Big Brother Naija and cheap prophecy

LAST week, the social media was awash with gists and memes about Big Brother Naija’s eviction and disqualification of some of the housemates. Erica was disqualified for her sullen temper against Laycon. Erica’s eviction was a major hit that set the media on fire; minutes after she left the house, her fans took it upon themselves to raise funds for her and in a couple of hours, she earned millions of naira. Wonderful!  A day before Erica’s disqualification, Nigerian youths were calling for President Buhari’s head for the obnoxious increments in the price of petroleum and electricity tariff. Immediately the reality television shame announced Erica’s disqualification, the ‘leaders of tomorrow’ swiftly forgot about petroleum and tariff and lighted up social media statuses hyping Big Brothers and sisters locked in the house. What baffles me most is the cheap prophecy of Reverend Father Mbaka talking about the Big Brother show. In a video seen on Facebook, Mbaka said: “Look at what she was calling the other young man, ‘idiot’, ‘you are an idiot’ and the whole world was watching. And the person she was calling idiot gets more votes than all of them; the boy did not even respond to her. Look at Erica with all her beauty and all her beautiful dances, then look at her in the next ten minutes, she becomes cantankerous and pugnacious and in her cantakerousity (sic) and pugnacity, she will lose that N 85 million”.

So, our Reverend Father watches beautiful dances and other salacious moments on Big Brother show? Father Mbaka should have described Erica’s dance steps as  ‘sexy one’ instead of wittily putting it as ‘beautiful dances’. The people we regard as sanctified ones and fathers in the Lord  are the ones predicting the winner or loser of N85M. Incredible! I cannot but wonder what the show has got to do with prophecy. With the many woes betiding the country which require prophetic attention, our prophet has time for the brawl, kerfuffle and misunderstanding in the ‘lockdown house’. Worse still, our celebrities are dishing out money on twitter to canvass for their favourite housemates. Of course, many would say it is not a big deal, but they abandon the big deals that matter to the masses. Many actors died of severe illness; they could have survived with money. They got no helping hand from their so-called colleagues who are now busy raising funds for housemates and doing giveaways for people to vote their favorites.

Many young minds have died of poverty, hunger, and other ailments because raising funds for their survival was a big puzzle. Many people are crawling because those who could have offered a lift have rolled up their ‘tinted’ glasses to watch, through side mirror, how people struggle. At times, I try to figure out what really is our problem in Nigeria. We criticise the government but fail to address what really matters to us. We are much more relieved watching scene of sexcapades but our nightmare remains the same.  Nigerian celebrities are the worse I have ever known. They only respond to eye-service offerings that will project them positively in the media. How have the celebrities intervened in matter affecting the poor masses? Nigerians made the celebrities who they are today by following them on Instagram, Twitter, subscribing to the YouTube channels, buying their albums and downloading their lyrics and movies. Instead of giving back to the society, they are giving back to the Big Brothers and Sisters, who to the best of my knowledge were well to do already before joining the house.

It is pitiable and disheartening that Nigerian youths have not realised that anyone that emerges winner of Big Brother Naija or even reached a certain stage has  joined the league of celebrities. He or she will begin to sign contracts in millions. After winning 85 million naira, he or she will never come out to protest against the obnoxious increments in the price of petroleum and electricity tariff. He or she has escaped any form of hardship inflicted upon Nigerians by the government. He has sailed through the poverty level but for  Nigerians, after helping someone to stardom through votes, we will come back and blame the government. What a confused generation! From these outrageous, it is obvious that the youths are one of the major stakeholders contributing to the problems bedeviling the country. If the government is not doing it right, the youths and the so-called celebrities are also getting it wrong. I hope that someday, we will all get it right. Both the government and the governed.

• Issa writes in from Offa, Kwara State

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