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. In an interview in October 2019, he cited British YouTuber
KSI as his inspiration to start making content on YouTube.
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. Later in December 2018, Omilana uploaded another prank video, continuing his previous EDL prank video, in which he trolled one of the co-founders of the EDL and far-right activist,
Tommy Robinson, to promote Omilana's brand and merch, the NDL (Niko Defence League). On 28 August 2019, he reached one million subscribers on YouTube. 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. In 2020, Omilana was nominated for a
Shorty Award for Breakout YouTuber at the
12th Shorty Awards, losing to
Alexandra Mary Hirschi.
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.” 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 Klan grand wizard,
Thomas Robb into saying "BLM" (short for the anti-racist slogan "
Black Lives Matter") on camera during a fake interview. 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. 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. On 13 July 2024, Omilana appeared and participated in a
MrBeast video titled "
50 YouTubers Fight for $1,000,000". In May 2025, Omilana was announced as one of the contestants on the 2025 celebrity special series of
The Traitors. He also announced his new sweet brand, Shades by Niko, on 10 May, which were released nationally in the UK on 21 May. They consist of 3 flavours, The Originals, Tropical Blast, and Straight Up Strawberry. ==Electoral candidacies==