by Adefolami Ademola

These days, I have developed a thick skin to the barrage of disappointments that abound in the country where I am unlucky to have been born.

You will agree with me that, as a Nigerian, you have, whether consciously or otherwise, grown accustomed to seeing unremitting madness become the normal order of things. You are so used to frustrations, especially unintelligence among corporate firms that you no longer notice them.

When I heard rumours that PayPorte, an online retail store in the country, would be sponsoring the second season of Big Brother Nigeria, I was interested in the outcome of the case. I knew it was never going to be true. Because I could swear that PayPorte didn’t have enough funds to cover an unnecessary extravagance.

This mindset was informed by the fact that PayPorte had earlier turned down a proposal for an educative and developmental innovation tendered by a media firm in the country, with the excuse that the economic recession had taken its toll.

However, I was alarmed that shortly afterwards the rumours became reality, and yes, PayPorte is indeed sponsoring Big Brother Nigeria.

Wealthy firms now, instead of throwing their weight behind developmental programmes now value empty outlets, as long as it guarantees them visibility.

It is not news that educative programmes have been receded into the backgrounds of our consciousness. Now what obtains in our society, and in almost all television stations and cable televisions, is the adoration of empty amusements, where contents no longer have to make sense, but can guarantee views and shares.

Recall that in October 2014, the winner of the Miss UNILAG pageant was awarded a brand new car and some other perks that came with winning such prizes. However, in that same year, the winner of the much more intellectually tasking UNILAG debate received the paltry sum of N100, 000 and a laptop computer.

If this is transferred into the psyche of the teenagers, it becomes evident that you do not need to read your books, because even when you do, you are not appreciated as is expected. All you need is, get the beauty, dress sexy, or rather, dress to kill. It’s just a matter of time; you will be awarded a brand new car after winning a beauty pageant.

In fact, you do not have to have common sense or decorum. Just be beautiful and flaunt your senselessness in those bum shorts and skimpy skirts. The world will notice you soon.

For PayPorte, a company that claims not to have enough funds to support a progressive innovation, but can throw away just enough cash to cover for the emptiness that Big Brother Nigeria glorifies in South Africa, it’s just a matter time. The chickens will soon come home to roost.

I have often times asked myself what BBN hopes to achieve.

For Project Fame, Nigerian idol and some other musically-inclined reality shows of that magnitude, you are expected to express your singing prowess in order to clinch the prize.

But for BBN, please who knows?

Throw in John Ugbe’s –M.D MultiChoice Nigeria—unconvincing assertion that the show aims to help develop talents. I am sure you are surprised too, right?

Well, from all indications, there might be some truth in that claim. Obviously, we have seen inmates flaunt their reckless sexual idiocy on national and cable television. So, maybe the show would help to create a boisterous pornography industry for the country.

We might be lucky to see some inmates graduate from the Big Brother Nigeria house to become the next Cossy Orjiakor, or even Afrocandy, or some hot-shot pornography actresses. Who knows?

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