In the face of the emerging threat of a new wave of coronavirus, Nigerians have found solace in Bridget Bema once again. The 9-year old internet sensation reclaimed the top spot of Twitter trends following an interview with BBC Pidgin. The reason? Her response to a question asking her, “What will you want to become when you grow up?”

Bridget’s dream career is to become a “pilot,” she said. In an interview that opened with the wunderkind saying, ”I am a good girl, I love God, sometimes mistake follow me.” It is the perfect setup for a meme, even without the natural meme-worthiness of Bridget in the mix.

Twitter users took both statements and had a field day making jokes about a future in which Bridget has become a pilot and what it will mean to board a flight flown by someone who, “Mistake follow.”

At 9, Bridget is only in Grade 3 – the equivalent of Primary 4 in Nigeria. The young internet sensation has a long way to go to attain her dream of becoming a pilot. On the other hand, she already has a blooming career in entertainment.

Bridget the character was created by her older brother, Kenyan comedian YY The Comedian. It is that character that we all first came to love from the viral video that brought her to our attention. YY played the school administrator that was aghast at Bridget’s many misdemeanours in the now-viral video.

She is one of the most recent entertainment exports from the east African country, as pointed out by Twitter user @Kimanzi_ in a tweet citing South Africa’s darling, Elsa Majimbo. Elsa, who has since received global recognition has been in the game for a while with a style all her own. The key to this success as Elsa mentioned in a recent Forbes interview is, “Patience, hard work, and being consistent and believing in yourself.”

There is no doubt that clear-eyed Bridget is patient, hardworking, consistent and a believer in herself. It takes all of that to be as dedicatedly disruptive as she was in the viral video that brought her to continental – if not global, limelight.

We will hopefully continue to see Bridget as she blooms however she chooses to in the end. In her words, the goal is to go from Kenya to “Nigeria, America, and Nairobi,” but with her antecedents, she is likely to go farther and beyond her imaginations.

Ado Aminu

Ado Aminu writes to expand human stories. When not reading, writing or arguing about how the patriarchy has and continues to ruin everything, you’ll find him daydreaming about his next cup of coffee. You can follow him on Twitter @PettyMuse.