Weekend Arena - Nigeria Can Learn Lessons From BBNaija Show Beyond Boobs And Butts

There is this popular quote in Hamlet, one of the plays written by Shakespeare: ‘There is nothing either good or bad; but thinking makes it so’. That is the way I have chosen to look at the mixed reactions that have been trailing the reality TV show, Big Brother Naija, BBN, whose 2020 edition ended last week. 

I am neither a fan, nor a maligner, because I have learnt to embrace ideas with an open mind. Ideas are like the head of a fish, especially the type biologists call bony fish; therein one will get both flesh and the inconveniencing bones. But it is left for one to see the part that offers a comparative advantage.


For many ‘puritans’ in Nigeria, the show, Big Brother Naija should be banned. 

They cite moral issues, with insinuations that the housemates often conduct themselves in a way unbefitting. They talk about some of them ‘doing things under the sheets’ and bathing before the cameras. But I always know that a great percentage of such shows are scripted in a manner it would have an organic sequence and evoke suspense and ‘talkability’. That is what showbiz is all about. 

That ‘talkability’ and exposure are the ‘koko’. Those are the money-spinners. Those responsible for the Big Brother Naija must be doing a commendable work, which is why many people are following and actually spending their money to keep the show running.


But on a reflective note, what lessons can Nigeria as a nation (or state or country), learn from the Big Brother Naija show? Number one point will be transparency in voting. That show has evolved a voting system that ensures that votes count and this has tremendously energized the fans of the contestants or housemates to go the extra mile to vote. I hear some of the fans even host fundraising soirees for their candidates to ensure they get enough votes to avoid eviction in the house.

 It is exceptionally encouraging that the fans all over the country have never been heard screaming ‘rigging’, like we always do whenever the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC (or worse still, the various state electoral commissions) organise/s an election. That transparency, that belief that there will be no ‘mago-mago’ has entrenched a culture of confidence in the BBN system, which is why year in year out, they get very great minds as contestants in the show. A look at their profiles shows they are not ‘garage boys’.


In reality, one does not need to look very far to see the ugly effects of the horrible electoral system we have in Nigeria. We scarcely attract great minds and that is why our problems have been staring at us since 1960. Since the exit of Prof Jega as the Chairman of INEC, it is only the recent guber election in Edo state that has come close to what a fair election should look like.

 The rest had been mini-wars with so much violence, so much bloodshed as typified by the Kogi and Bayelsa gubernatorial polls. Despite the accolades being given to the poll at Edo, one can still see huge voter apathy by roughly analyzing the essential statistics. Out of nearly 2 million eligible voters in Edo, only about 537, 000 people came out to vote, meaning that only about 28% of the population took that decision for the many others. 

While that is democracy, it is obvious that this type of democracy is not representative enough. But the winner cannot be blamed. The blame goes to the system that threw up so much tension, forcing many eligible voters to retreat for fear of being harmed. The blame goes to the system that has entrenched manipulations, forcing people to shy away from voting, convinced that their votes do not count.



That mass participation we notice in BBN is a direct consequence of fair electioneering and the Nigerian system can attract the same if the enabling laws are put in place to ensure that votes count. For many years, those benefitting from the skewed system that Nigeria is practicing have consistently made sure that every plan of introducing electronic voting fails in spite of its merits. While the 2019 general elections gulped a whopping N235b, many tech enthusiasts have argued that the e-version of that election in 2019, could not have gulped more than N7b, leaving the remaining N228b for other developmental issues like health and education. 

Countries like India with a larger population than Nigeria have embraced electronic voting, promoting transparency and faster collation of results. In 2019, it took almost four days to collate results from the Presidential election, while Indians had the results of their last Presidential polls ready in a matter of hours.


The response to the voting process in BBN is a confirmation that Nigerians are willing to participate in credible elections, if the government evolves a system they can trust. I wish President Buhari, could work on this and keep it as his legacy, because one of the worst human rights violations is denying the people the right to choose their leaders.

It is nothing but a coup! Gbam!