For a long time now, I have tried to purge my social media of all Big Brother Naija-related news. I have unfollowed accounts, and on my Instagram’s explore page, I have breezed past videos and posts with catchy, twisted headlines about ex-housemates and their frivolous activities. I want none of it, for the simple reason of minding my business.

Well, until yesterday. In a long article published on Bella Naija, R&B singer and actor Banky W kind of declared TV personality Ebuka Obi-Uchendu as “the other winner of Big Brother Naija.” On the surface, it made no sense and I was inclined to think about Buhari’s BBC interview in 2016, when he pushed “the other room” towards cultural nuisance in the context of rampant, unholy usage.

In the article, in which Banky continued to wax lyrical about how he feels about Ebuka (this doesn’t sound right but whatever), he drew our attention to the beginning of Ebuka’s media exploits and fashion. In summary: it was a yawnfest because the information Banky supplied were already familiar. And then Banky dropped “EME Entertainment” in the piece and I had an “aha!” moment. Like, hold up, hold up, what is this, Mr. Wellington?

“With that being said,” Banky wrote, “most people don’t realise that outside of the organizers, and the contestants who emerged victorious, there is yet another winner from the reality show every season, and he goes the name of Ebuka Obi-Uchendu.”

Uhm, Okay. But I can see where this is going. After the viral, pop-cultural highlights of 2017 involving prominent members of the Naija rat pack (I’ll come back to this soon), and the strategic move leading to the revamping of the EME music label which Banky co-founded, we haven’t witnessed this kind of culture-affecting supernova until now.

YNaija’s editor Edwin Okolo has written elaborately on Nigeria’s version of the Hollywood rat pack phenomenon, in this case involving Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Banky Wellington, Noble Igwe, Olamide Adedeji, and the Demuren brothers. EME Entertainment as a rebranded facility is still young and nascent, partly media agency and talent farm, and largely represents the business interests of Banky and his associates.

On a side note: Banky’s article was so gushing and profusely exalting that it suddenly gave me #FriendshipGoals. Ebuka has probably seen Banky’s epistle, and I guess he should return the favour.

Bernard Dayo

When Bernard Dayo isn’t writing about pop culture, he’s watching horror movies and reading comics and trying to pretend his addiction to Netflix isn’t a serious condition.