For creators who spend their days turning ideas into posts, videos, conversations and stories, a new opportunity is opening up across some of the biggest social media platforms, with millions of naira attached to a campaign that is already moving from one stage to another. The competition is built around creativity, storytelling, education and influence, but the structure goes beyond simply creating a post and hoping it catches attention. There are different stages, different ways to earn points, weekly rewards, a public voting component and a final leaderboard that will determine the biggest prizes.
The campaign is already underway, which makes the timing particularly important for anyone following creator opportunities in Nigeria and beyond. Its first stage has a September deadline, while later challenges continue through October, creating several points at which creators can participate and build their scores. For people who already have an audience on X, Instagram or TikTok, the campaign presents a format that puts their existing social media skills directly into a structured competition.
The campaign opening
Known as Monica: The Money Story, the campaign is a 4 stage social media creator competition organised by Blockf3st Africa, with Monica serving as the headline sponsor. The campaign runs from September 16 to October 17, 2026, while the final results are scheduled to be announced on October 18, 2026. Across the full campaign, the combined reward pool stands at ₦5 million, although that amount is distributed across weekly awards and the final leaderboard rather than offered as one single prize.
Creators are being asked to respond to specific challenges using the social platforms where they already create content. Depending on the creator and the challenge, entries can take the form of X threads, Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, skits, carousels, explainers, street interviews, animations and other forms of social media storytelling. The central idea is to make content that can attract attention while also meeting the requirements attached to each stage.
Blockf3st Africa says the competition is operated by Tevah Synergy, while Monica is identified as the headline sponsor. That distinction is important when describing the opportunity because the campaign is not structured as a direct Monica giveaway. It is a creator competition organised under the Blockf3st Africa campaign, with Monica attached as the headline sponsor and with the prizes administered according to the published competition rules.
Where the ₦5 million goes
The ₦5 million headline figure becomes easier to understand once the reward structure is separated into its different parts. The campaign has ₦1.6 million set aside for weekly prizes across the 4 stages, while the remaining ₦3.4 million goes to the top 5 creators on the final leaderboard. This means the opportunity is built around several chances to earn rather than one winner taking the entire campaign reward.
The weekly section includes the Creator of the Week award, which carries ₦300,000 for each stage. There are 4 stages, producing a total of ₦1.2 million across the Creator of the Week awards. A creator can win that particular award only once, although winning a weekly prize does not remove that creator from the running for the final leaderboard prizes.
The second weekly award is Community Favourite, worth ₦100,000 for each stage. Across the 4 stages, that creates another ₦400,000 in rewards. Added to the Creator of the Week awards, the weekly prize pool reaches ₦1.6 million, leaving ₦3.4 million for the final leaderboard.
The final leaderboard rewards the top 5 creators with ₦1.5 million for 1st place, ₦800,000 for 2nd place, ₦500,000 for 3rd place, ₦300,000 for 4th place and ₦300,000 for 5th place. The structure means the phrase ₦5 million reward pool refers to the combined value of all the campaign prizes rather than a single ₦5 million first prize.
The first stage is already moving
The first challenge is called The Discovery, and it opened on September 16, 2026 before closing on September 24, 2026 at 11:59 PM Lagos time. Its purpose is centred on introducing Monica: The Money Story to people who have never heard of it, with creators encouraged to produce content capable of making an unfamiliar audience become curious about the campaign.
That first deadline matters because participation is not restricted to a single October submission date. The campaign is designed as a sequence of stages, giving creators several opportunities to enter challenges, accumulate points and improve their positions on the leaderboard. Anyone following the opportunity therefore needs to pay attention to the individual stage dates rather than simply marking October 17 on a calendar.
The second stage is scheduled to open on September 28, 2026, with the challenge to be revealed on that date. Its submission deadline is October 3, 2026 at 12 noon Lagos time. The third stage follows from October 5 to October 10, with its challenge scheduled to be revealed on October 5 and its deadline set for October 10 at 12 noon Lagos time.
The final stage begins on October 12, 2026, when the fourth challenge is scheduled to be revealed. Submissions for that stage close on October 17, 2026 at 12 noon Lagos time, followed by the scheduled final results on October 18, 2026. Approved entries still have to remain public through October 31, 2026, which extends an important content obligation beyond the final submission date.
The entry process is built around social media
There is no conventional application process where creators prepare a long proposal and upload a portfolio for consideration. The competition works more like a structured creator challenge. A participant registers, receives the relevant challenge, creates content, publishes it on an eligible social media account, submits the public post link and waits for the entry to be reviewed and approved.
Each challenge allows 1 entry per creator. The same approved entry can be published across X, Instagram and TikTok, but publishing it on several platforms does not transform it into several competition entries. Instead, the additional platforms can increase the points attached to that single entry.
The basic publication scoring gives 100 points when an approved entry appears on 1 eligible platform. Publishing on 2 eligible platforms raises the score to 150 points, while publishing on all 3 eligible platforms can take the basic publication score to 200 points. That makes platform distribution an important part of the scoring structure for creators who have active accounts across X, Instagram and TikTok.
The opportunity is therefore not simply about having the largest follower count. A creator with a smaller audience can still participate through the competition’s scoring system, while creators with established audiences have an opportunity to use their reach to generate verified engagement and additional points.
More points can come from different activities
Publication is only the starting point because the rules provide several other routes through which creators can accumulate points. These include creator referrals, high quality or original work, engagement milestones, features by Blockf3st, features by Monica, wildcard challenges and collaborations with other creators.
The discretionary bonus for high quality or original work can range from 50 to 200 points, while collaborations can earn up to 300 points on a case by case basis. There is also a cap on discretionary bonuses, with a creator able to receive a maximum of 2,000 points from that category across the full campaign.
Creator referrals have their own condition. Each participant receives a referral link, but the referral does not automatically generate points simply because another person registers. The referred creator has to complete a first approved entry before the referring creator receives the 10 point referral reward.
The points are connected to actual participation, meaning a registration sitting on its own does not complete the requirement. Self referrals and multiple accounts are prohibited under the rules, so creators are expected to use genuine referrals rather than attempts to manufacture points.
Views can influence the leaderboard
Audience engagement is another route through which a creator can add points to an entry. The campaign uses verified view milestones, beginning at 5,000 views for 20 points and increasing through several levels as the verified view count rises.
The published ladder gives 40 points at 10,000 views, 60 points at 20,000 views, 80 points at 30,000 views, 100 points at 50,000 views, 150 points at 75,000 views and 200 points at 100,000 views.
Only the highest applicable engagement tier is awarded for an entry, rather than adding every lower tier together. The Blockf3st team says the figures are manually awarded based on verified views, which means creators should keep their published content and relevant analytics available if verification becomes necessary.
Artificial engagement is treated differently. The rules prohibit creators from buying likes, views, followers or comments, while engagement pods and other arrangements intended to artificially inflate performance are also prohibited. The organisers can request analytics or other evidence connected to an entry where verification is required.
Community Favourite follows another route
The Community Favourite prize introduces a public voting element that is separate from the final leaderboard points. Blockf3st first creates a shortlist before opening a public vote for the selected creators. The creator who receives the highest number of valid votes wins the ₦100,000 award attached to that stage.
Voting has its own controls. A voter can cast 1 vote per email address per round, and the email address has to be verified. The organisers also reserve the ability to exclude votes they believe have been manipulated, meaning the public vote is not simply a race to generate any number of unverified submissions.
The weekly Creator of the Week award follows a different structure, while the final leaderboard relies on the accumulated points from the campaign. This gives the competition several separate mechanisms for recognising creators, with weekly awards, public voting and final points all playing different roles.
The leaderboard is already live
The official leaderboard is already active, giving participants a visible indication that the competition is progressing. At the time of the information supplied for this campaign, Idris Olubisi appeared with 1 approved entry and 100 points.
The leaderboard can change as more entries are reviewed and approved, so the displayed positions are not permanent. The points system also means follower numbers alone do not determine the final ranking. Approved publication, multiple platform distribution, engagement, referrals, bonuses, collaborations and other eligible activities can all contribute to the total.
Ties have their own rules. Where creators finish with the same number of points, the first tiebreaker is who reached that points total first. The number of approved entries is then considered, followed by a final determination at the organisers’ discretion if the earlier tiebreakers do not settle the position.
Winning a weekly prize also does not end the creator’s participation in the final leaderboard. A creator who receives a weekly award can continue accumulating points and remain eligible for one of the 5 final leaderboard prizes.
The sponsorship disclosure is essential
One of the most important requirements sits inside the campaign’s Creator Pack. Every entry has to disclose that it forms part of a sponsored campaign. Creators are directed to use clear disclosures such as #ad, #sponsored or Paid partnership with Monica, with the disclosure placed near the beginning of the caption or early enough in a video to be visible to viewers.
The Creator Pack also asks creators to use the platform’s built in paid partnership disclosure where that feature is available. Participants are instructed to tag @monicanigeria on X, Instagram and TikTok when publishing their campaign content.
This requirement matters because creators are producing content for a sponsored campaign rather than presenting the material as an unrelated personal recommendation. The disclosure is therefore part of the competition’s content requirements and should be treated as seriously as the deadline or submission link.
Monica has a specific description
The Creator Pack describes Monica as a one way crypto to naira off ramp for people in Nigeria. The basic process presented in the campaign materials involves supported cryptocurrency being converted into naira, after which the naira is sent to the user’s Nigerian bank account.
The approved material says Monica does not convert naira into cryptocurrency, does not sell coins and does not operate as a crypto custodian. Creators working on the campaign are therefore expected to stay within the descriptions and information supplied in the official materials rather than inventing additional claims about the service.
The cryptocurrencies listed in the Creator Pack include Bitcoin, Solana, Ethereum, BNB, Base, Tron, USDT and USDC on their respective networks. The material says users receive a unique deposit address for each supported coin, giving creators specific product information they can use when developing campaign content.
More Monica features appear in the Creator Pack
The campaign material also lists several other Monica features, including airtime payments, data payments, TV subscriptions, electricity payments, betting wallet payments, gift card purchases, a virtual USD card and a daily leaderboard programme.
There is also a separate Monica referral programme called PADI CHOP I CHOP. According to the Creator Pack, the programme can provide ₦3,000 for every verified BTC deposit made by someone referred through the relevant Monica referral arrangement.
That programme should be kept separate from the Blockf3st creator referral system. A Blockf3st referral can produce 10 competition points when the referred creator completes a first approved entry, while the Monica referral programme described in the Creator Pack is a separate product related offer. Mixing the 2 could easily create confusion for people reading about the competition.
Financial claims have strict boundaries
Creators taking part in the campaign have restrictions around financial claims. The rules prohibit promises or guarantees about returns, profit, savings or other financial outcomes. Campaign content also cannot be presented as investment or financial advice.
That means creators have to be careful with the language used in videos, captions, threads and other campaign materials. Statements suggesting guaranteed financial benefits would move beyond the permitted campaign messaging and could create a compliance problem for the entry.
There is also a specific restriction concerning Monica’s fees. The Creator Pack instructs creators to make no claims about fees, charges or gas fees at present, explaining that Monica’s own documents contain conflicting information on the issue. Creators are therefore told not to describe the service as free, claim zero fees, quote a specific fee amount or state a specific gas charge until the campaign materials settle the matter.
Regulatory wording also matters
The Creator Pack provides specific wording concerning Monica’s relationship with the Nigerian Securities and Exchange Commission framework. It says Monica describes itself as aligned with the Nigerian SEC’s Virtual Asset Service Provider framework.
Creators are specifically instructed not to describe Monica as SEC licensed, SEC registered, SEC approved, SEC regulated, CBN licensed or a bank. The material also states that Monica does not hold a banking licence and that funds are not NDIC insured.
That wording is particularly important for anyone producing explanatory content because changing a carefully defined description into a stronger regulatory claim can alter the meaning considerably. Campaign participants are expected to stay with the approved descriptions rather than creating their own regulatory language.
Competition eligibility is broader than Monica eligibility
The creator competition itself is open to people aged 18 and older who have an account on X, Instagram or TikTok. The rules also state that participants do not have to live in Nigeria, making the creator competition international in terms of participation.
Monica’s own user eligibility is narrower. According to the Creator Pack, Monica users must be 18 or older, ordinarily resident in Nigeria and hold a Nigerian bank account in their own name.
That creates an important distinction for international creators. Someone living outside Nigeria can participate in Monica: The Money Story where they meet the competition requirements, but they should not claim personal use of Monica if they do not satisfy Monica’s own user requirements.
Content ownership remains with creators
Entering the competition does not transfer copyright ownership of a creator’s work to Blockf3st or Monica. Participants retain ownership of the content they create and submit.
There is, however, a licence attached to participation. Creators grant Blockf3st Africa and Monica a non exclusive, worldwide, royalty free licence to reshare, repost and feature their entries in campaign and event materials, with credit, for 2 years from the end of the campaign.
Creators also have a continuing obligation after approval. An approved entry has to remain public, available and essentially unedited until October 31, 2026. Deleting the content, making it private or materially changing its substance about Monica can result in the points attached to the entry being forfeited.
Prize verification comes before payment
Prize payment is not simply triggered by the appearance of a creator’s name on the leaderboard. Winners have to complete verification before funds are released.
The required checks include government issued identification matching the registered name and proof that the winner controls the social media account from which the relevant content was published. The organisers state that payments are made to the Monica tag supplied during registration and that third party accounts are not paid.
The results are also subject to a 48 hour dispute period before the prize funds move. The prizes are paid gross, meaning the organisers state that no deduction is made from the prize itself, while any applicable tax responsibility belongs to the recipient.
Registration comes with data requirements
Creators registering for the competition provide personal information including their name, email address, phone number, social media handles and type of content created. Audience size and location are optional information.
The campaign also records an IP address and browser user agent automatically for anti abuse purposes. According to the privacy notice, Monica does not receive participants’ personal registration details. It receives access to published entries, which are already public, as well as aggregate results.
Campaign records including registration information, entries, scores and prize payments are retained for 24 months after the campaign ends. IP addresses and browser information collected for abuse prevention are retained for 12 months.
The privacy notice also provides for participant data requests under the Nigeria Data Protection Act, giving participants a formal route for exercising applicable data rights.
The dates creators need to remember
The campaign began on September 16, 2026, with Stage 1 running through September 24, 2026 at 11:59 PM Lagos time. Stage 2 opens on September 28, with submissions closing on October 3, 2026 at 12 noon Lagos time.
Stage 3 follows from October 5 to October 10, 2026, with the challenge revealed on October 5 and the deadline set for 12 noon on October 10. Stage 4 opens on October 12, with the final challenge closing on October 17, 2026 at 12 noon Lagos time.
The final results are scheduled for October 18, 2026, but that is not the end of every creator obligation. Approved campaign content must remain public until October 31, 2026, meaning participants need to keep their entries accessible even after the final leaderboard has been settled.
The opportunity goes beyond the final deadline
For creators looking at ₦5 million and seeing October 17 as the only important date, the stage structure tells a broader story. The campaign has already created an opportunity through Stage 1, followed by another challenge on September 28, another on October 5 and the final stage on October 12.
That structure gives creators several points at which they can build their campaign scores. Each stage has its own challenge, submission period and weekly reward possibilities, while approved entries also contribute to the overall leaderboard through the points system.
The biggest prize on the final leaderboard is ₦1.5 million, followed by ₦800,000, ₦500,000, ₦300,000 and ₦300,000 for the remaining positions. The weekly Creator of the Week award is worth ₦300,000, while each Community Favourite award carries ₦100,000.
For anyone considering participation, the central point is simple. Monica: The Money Story is a free creator competition built around 4 social media challenges, a ₦5 million combined reward pool and a points system that rewards approved content, multi platform publishing, verified engagement, referrals and selected additional activities. The campaign runs through October 17, with the final results scheduled for October 18 and approved entries required to remain public until October 31, 2026.
