Big Brother Naija, formerly known as Big Brother Nigeria, is a Nigeria reality competition television series, based on the franchise of the Big Brother television, in which over 14 contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a large cash prize by avoiding being evicted from the house by viewers.
The inaugural season of the show was aired on DStv Channel 37 from 5th March to 4th June 2006 and was hosted by Olisa Adibua and Michelle Dede. The voting results were verified by the auditing company of Alexander-Forbes.
The second season of the series premiered on January 2017, followed by the third season on January 2018 and fourth season is ongoing.
As the fourth season is ongoing, I have read several submissions on the internet and even heard directly from people who think the program should be yanked but I feel indifferent about it, hence decided to share thoughts on why the program should be sustained.
I understand that you may have heard or been told many reasons the program should discontinue but just before you decide, kindly read through this piece.
Since 2006, the role of the TV reality show in promoting talents in our country can’t be overstressed and I sometimes find it funny that people who want the program yanked are not telling you about them.
The platform has given room and opportunity to many young people to showcase their respective talents.
In this write-up, I’ll be talking about some of the previous participants and how Big Brother Naija has helped in placing them into public consciousness.
Participating in the TV reality show didn’t only bring them to the limelight but also allowing them to live their respective dreams.
Katung Aduwak, now a scriptwriter and production assistant is the winner of the maiden edition of the TV reality show in 2006.
Shortly after winning the reality show, He went on to study filmmaking at the Digital Film Academy in New York and today he’s a movie director.
Katung is the producer and director of both “Unwanted Guest” and “Heaven’s Hell”. He has directed several music videos for Chocolate City, Styl Plus and Gabriel Afolayan.
Katung also starred in EbonyLife TV’s drama series, Desperate Housewives and currently the Senior Channel Manager MTV Base and an Executive Director at Chocolate City.
The winner of the second season was Ejeba Efe Michael and he’s fondly called “based on logistic” by viewers of the second season of the TV reality show.
Efe is a Nigeria rapper, songwriter, actor, businessman, and investor.
Efe as a rapper already has some musical tracks in his name such as ‘Warri’ ft Olamide, ‘Based on Logistics’ and ‘I love you’.
Moving on…
Another interesting story of the TV reality show is that of Miracle Igbokwe.
Miracle, the winner of the third season is a certified private pilot who is interested in becoming a certified commercial pilot before participating in Big Brother Naija but couldn’t do that due to lack of funds.
Miracle said, “I just finished my private pilot license training and was planning to do the commercial pilot license training but I was having issues with funds”.
After winning the TV reality show, the young man is finally living his dream life as he’s currently undergoing the training to be a certified commercial pilot using the funds he got from the Big Brother Naija.
“Now, God has blessed me with funds, so, obviously, I’ll go for the CPL training”, said Miracle.
All thanks to Big Brother Naija, the young man is eventually working towards achieving his dream.
The platform doesn’t only promote the winners but gives room for all the housemates to show the world what they can do.
In Big Brother Naija there’s no winner or loser. It’s a platform where talented youth come together to market or showcase their natural given talent to the world.
Since the inception of the program in the year 2006, many talents have been discovered most of whom didn’t even win the TV reality show.
Chukwuebuka Obi-Uchendu, a Nigerian lawyer and a media personality is one of the many talented products of the program.
He’s one of the pioneer participants and was the seventh housemate to be evicted in the inaugural season of the reality show but today Ebuka is well known for his talent.Curtsey of Big Brother Naija! Ebuka hosted the season 2 and 3 of the TV reality show and also emceeing the ongoing season 4.
He’s the host of the long-running Rubbin’ Minds talk show on Channels TV as well as co-hosting The Spot and Men’s Corner on Ebonylife Television.
Ebuka has received several award nominations and won the award for Outstanding TV Presenter of the Year at the Nigerian Broadcasters Merit Awards for his work on Rubbin’ Minds.
Another amazing personality of the TV reality show is a Nigerian Nollywood actress and a singer, Bisola Aiyeola.
Bisola was one of the most popular housemates in season two of the TV reality show and emerged the 1st runner up.
Although, Bisola wasn’t new to TV reality shows as she contested in 2008 edition of Project Fame West Africa but the role of the Big Brother Naija in our story can’t be overemphasized.
The role of the TV reality show in her success was evident in the emotional message she penned in an Instagram post after winning the 2018 AMVCA Trailblazer Award.
She said, “Today is a birthday of sorts for me. One year ago, I left the Big Brother House as runner-up and set upon a path that has been beyond my wildest dreams. People always ask me about my time in the house, but the truth is none of us imagined the hype surrounding everything we were doing and how our lives were going to change. It still takes me by surprise when I travel around the world and people come up to me to wish me well and sometimes even quote things, I said from a year ago. I went into the house with just one purpose which was to reach as many people and showcase my talent. When I think of the things that my Big Brother experience has allowed me to do in the past 12 months, it is difficult to do so without overwhelming gratitude. It has allowed me greater selection in the kind of projects I do. It has allowed me to add my voice to the plight of our young girls who have the smallest voices in our country. Most important, it has allowed me to be closer to all of you”.
Bisola is currently enjoying a successful acting career since she left the Big Brother Naija house, she has featured in movies and TV shows such as “Glimpse,” “Ovy’s Voice,” “Picture Perfect,” “Skinny Girl in Transit,” and “Life of a Nigerian couple”.
In August 2017, Bisola as a singer signed a contract with the Temple Music record label and also attended the 72nd United Nations General Assembly which held in New York as a ONE Ambassador in September 2017.
I’ll also like to talk about Cynthia Nwadiora who currently worth approximately over $100, 000.
Cee-c, as she’s fondly called by her fan, was the 1st runner-up in the 3rd season of the TV reality show and now one of the most influential models in Nigeria. She’s doubled as both a Television and social media personality.
All of these people are doing fine and living their respective dreams after Big Brother Naija.
We can’t be so sure if they will be living this fine without Big Brother Naija but we’ll be completely unfair to say that Big Brother Naija didn’t give them the necessary starting position. @Nigeriafilms.com
