Nigerian international music star Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu, who goes by the stage name Tinie Tempah, yesterday caused a stir when he high-fived the future king of England at the 2014 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards in London.

People in the audience as well as millions who followed the programme on TV, watched with mouths agape as England-based Emeka, who opened the show with a breath-taking performance, went straight to Prince William, who sat in the front row and extended his hand for a massive shake. The Prince obliged, sparking a controversy which may not die down in a hurry.

The 25-year-old hitmaker later told BBC: “It was great, I just saw him there and thought, ‘Do you know what? Why not?’, and it felt great.”

The red-hot rapper admits his fans went crazy on Twitter after watching the pal-like relationship between him and the future King, 31, on television.

He explained: “I’ve seen my Twitter, it’s going crazy at the minute but it was fun. Seriously, like, it was such a memorable performance.”

However, Tinie, according to Daily Mirror, has met the Prince – who has seven-month-old son Prince George with his wife Duchess Catherine – on a number of occasions in the past and insists it wasn’t awkward between them, and he felt it was acceptable to do that gesture.

Mirror quoted him as saying: “We’ve met a couple of times now, so I felt safe. I felt like something bad isn’t going to happen. And it was all right and I was happy.”

In a way, this year’s BAFTA was a Nigerian show, as another British-Nigerian, globally acclaimed actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, carted home the best actor award. Indeed, as Nigerians like to put it: “Naija no dey carry last!”

•Photo shows the massive moment when Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu a.k.a Tinie Tempah, high-fived Prince William at the 2014 BAFTA . . . yesterday in London.

Update news