BY KEN UGBECHIE

It ended just the way it started: with suspense. And after barely three months in BigBrother house in South Africa, a miracle happened. A certain Miracle Ikechukwu Igbokwe, a pilot, cute, good-looking smart dude, emerged the winner of the 2018 BigBrotherNaija reality show tagged “Double Wahala”. This year’s edition, the third in the series, was by far the most exciting, most innovative and had a diversity of cast cutting across media, legal profession, aviation, entertainment, fashionistas, budding entrepreneurs and students. Twenty housemates locked up in a palatial duplex with too much to eat, drink and indulge.

BigBrother reality show has always been a bang in Africa. It is the most watched programme on TV. For living off some sponsors – free accommodation, free food, drinks and all – the housemates somehow get rewarded. Aside the prime prize, most housemates left the house and became instant celebrities, getting endorsements and feathering their nests in their endeavour. This year’s was no different. The promoters even upped the ante. Subscribers to DStv and Gotv, the two satellite offerings from Multichoice, also got rewarded with cash prizes of one million naira on weekly basis.

Aside the ultimate prize of N25 million cash and other perks (travels and home entertainment equipment) amounting to about N20 million, all totaling N45 million, the organisers also had other prizes attached to some drills and contests that tasked housemates’ physically and mentally. In all, Miracle prevailed against the rest. It was a victory many saw coming. The young pilot was genuinely loved by many. And why not? He stood out. He was perceived as real; he did not fake a lifestyle or accent. He did not pretend to have been to the moon and back. He spelt out what he would do with N25 million. He was humane. He showed empathy in the house; did not try to impress the viewers with feigned finesse. He did not pretend not to need the money. Some housemates, in their fakeness and pretence, claimed they don’t need the money. Shut up! So, why did you bother to go for auditioning, pass through the wahala of screening and all that? Of course, that’s why they lost out. They don’t need the money and the money does not need them, either.

So, Miracle won. And why not? He’s not just good-looking physically; he’s got some good grey matter too. In the house, he acquitted himself as a good science student. A good reality TV show is not just an assembly of pretty ladies and six-pack men. Participants must bring knowledge into the house. The diversity of the housemates should translate to diversity of knowledge which when shared will ultimately enrich both the housemates and the viewers.

Miracle proved he’s a good student of physics. He openly professed his love for physics which reinforces my confidence in him. He sure will make a good pilot after all. On one occasion, he explained Sir Isaac Newton’s law of motion using the game of billiard. As a science graduate myself, his was the most simplified and easy-to-understand lecture I have ever received on the Newton law. He also took the housemates through the phenomenon of global warming in a simple, unobscured manner. Then he delved into land and sea breezes explaining why the ocean is warmer at night than land atmosphere and vice versa. What with his lucid explanation of the ‘higher you go the cooler it becomes’ theory. Miracle showed mastery of his subject area and self-assured confidence that he will make a damn good pilot.

The 24-year-old pilot, dancer and model who seems at peace with himself and with humanity had before the show announced he would acquire more aviation training if he wins. His dream has come true and he would now need to pursue the bigger dream. While I wish him more honour and success especially in his profession, let me counsel that the young pilot would need to stay himself. He is now a celebrity, a role model for many and in the coming days he would get more endorsements as products and services Ambassador. All this comes with pressure. He must learn to manage stardom.

The organisers of the show shocked Nigerians when they announced certain uniqueness about this year’s show. While the last episode won by Efe (the Warri boy) garnered 25 million votes, this year’s surpassed the chart and upturned the predictions of pundits. It attracted a good 170 million votes with 30 million votes coming in the week of the grand finale. No country in Africa, not even South Africa, would give such humungous quantum of votes.

At N30 per vote, it means that the organisers have made N5.1 billion just from viewers’ votes. And even if we assume that not all votes are valued at the advertised rate of N30, at least a good N2.5 billion has gone into the purse of the organisers from the voters only. This is aside the money from adverts and sponsorships. This is good business. If BBNaija is a toad, Multichoice has just eaten the fattest toad. Let’s break it down: a foreign company enters Nigeria, takes about 20 Nigerian youths to a foreign land, camps and feeds them for barely 90 days, gives them pocket money and other freebies whose value is not more than 100 million and pockets billions of naira at the expense of the larger Nigerians. Good business!

But we must never begrudge Multichoice. They simply took advantage of the failings of Nigerian governments, past and present. The market is in Nigeria but our lack of infrastructure, difficult ways of doing business which adds to cost of production has pursued many multinationals out of the country. The reason BBNaija held in South Africa when it is financed and sustained by Nigerians is the same reason Dunlop, Michelin among others left Nigeria. And when they leave, the jobs leave. Last year alone, about four million Nigerians lost their jobs, says the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Ever since, job cuts have continued to define the economy.

In one year alone, according to Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), some 272 companies left Nigeria. Within the same period, 222 SMEs shut down. Those who left opened shops in Ghana, Republic of Benin, Cote D’Ivoire and elsewhere but they still depend on the largest market in Africa to stay afloat. We chased them away with our legendary poor electricity supply, poor forex management (only in Nigeria does government subsidise forex for pilgrimages and not for production), corruption and lack of transparency in public transactions.

Back to BBNaija. I love this show. I endorse it for as long as it helps to empower a few of the “a lot of Nigerians are below the age of 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and claiming that Nigeria is an oil-producing nation and therefore they should sit down and do nothing but get housing, healthcare, education free…” Through this show, Nigerian youths have once again proven that they want to do something. It’s called entertainment and it’s the biggest industry in the world.  I congratulate the organisers for the miracle of BBNaija. And congratulations to Miracle, the good tempered pilot.

First published in Sunday Sun