Nikolas Daniel Adegbajumo Omilana[4][5] was born on 4 March 1998[6] to an English mother and a Nigerian father.[7] After their divorce, Omilana grew up in Stafford, West Midlands.[8]
Omilana worked in small production for companies before going full-time as a YouTuber.[8] In 2021, Omilana lived in North London.[9]
YouTube career
2011–2017: Early career
Omilana created his YouTube account, "Niko Omilana", in June 2011. He uploaded his first video in 2014 and started uploading comedy skits, parody, and challenge videos.[10] In an interview in October 2019, he cited British YouTuber KSI as his inspiration to started making content on YouTube.[8]
2018–2020: Initial popularity and Beta Squad
In May 2018, Omilana went viral after he uploaded a video titled "UNDERCOVER As A RACIST For 24 HOURS" in which he went undercover as a racist to troll and mock supporters of a far-right organisation, the English Defence League (EDL), during their protest in Telford, Shropshire.[11][12][13] Later in December 2018, Omilana uploaded another prank video, continuing his previous EDL prank video, in which he trolled one of the co-founder of the EDL and far-right activist, Tommy Robinson, to promote Omilana's brand and merch, the NDL (Niko Defence League).[14][11]
In 2019, Omilana created and joined the Beta Squad, a British YouTube collective group, along with fellow British YouTubers Chunkz, AJ Shabeel, Sharky, and KingKennyTV. In February 2019, it was also announced that the group would be living together in a £4 million mansion in London, where they would create daily content for social media platforms.[15][16]
On 28 August 2019, he reached one million subscribers on YouTube.[17] In November 2019, Omilana went viral after he attempted to sneak into the KSI vs. Logan Paul II boxing re-match and enter the ring.[18][11] In December 2019, Omilana appeared on Business Insider's list of "20 YouTube channels you should really subscribe to in 2020".[19] In 2020, Omilana was nominated for a Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber at the 12th Shorty Awards, losing to Alexandra Mary Hirschi.[20][21]
2021–present: Collaboration and continued growth
Omilana was the subject of controversy in 2022 due to a 2021 video showing conditions within a poultry farm. Animal rights activists investigated the same location two months later and found living conditions for chickens to be considerably worse than those depicted in Omilana's video. Omilana's agency said, “Whilst we take these allegations very seriously and will speak with KFC about these claims, the filming that our client took part in accurately reported the conditions he saw and experienced on the day.”[22]
In May 2022, Omilana went viral after he uploaded a video titled "I Pranked America's Most Racist Man", in which he disguised himself as a journalist for the BBC and travelled to Harrison, Arkansas, to prank Ku Klux Klangrand wizard, Thomas Robb into saying "BLM" (short for the anti-racist slogan "Black Lives Matter") on camera during a fake interview.[23][24][25]
In March 2023, Omilana collaborated with American YouTuber and prankster JiDion and created a prank series on YouTube called "The Biggest Menace", where they competed with each other to pull off as many pranks as they could in a bid to earn the title of "the biggest menace", with each episode uploaded on both Omilana's and JiDion's personal channels. They later attracted media attention after they uploaded an episode of the series called "We Pranked The Mona Lisa", in which Omilana challenged JiDion to sneak in a painting of himself right next to the Mona Lisa painting, which later caused JiDion to get arrested by the French police.[26][27][28]
In April 2023, Omilana was arrested and kicked by a police officer during an attempted visit to the disputed micronation of Liberland. The incident received coverage in Croatian and Serbian media.[29][30]
In the 2021 London mayoral election, Omilana ran as an independent candidate.[32] Omilana received 49,628 votes in the election,[2] securing 2% of the total votes cast, making him the highest-placed independent candidate, beating out other popular independents Piers Corbyn, Laurence Fox, and Count Binface.[33][34] Among his campaign pledges, Omilana suggested turning McDonald's restaurants into social housing and removing the teeth of racists.[3] Omilana also attempted to run at the 2024 London mayoral election, but his nomination form was declared invalid.[35]
In the 2024 United Kingdom general election, Omilana received attention after candidates named "Niko Omilana" registered as candidates in at least 11 different constituencies,[35] prompting a police investigation as it is an offence to provide false information on nomination papers.[33][18] Standing as a candidate in more than one constituency is also an offence.[33][18] Omilana claims that he convinced people to legally change their names to "Niko Omilana" so that different candidates could stand under his name in several constituencies.[36] Each person standing as "Niko Omilana" were resident at a different address and had nomination papers that were signed by different members of the public.[35] Omilana himself stood in Richmond and Northallerton, where then-prime minister Rishi Sunak was the incumbent member of parliament.[33][36] He was able to obtain 160 votes.[37] During Sunak's concession speech, Omilana attracted media attention when he pranked Sunak by holding up a piece of paper with the letter "L" behind him, which referred to Sunak as a "Loser".[38][39]
Charity football matches
Omilana has participated in multiple charity football matches, starting with the 2022 Sidemen charity match, where Omilana scored twice at the 9th and 74th minute for team YouTube All Stars.[40] Next year, Omilana also played in the 2023 Sidemen charity match, scoring at the 86th minute for team YouTube All Stars.[41][42]
On 11 June 2023, Omilana participated in Soccer Aid 2023, a football charity match held at the Old Trafford stadium in Manchester, England, where he played for team World XI.[3]
On 2 June 2024, Omilana played and hosted a football charity match along with Beta Squad and American YouTube group AMP at Selhurst Park, London, England. The event raised money for The Water Project. Omilana scored one goal in the 82nd minute for Team Beta Squad before the match ended in a 6-6 draw after a pitch invasion forced the game to be called off.[43]
