Bovi: Why Basketmouth and I are not so close

Bovi, the comedian, says the closeness between him and Basketmouth reduced because he wanted to grow his brand and focus more on himself.

The duo are among the most popular stand-up comedians in Nigeria.

But speaking on the recent edition of the WithChude podcast, the comic actor admitted that he and Basketmouth aren’t as close as they used to be.

Bovi said the pair are still friends, but “there’s a limit to how far” his friendship with Basketmouth “can take me.”

He said as at when he became friends with Basketmouth, his colleague was already a brand.

Bovi said he decided it was time for him to grow his own brand and focus more on himself.

“Don’t forget at the time Basketmouth is a brand. An established brand. If we had to pay him we would probably have had to rob a bank. There was a symbiotic friendship. But he was more visible because he is a brand,” he said. 

“Over the years, my mission was to become a brand as well. A big one. There is a stage where brands become too small. So you would have to separate ways to allow room for more people to come on board.

“I would like to speak for myself. I decided that it was time to grow my brand and focus on myself now. We are human beings. There will always be skirmishes. We were young and restless. I realized that the biggest service you can do is to push yourself. If you wait for somebody to say ‘come let me take you’, you might wait forever. 

“Also, there is a limit to how far certain people can take you. You have to get up and move to break new ground. That’s it.”

Born Abovi Ugbomma, the 43-year-old actor said he still maintains a good relationship with Basketmouth.

“We are still cool. The energy we shared was a phase. Now we are on to new phases. Priorities change as we go every day. Right now, I just want to be happy. I want to do things that make me happy. I want to make sure my immediate constituency – family is happy,” he submitted. 

In 2021, Basketmouth revealed that he had no feud with Bovi as widely claimed.

AY Makun, another stand-up comedian, earlier revealed how his 17-year feud with Basketmouth began.