Since 2006, when Nigeria began Big Brother Naija, BBN, the reality television show has been trailed by mixed reactions from the public. While some people believe what happens in The House is in consonance with what’s trending globally, and so, love the fame that follows former housemates, many others see the show as repulsive and not fit for the youth.
One could bear with those who despise BBN as they hardly could see any positive impact it has on the young ones; the reason being that most often, participants engage in very indecent acts on television, shamelessly.
Sadly, what we’ve seen so far is a situation whereby once participants become former housemates, notwithstanding whether they are morally sound, they assume celebrity status. And then, the unguided youth see them as role models and sometimes take a step further by aspiring to go into the House.
It was therefore not surprising to watch the woeful performance of the contestants in the ongoing All-Stars edition of the show. This confirmed the thoughts and position of those Nigerians who have been calling for an end to the show on the grounds that the rotten acts exhibited during the show are not worth the 120 million naira award.
The housemates have been heavily criticised following that woeful performance as seen in a viral video on the internet. The trending video goes with the following words, “Just look at the ‘brains’ that Nigerians want to dash N120m in the name of a show called “Big Brother Naija”. They will come out to be the role models of our children, and we are still wondering how we got to where we are?”
This happened during one of their tasks for the week.
The housemates were asked general knowledge questions, and the part captured in the trending video shows them failing all the questions. Even some disappointed fans thought the questions were basic enough for them to provide the right answers except if they didn’t go to primary and secondary schools.
I bet you the housemates were taken unawares because they are not used to such educational tasks. If you doubt it, consider how they fared during the ‘Shoot Your Shot’ task where they were paired to engage in romantic acts. They excelled during this session and the house was saturated with enough romantic scenes as the contestants paired and made romantic proposals to their partners.
This is how Victoria Idume, a social media user summed up the situation. ‘One of the reasons I hate this show with passion. So the little task that was supposed to be educative to the audience, none of them is getting the correct answer? If na sex and kiss now, voom non will be left untouched.
Rubbish!!! Nigeria likes wasting money on irrelevant things. If not, tell me the positive impact of this show to society at large? I guess kisses and sex.’
Imagine a housemate was asked, “What is the body’s primary source of energy? And the answer Mercy Eke gave was food. That’s truly appalling! To the question, ‘The biggest mountain in the world, Mount Everest can be found on which continent?, Adekunle said ‘Africa’.
Mercy Eke was also asked what colour the giraffe’s tongue is? And she replied green. Of course, that’s pure guesswork but I believe she can be excused because the giraffe is not like an animal you see every day. But then, the internet is there to help out.
What is the result of 7 divided by zero? To that question, Alex replied 7. Who is featured on the Nigerian 100 naira bill? Cross said it was Nnamdi Azikiwe. Ok nah!
Pere was asked, what is the sum of the angles in a triangle? Of course, he got it wrong. And again, some people would want to excuse him because many dread mathematics to the extent that once out of school, it’s trashed.
To the question, “Which body is responsible for making laws in Nigeria? Cee C, who’s a lawyer by profession answered, lawmakers-judiciary System. In fact, Netizens are not taking it lightly with her because this is something she ought to know as someone with a degree in law. Reacting to the video, Lara wrote, “Our dear barrister Cee C did not know the body making laws in Nigeria. What a lawyer.”
Also, Mr Anyims comedy wrote, ‘My major problem now is, how would Cee be feeling now that she has fooled herself. How could she fail a basic law question and still claim she’s a liar abi royer, I mean lawyer bikonu’.
Chisom Ugbaja commented, ‘CeeC own pain me pass. She should be ashamed of herself.’
Nonso Rafor wrote, ‘Why do dis to CeeC? And to that, Samuel Nonyelum replied, ‘I wonder ooo…lawmaker…no wonder they brought Portable to their conference.’
The questions didn’t end there. ‘What does the green in the Nigeria flag symbolise?’ First muttering, ‘dem go swear for me if I fail this one’ to himself, Adekunle said, ‘prosperity’. Does it mean he hasn’t heard anything about agriculture?
Again, to Mercy Eke was thrown the question, ‘What does CAC, a government agency stand for?’ She began, ‘certificate…and was interrupted by the questioner’s ‘incorrect’.
‘What is 40% of 250?’ The Sholzy answered 120. ‘What is the longest river in the world? He responded, ‘pass’. Right from primary school, children are taught the answer to that question which is Nile. What’s wrong with these guys?s
‘Who is featured on the Nigerian 10 naira bill?’ ‘Is it Nnamdi Azikiwe?’, was the answer Soma gave; answering a question with another question. Alex was asked, ‘Who was Nigeria’s first president?’ and he answered, ‘Olusegun Obasanjo’. You know what? This is serious! But, Ugonmma Sandra sees it as humorous. So, she wrote, ‘Na Obasanjo own make me laugh tire.’
Again, the questions continued and as noted earlier, they failed to supply the right answers, attracting more criticism from the public. Lovelyn wrote, “See them, empty brains with wild characters. They want to give N120m to nonsense people.”
Grace Maxwell wrote, ‘This is so pathetic. It is a pity that the world loves and celebrates this kind.’
Cindyz’s blog wrote, ‘primary source of energy, madam talk say na food.’
‘Damn it! A little bit of what Big Brother is all about, the dumbest reality show of all time. Just naked walking bodies with no brain,’ Chinenye Ohanehi wrote.
While Obianuju Okeke wrote, ‘Education is dead in this country. People don’t read it again. To think that these people are graduates’, Justin Anumnu commented, ‘Celebrities/role models in the making’.