streets of Mushin and other areas of the country.
A Brand strategist by the name Aderinale Demola in a chat with Brandspur on what Laycon’s win means, made mention of marketers trying to use Laycon’s story to sell brand templates and the idea of how brands can position themselves the way Laycon did. He described such act as fluffy and the use of buzz words just to gain attention.
Laycon, who went into the house with about four thousand followers, now has about 1.4 Million followers on Instagram and probably still counting. Many have wondered about how Laycon was able to rise from being an underdog to being the fans’ favorite. Laycon has been able to gain a cult-like following from fans. Perhaps this may be true, perhaps not.
But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to dive into the formula that made so many people love him and rally behind him.
Laycon, who many saw as object of ridicule and mocked by many for his looks and dressing was able to attract support from people who see themselves in the character they watch. They see his determination and will. They also could imagine where he is coming from and why he needs the money and this shows the power of a story well told. His story touched the hearts of people and why some showed empathy; others were sympathetic to his situation. His looks, when he dressed as Deadpool, became an internet sensation as people created memes out of it and that probably made him more popular.
Laycon, who was involved in an entanglement with Erica who got disqualified, was mocked by people but this also lead to debates that got fans and well-wishers to rise to his defense thereby creating a topic centred around him. He was also supported by celebrities such as Woli Egba, Odunlade Adekola, Eniola Badmus, Teni D Entertainer, Timi Dakolo and so on who canvassed for votes in support of him.
People began to see Laycon winning as a movement of some sort as some youths in Ogun state organized a public walk just to support him. There was a picture of a canteen offering free Amala to those who voted for Laycon.
Laycon also strategically called the names of popular influencers on the social media who attended the university of Lagos and those influencers reciprocated by canvassing for him even more.
Throughout the 10 weeks in the house, Laycon remained true to himself carrying the image of determination, focus, love and cheerfulness. His approach to handling crises became a talk of the town during his face-off with Erica who eventually got disqualified due to her use of abusive words and bullying the fellow housemate.
It is worth noting that the actions and attitudes of the people in the house for the 71 days reflects if not all, but iota of individual attitudes and Laycon clearly proved what he is made of. Saying his intelligence, philosophical thinking and resilience contributed to his winning is a perfect conclusion.
