President Obonjo is the creation of British comedian Benjamin Bankole Bello, who has performed as the exiled dictator of the fictitious Lafta Republic for almost twelve years. Bello was born in Liverpool to Nigerian parents and grew up in Nigeria during the 1970s under a succession of real military governments, giving the character's satire a genuinely lived-in edge rather than a broad caricature.
The performance is so convincing that major news agencies have had to fact-check the character, and TikTok once banned the account for a week after users reported him as a real African warlord. Bello, who came to comedy relatively late at 45, is the holder of the 2019 Malcolm Hardee Award, previously won by Trevor Noah, and continues to tour the character across UK comedy clubs and festivals.
As a fully committed, in-character act rather than a standard stand-up set, President Obonjo is a genuinely memorable choice for award ceremonies and events that want a host or performer who will actually be talked about afterwards.