Video taking off 42x its usual first day

Trevor Noah's Uber story: airport bonuses, no passengers

A podcast excerpt about Nigerian drivers finding an incentive loophole has passed a million views, with the comments joining in on the corporate reversal.

Channel:

Trevor Noah Story of October 23, 2026Trari Newsroom

No. 96 on the daily chart No. 1 on the Money chart

Why this story? The video opened at a pace of 1,207,854 views a day, 42 times a normal first day on this channel (28,469).

How Nigerian Drivers Outsmarted Uber’s Bonus System 🚕🇳🇬

Why carry a passenger if the bonus alone covers the trip? That is the loophole at the center of Trevor Noah's story about Nigerian drivers and Uber, now drawing an unusually large audience on his channel.

In the podcast excerpt, Noah describes a company offering generous driver incentives as it expanded into new markets. A co-host asks, "Is that sustainable?" Noah replies, "It's not supposed to be." His explanation: the bonuses were meant to help crowd out local competition.

Then comes the reversal. According to Noah, drivers in Nigeria ordered airport rides for themselves, drove without passengers and collected bonuses worth more than their fuel costs. They repeated the journey back and forth. Noah says Uber eventually canceled the scheme worldwide.

The Short has reached roughly 1.7 million views in a little more than a day, far beyond the channel's usual opening pace for that format. The comment section was also about twenty-five times busier than a typical first day.

Viewers are picking up on the idea of a big company encountering people who understand its incentives rather too well. Several return to the female co-host's head-office joke, while others suggest Nigeria as a testing ground for business plans. The clip ends with Noah giving the drivers their credit: "Kudos to Nigeria."

Published on Trari

Where next?

Also in Stand-up comediansVideo taking off 5.7x its usual first dayISMO's audience nominates him for after-sex viewingA crowd-work question turns into a flattering recommendation, then a Finnish-American disagreement over cuddling.Channel: ISMO · Story of October 24, 2026

A different discovery todayVideo people are talking about 11x its usual commentsZelenskyy tells Steven Bartlett why he needed "ammunition, not a ride"In a nearly two-hour conversation, Ukraine's president moves from sleepless nights and grieving parents to Bucha, Paddington Bear and the morning the invasion …Channel: The Diary Of A CEO · Story of October 24, 2026

What viewers say

You came to the head office 🤣🤣🤣🤣
@justbrian7216See it on YouTube
The Nigerian drivers pulled a "Hold my beer" on uber 😂
@smoothjonezSee it on YouTube
I feel like.. if you need to find an out of the box solution, Nigerians would get there faster 😂
@gulamelaka77See it on YouTube

1 more comment