If the statement credited to Lai Mohammed, Nigeria's information minister, is anything to go by, the reality TV show, Big Brother Naija, may not be far from reaching its terminus. Although the minister had premised his grouse on the health implications of the show to the housemates amid a dreaded pandemic, it is, maybe for me and a few others, an opportunity to rekindle the longstanding protests over the social relevance of the Big Brother show as against its deleterious moral consequences.
Every society reveals itself in what and whom it upholds and honors. About this period last year, all that our youngsters had on their lips was the size and shape of Mercy's buttocks. They had kept their eyes glued to the screen night after night for a pair of housemates to engage in sexual intercourse. That would remain alive in their hearts and minds and souls until the next sexual intercourse occurred.
This year, what announced the commencement of the show of infamy was the deafening noise generated by the size of Dorothy's breasts. Discussions are now raging among our youths about the escapades to expect. This celebration of obscenity, which is what the show has unchangingly become, points to the extent of our moral decadence as a people.
Away from these moral issues, it is unimaginable to calculate the harm that befalls a society which young minds channel their creative energies into an idle, dirty, unhelpful and worthless venture as Big Brother Naija. The vast majority of youths who are already addicted to its erotic, lewd and filthy pleasures go all out to spend the little money they have to launch and prosecute campaigns for their favorite housemates and to vote online for them.
It is pathetic to know that these happen in a country with arguably the most politically docile citizenry anywhere in the world. More than corruption, what has contributed to the woes of Nigeria is the docility of the citizens. To the Nigerian youth, it is a mirage to participate in the political process and to hold their leaders accountable. If the passion with which our young ones follow Big Brother Naija should be replicated in the quest for a better society, Nigeria would obviously become the attraction of the world.
If our young minds could begin to organize themselves and raise funds to sponsor for public office one of their kind, who they know to possess the character and competence to turn around the circumstances of the society, Nigeria would join the league of prosperous nations.
But in today's Nigeria, our youths don't even vote. On election day, over seventy percent of the voters are invariably old and barely literate men and women who choose to vote in those who give them rice and money and salt, because in their wisdom, whoever that cares for them, irrespective of other considerations, is the best. The few young people who pretend to be interested in politics are just as buyable as their parents. They are in it to get paid, not to change the society. For the sake of crumbs they inherit another man's enemies and go all out to unleash mayhem on their fellow youths.
The work of Lai Mohammed should not just end with the proscription of the pornographic TV show. He should realize that the deep-seated injuries etched by the show on the minds of our youths must be addressed. Also, he should launch programs that will politicize the populace and make the young ones aware that more than the fleeing excitement which Big Brother offers them, a better government and functional social system will offer them an enduring pleasure and lifetime fulfilment.
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