For the record I am not particularly a fan of Big Brother ‘anything’..and not in a malicious or judgmental way but in a ‘I really don’t get what the entertainment value is to be honest’ kind of way and I would have gladly ignored the excitement and/buzz surrounding the show’s launch and the proceeding days that are set to follow the contestants as they live it out for the next several weeks.
Entertainment for me has always been within the frame work of scripting and creativity, whether it has been through sound, nuance, CGI, props or deft camera work (lighting and the likes) but that’s my flavor and I wouldn’t want to impose or declare my taste as far superior, we all have the things that excite us.
So despite this highly anticipated show not being my preferred cup of tea I still found it interesting that Mnet recognized Nigerians enough to set up a show that would be 100% Nigerians by Nigerians, for Africans. But where my interests ended was when I discovered our dear show would be shot in distant South Africa.
What’s the problem with that you wonder? Well beyond the obvious lack of full originality the show will derive in terms of credibility, it really is weird to take in.
Mnet has been an African company for decades and has had their presence in Nigeria for almost the same period of time, let’s imagine they only recently began to focus on actual content development in Nigeria over the past half a decade and they say the reason behind their choice to shoot BB Naija in South Africa is because they want to maintain high production value standards.
The question now beckons to be answered; What has Mnet been doing in Nigeria all these years?
Is it the power issue? The skilled personnel available? The equipment and technology? Surely I don’t think things are that backwards in Lagos.
If the Management folks in Mnet could make such a decision I am very sure they took into consideration the possible negative press and social media backlash it would cause or they really don’t care what we think and either way it really does make a damning statement on an industry we have long held up proudly as having made remarkable progress throughout the years.
A couple of years ago The Voice Nigeria was shot in South Africa and I was left puzzled why that was the case and now Big Brother Naija and I am sure I’m not the only person who finds this as some sort of national embarrassment.
Over the years we have become a country reliant on imports and even our ‘valuable’ oil is merely extracted as raw crude, exported and processed before being imported as valuable oil which over 180 million people consume one way or the other. So the production of our own reality tv entertainment content is now being sent to dear old South Africa because we lack the capacity to provide quality production standards.
Well then Nigeria, I guess we have become that country with no limit to how low we can fall.
Enjoy your reality tv show guys..if I was a fan I doubt I would have the stomach to watch it.
I’m just saying.
