Playing The Angels Advocate For Big Brother Naija

While the international versions have exhibited much morehigher levels of nudity, commentators pronounce it “morally sound” due to its attribute of rewarding good behaviour and punishing bad ones. In the previous editions of BBA, such attacks had attracted the attention  of our legislators resulting in the modifications of some of the rules to suit the Nigerian audience. Some Nigerian audience were bitterly critical of “shower hour” and other scenes where housemates exposed body parts describing the reality show as a “soft porn”, immoral, dirty and satanic. The rest of Africa is complaining that Nigerians with our exaggerated sense of morality have hijacked and controlled the programme not through participation, but by condemnation. Just recently, a legislator in Lagos State called on NBC to scrap the programme. This could be why the rating has been dropping since the maiden edition, causing a total review of the Big Brother Africa and consequently resting the programme for two years. For the same reasons too, BBN has been on hold for 10 years resurfacing again in 2017 to meet the same level of condemnation that kept it in the cooler. The implication of this is that many Africans that should have utilised the opportunity to get themselves out of poverty are denied of the opening due to our narrow perspective and poor understanding of the gameshow. Here, I will like to present a different perspective that will enable an objective interpretation and appreciation of the reality TV programme.
Some Nigerians who are not really fans of the programme have tried to trivialise the popular programme wishing that the cash prize be used for something more important as if the people benefiting from it now are not important. In this 2017 edition, while our national assembly is querying the location of the Big Brother Naija in South Africa, a decision which they say denies Nigerians the much needed investment opportunities, some posts have been making the round on the social media, trying to mobilise and incite the viewers against the programme on the grounds of immorality. Such critics see nothing good about the TV reality show and as such, call for all Nigerians to speak up against it simply because they focus their attention on the naked characters rather than read between the lines to appreciate the life’s lessons that abound in the programme.
There is no doubt that one of the major things that attract attention in the programme is the nakedness of contestants who devise the means as a strategy to winning the high staked prize money. But let me quickly say here that even though the game allows it, it is not recommended as a condition for the show. As such, it is an act that is punishable by Big Brother or the audience if they see it as excessive. A ready example can be seen in the manner one of the 2017 BBN housemates, Kemen, was disqualified from the house for sexually harassing a female housemate, Tboss.  As controversial as that decision may appear, it shows that the reality show has its set of disciplinary actions for ‘immorality’.
Big Brother Africa
To be fair to the critics, though, I was initially in their shoes during the first edition in 2003 expectedly because it was the maiden edition and has never been seen as part of our entertainment programme in Africa. But as time went on, I decided to give the programme and its creators a second chance and #view the programme from a different perspective. In doing so,I queried every aspect of the programme and came up with some merits and demerits of the show. But here, I am going to dwell on the merits since comments on the negative sides abound on the internet and social media.
First, reward for the audience-
          For me, the main beneficiaries of the BB gameshow are the audience because the show provides us the rare bird’s-eye-view we can hardly get in real life. Even though the audience play a role in the show, they are not subsumed in the act. They retain their objectivity and independence of action on set. The audience has the prerogative to decide whether the contestants are genuine/real or just acting. Of course, to play this role, the audience must have done some self-assessment to define what is real and what is not. The arguments on the scroll bar show their opinions as they debate on each character. Finally, genuine contestants are rewarded by being voted to remain in the house while pretentious ones are punished by being voted out. How better can we learn the lesson of triumph of good over evil as a group? The programme provides the platform where moral judgements are passed against our actions and inactions. It allows for celebration of good characters and punishment of bad behaviour. My take is that instead of calling for the outright ban of the programme,the audience should take advantage of the platform to decide and define what good morals should be by voting out housemates that showcase bad behaviour.

          Now let me illustrate the programme the way I understand it for better appreciation. The Big Brother House (BBH) is a model of the earth. The project is a socio-psychological experiment to understudy the complex human behaviour. Looking at it from an objective view point; ##let us take people in the BBH as any human being, so the BBH becomes the earth. Take us, the audience as angels (living in the spiritual world and overseeing the affairs of men) helping to decide the fate of men on earth (BBH). Take The BB himself to represent God who oversees everything on earth (BBH) and provides for all men. Take the rules governing the house to be the commandment of God. Housemates have the liberty to determine their fate through their actions and in-actions. As they relate to each other, they create positive and negative karma generating likeness or hatred. People like or hate you sometimes for nothing or mostly when they see you as an obstacle. When they hate you for nothing, they smile at you and still go behind as it happens in the diary room to nominate you for eviction (death) Eg. TBoss and Miyonse. So take eviction to be death and when someone dies (eviction) the person loses the opportunity to correct his/her mistakes or even to alert relatives on earth (BBH) as to his cause of death. The Dairy room becomes our heart where good and bad thoughts are processed. If in the dairy room (your heart), you discuss negative things about others, the Big brother will not interfere, he will keep quiet because you are determining your own destiny, and he knows that you will be rewarded accordingly. The flashback that takes place during eviction is the judgement. During that flashback, the contestant is shown his past life and cause of death. But he/she is helpless at that point and just has# to move on. That is why the Bible insists that there is no repentance in the grave (Ecc. 9:10). At that point, the contestant may just find out that he was nominated for eviction by his/her closest pal. Painfully so. However, again nomination does not translate to eviction (death). It depends on how the angels (the audience) interpret the contestants actions. If they (the audience/viewers) perceive your action as bad, the nominated housemate goes home (dies). If they see your actions as good, you are saved (who God blesses no man can curse (Numbers 23:8).
The different tasks in the house are the obstacles that go with life. Any contestant who is successful at handling these tasks is rewarded as it is in real life.
          Now, these life lessons elude us because we are concentrating on nudity. While not making excuses for nudity, it is not known that Nigerians are holier than the other 40 countries where this programme is produced. Is nudity synonymous with corruption? Am not trying to justify nudity here but there is too much attention on it in this part of the world that people lose the real sense of reality. We must remove our attention from nudity to grab the enormous life’s lessons that abound in the programme. Instead of throwing the baby away with the bath water, parents must make efforts to advise their wards who are going for the competition to exercise self control. All contestants come from homes and are participating with the permission of their parents. Anybody who does not secure such permission from his/her parents stands disqualified at the audition stages. That is the opportunity we need to make our inputs rather than condemning the whole programme.

Second, rewards for TV stations and producers-
So what do the creators of this programme have in mind? Since the Big Brother reality TV show made its debut in 1999 in the Netherlands, the entertainment format has become the fastest means of attracting a large audience to TV Stations within the shortest possible time. The programme type emerged due to the stiff competition for audiences in a society that supports the proliferation of mass media. The quest to dominate the airwaves becomes imperative as the dynamics shift# from mass audience to niche audience. Programme types like soap opera, situation comedy, news and other varieties became the driving forces for this competition. Even though it seems to be capital intensive, it is cheaper when compared to other entertainment programme formats. It costs# as much as $1.5 million to produce an hour of a drama programme in the US, while a reality TV show of the same duration will cost about $200,000.00. So producers wanted #a cheap and innovative means of attracting and sustaining audiences and thus secure advertisement to pay their bills. And the Big Brother show fits into these conditions.
Due to its commercial success and popularity, the programme has featured 19th editions in the US and UK, empowering over 253 housemates in the US only. While Big Brother Africa has empowered almost the same number of persons in 13 editions. There is no doubt that commercial success has been one of the major driving forces behind the programme. Since ##its inception, the programme has been sold to over forty countries and has never recorded a single commercial failure in any of the countries. CBS bought the rights# to produce the programme in the US from its original Dutch owner, John de Mol for about $20,000,000.00.With over 9.10 million viewers in the US in the season one, the decision to acquire the programme was highly rewarded.  With over $400,000.00 per 30 seconds slot of advert on the programme, it is understandable why TV stations would always like to invest on the Big Brother gameshow.
Third,rewards for Big Brother Contestants-     
Even though the housemates get a huge chunk of criticism on the programme, the rewards accruable to them is also multifarious.  The overall highest prize money for the competition in the US has been $500,000 (NGN 156,127,498.59), while in the UK, the highest amount won was GBP116,000.00 (NGN44,541,756.80).
The 2017 Big Brother Naija (Nigeria version) has a N25 million prize money for the overall winner. Many feel that the prize money is too high for the gameshow.They would rather put such an amount in mathematics or the sciences, an area the continent needs so badly. Even though the prize money is at the forefront, the popularity and the quick transition to stardom is the greatest driving force among contestants. The transition is so fast that someone who was considered nobody becomes somebody after the programme. The programme does not just make contestants rich, it helps them sustain their newly acquired status by leveraging on the popularity created during the programme.
Apart from this prize money, contestants are tested on different survival skills through the head-of-house competitions, thereby encouraging the development of such skills. Winners of this competition are offered a leadership position in the house with some responsibilities and privileges.  They learn how to interact with others from different backgrounds, there and then, they take responsibility for their actions and inactions while learning to respect each other’s sensitivities. In real life situation, most times, rewards for actions differ, but in the BBH, rewards are instant. This enables people to take corrections quickly and learn how to do things and treat each other better. Even the secret things done in the diary room are rewarded by the viewers. For me, this is the most important lesson in the game. People have often wondered that if life provided us with immediate rewards or punishments for our actions or inactions, would the world have been a better place. But the reverse is the case in real life since most often, people are not able to link their present situation with their past. There is a disconnect between our present and our past actions such that people do not see the effect of their present on their past actions. The Big Brother show provides us with that rare opportunity.
Conclusion
My point is that the Big Brother TV gameshow should not be criticised and condemned simply because some people see it differently. The truth is that it commands a lot of viewership and a lot of families are benefiting from it. The people who condemn it may not have settled down to dedicate one straight hour watching the programme. And when they do, their attention is fixated on naked people in the house (synonymous with the distractions in the real life). Nudity has been one of the ways women attract attention to themselves and it happens in different styles in real life. The society seems to have accepted it even in our churches. But it is condemned when it is seen on TV just to be religiously correct.
Again, the 21st century has seen a lot of violence that we should be reconsidering our views on the balance between love and violence. It still beats me till tomorrow how our TV stations will prefer to show violence rather than a love scene. There is so much brutality in this society these days that our human psyche has been so dangerously affected that we see killing as nothing and exhibit total disrespect for the sanctity of  human life. We must learn to be a bit tolerant of love. This is not to say that we have to accept open nudity. We should correct it at the earliest possible time before it comes out. As said, all the BB contestants came from homes and must have the approval of parents before they even cross the audition stage. That is the point where we can make our inputs to advice our wards not to overdo things in the house if they scale through. Another important place where we can make valuable inputs is by voting out any contestant who thinks he/she can use his or her body to buy cheap popularity. That is the way to go instead of throwing the baby away with the bath water and denying the continent of valuable opportunity for investment. And the truth is that we cannot even stop the BB gameshow. The return on investment is so juicy station can hardly let go of it. If we succeed in stopping it in Nigeria due to our hypocrisy, other countries will take it and make a fortune out of it and some of us will still watch it through the satellite. Remember it was an open show on DSTV in the first edition. But after the criticism that followed it in Nigeria, viewers were requested to indicate in writing if they want the channel activated. Agreed that viewership dropped, but that could be only one of the factors that caused it. The evaluation will tell us more. The point here is that we should provide constructive criticism to this programme that supports a lot of youths in Nigeria and Africa as a whole rather than pull it down.

Okereke is Social Behaviour Change Communication Expert