Two of the most popular creatives driving the Nigerian streaming industry do not see eye to eye, but that does not necessarily mean it would hurt the niche’s growth rate.
Beef, open feuds, controversies and drama have propelled several sectors of the Nigerian creative economy to greater heights. The history of Nigerian music is not complete without the historic beefs between Saheed Osupa and Pasuma, Eedris Abdulkareem and Rugged Man, MI and Vector, and so on.
Even on the global scene, hip-hop beefs have increased the anticipation of artists’ projects since the beginning of time. Today, it is not out of order to see a film producer throw shade at a fellow producer when a project is about to be released. It drives attention, it’s what the people want, it gets the people going.
As the African audience gradually gets on the streaming wave, the open feud between Shank Comics and Carter Efe could do the same thing for that industry. What started as a quiet issue between the two Nigerian creatives can redefine the streaming industry in Nigeria by simply increasing the interest of Nigerians who are prone to take sides when two ‘elephants’ do battle.
Carter Efe and Shank Comics gained attention a few years ago by being skit makers; the short-form comedy videos posted on Instagram and YouTube allowed them to build followings before they both moved into live streaming, and they have both been remarkably successful in the venture.
Carter Efe brings the loud, funny, and sometimes chaotic characters that made his skits go viral into his streams as he interacts with fans in real time. His streaming career hit its peak when he featured Davido, shooting his Twitch subscribers to more than half a million.
Similarly, Shank Comics moved from skit-making to streaming. His IRL streams in the USA got millions of views, and he gained international exposure after working with Kai Cenat through the Streamer University Program, which made him one of the first Nigerian streamers to gain global attention.
While international streamers like IshowSpeed, Druski, and Kai Cenat have pooled their resources and collaborated to huge success, two of the biggest streamers in Nigeria do not see eye to eye.
Carter Efe alleges he reached out to Shank for a collaboration during Shank’s trip to the U.S., but was turned down. According to Carter, Shank claimed their “brands were not compatible,” which Carter took as disrespectful, especially since he believes he supported Shank early in his career.
Following the incident, Carter Efe publicly criticised Shank Comics, calling him “useless” and accusing him of failing to acknowledge or support other Nigerian creatives during his time in the U.S., particularly while associating with Kai Cenat.
After months of silence, Shank responded that Carter would mention him during livestreams in ways that felt like subtle jabs, possibly to get attention and create viral moments while calling him privately to ignore the clips as Carter was chasing virality. The situation reached a peak when they blocked each other on social media.
In January 2026, when IShowSpeed, one of the most successful streamers in the world, visited Nigeria, Carter Efe, who did not join in any of his streams, mocked other Nigerian creatives who joined, particularly drawing attention by referencing a viral moment where Shanks tried to teach Speed how to eat chicken with his hands, the African way.
They also met at a physical store hosted by Lagos socialite, Yhemolee. While they greeted each other, the atmosphere was very uncomfortable. Instead of settling their issues, the meeting made everything worse. Carter later went online to talk about it, and fans could clearly see that the situation had escalated, and they were truly not on talking terms, and things had gone sour between them.
The biggest moment in this ongoing beef happened this weekend when Shank congratulated Carter Efe for winning the celebrity boxing match against Portable at Chaos in the Ring 4. Carter reacted strongly during a livestream, saying that Shank had no right to congratulate him after blocking him. He even told him to delete the post.
Shank then responded by accusing Carter of using the situation for attention and said Carter often talks about him publicly but acts differently in private. He also suggested that the collaboration story might not be completely true and made it clear that blocking someone doesn’t mean you can’t still wish them well.
While many think that competition is unavoidable, the global streaming industry has thrived on collaborations between the biggest streamers. Yet, this does not have to be the case in Nigeria, where the audience loves controversies.
Last year, digital expert Chukwudi Chinwetalu, who has worked with streamers including Kai Cenat, told Nigerian Entertainment Today that streamers stand to make a lot of money from collaborations with the biggest brands as well as direct gifting from their subscribers. When asked if the apparent lack of collaborations between Nigerian streamers can have an adverse effect, he disagreed.
Collaboration actually made streaming in the US blow up. Kai Cenat and Speed have collaborated on some of the biggest streams with big brands. But that does not have to be the case in Nigeria. In fact, the Carter vs Shanks beef is making people more interested in their streams, he said.
As the conversation moves from the chat sections of the streams to other social media platforms like X and Facebook, likely, many people who have not subscribed to or tuned in to any of these creators’ streams will begin to do so.
Additional reporting by Adedeji Adeyanju
