In case you missed it EbonyLife TV celebrated its second anniversary yesterday, congratulations to all the people that have worked hard to get it to where it is and we know it’s going to do so much more.

ELTV has revolutionized the standard of Nigerian Television, for one I can finally watch a Nigerian station for over an hour without cringing, complaining of poor picture quality or a poorly arranged set and most importantly the boom mic doesn’t mistakenly enter the camera frame. Just to put it out there my favourite show is The Spot because it’s sheer genius. It’s a breath of fresh air to couch talk shows, there’s a lot of freedom and the idea to use the loft was gold.

However, what organization at two wouldn’t deserve a few criticisms. As much as I love EbonyLife TV, I sometimes wonder if it’s an African network for Africans or an African network for everyone else because we cannot relate.

Just a few days ago, I overheard someone talking about ELTV and the person described it as too pretentious. That may not be the word I would have used, but I do see where the person is coming from. Watching ELTV can sometimes give you a feeling of disconnect. I remember watching VVIP Events on different occasions and wondering about the 98% of Nigerians who definitely cannot afford to dream about being at such events, not to mention attending. Maybe it’s a giveaway from the name of the show anyway, when you compare that show to something like Bella Naija Weddings that is so much more popular for a lot of reasons one of which is because it’s easier for a Nigerian to relate to (yes I know it’s not a TV show but they both cover events).

I also read a tweet a few days ago that ELTV was going to produce African adoptions of classics like Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and Robin Hood. I do think that they were able to secure the rights to do that is in itself a laudable achievement, but why bother? We have countless African classics that need to be retold to a younger generation and to a world that has forgotten them, from Chinua Achebe’s ‘Things fall apart’ to a more contemporary ‘Purple Hibiscus’ by Chimamanda Adichie, I think that is a place to start if you want to retell the African story.  When I look at how unrelateable the Desperate Housewives Africa is, from the accents alone, I can tell you that Africans with those accents on an average do not spend that much time on this continent and are definitely not your average African women. So I really think they should look to redo more African stories first.

No one needs to be reminded that one of the things that made and continues to make Nollywood movies so popular despite the horrendous quality is that it is relatable. Even producers like Kunle Afolayan and Emem Isong that produce movies with better quality have kept those movies relatable to the Nigerian space.

The network has unwittingly created this disconnect and come off as elitist, however if this was a deliberate strategy (and I have no clue why anyone would do that) they should know that they are on the right track. I strongly hope that’s not the case because the 2% elite population may be enough to keep ELTV on the air for many more years because of the depth of their pockets, but they cannot make it the influential media powerhouse it has the potential to be.

Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.