Already announced that reality star Tobi Bakre will feature in the brand-new season of Hustle, I was hoping to see him on screen. Well, I hoping to see him act. Having such a unique opportunity away from reality television and nailing it can elevate his celebrity. We’ll just have to wait then.

Overall, the season premiere had a few bright sparks from its comic structure. Mama Sekinat has renovated her house and increased rents to an unreasonable amount: from N150,000 to N500, 000. Dayo and Ochuko, friends and roommates, are mildly protesting this unfair treatment in Mama Sekinat’s sitting room. The scene, for all of its comical upheaval, is culturally situated in the Lagos hustle. Landlords increasing rents to strengthen their financial power, and market traders nudging prices upwards against the backdrop of a harsh economic climate.

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Hustling in Lagos comes with economic anxieties for the poor and shrunken “middle class,” and Hustle the show delivers footnotes in this regard. Dayo’s girlfriend Lisa, played by This Is It star Chiagoziem Nwakanma, has gotten a new job which comes with a house. Seeing this as a blessing in disguise, Dayo convinces her to accommodate him and Ochuko, in order to solve their rent increment issue.

But the plan backfires when Dayo and Ochuko get to the house with their luggage, and Lisa informs them that her company haven’t authorised her to move in yet. It also turns out that the money Mama Sekinat used in renovating her house wasn’t hers at all, but given to her by the women’s club she’s a member of. It’s good that the show’s duration is for 30 minutes because this premiere, for the most part, was boring. We’ll see what episode 2 brings.

Bernard Dayo

When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.