Big Brother Naija, formerly known as Big BrotherNigeria, popularly known as BBNaija, is back for a second edition. The third edition of Big Brother Nigeria recently aired on Sunday 28th January. Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, Season 1’s ex-roommate, is the host.
Big Brother Nigeria Series is a reality TV show based on the Big Brother TV series in which a number of contestants live in an isolated house and compete for a big cash prize. The contestant who stays until the end of the show so as not to be chased away by viewers is declared the winner.
The show began in Africa as Big Brother AfricaThe show first premiered on Sunday May 25, 2003. Participants came from different countries where MultiChoice has a presence including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Angola, Uganda and Zimbabwe. The organizers chose South Africa as the host country of the house where the participants would live.
Big Brother Africa stopped running nine seasons earlier for unknown reasons. According to a statement from the producers, Mnet, the show has been re-evaluated in terms of strategic direction. At this point, Big Brother Nigeria was the focus.
Big Brother Nigeria organizers, who came back after a 10-year hiatus, have said it will happen in South Africa. They have been given a lot of leeway for the home and program being filmed in South Africa, despite having exclusively Nigerian roommates.
The show’s organizers say the need to release quality content “while meeting deadlines/dates” is behind the decision to broadcast Big Brother Nigeria to Nigerians from South Africa.
Public Relations Manager at MultiChoice Nigeria, Caroline Oghuma explained in a statement that the series’ decision to film Big Brother Nigeria is contingent on the availability of a “Big Brother house” in South Africa to host the main Big Brother Africa television show as well as others Big Brother movies are filmed shows on the continent.
Oghuma was quoted as saying:
“We have a full house in South Africa that is used for the Big Brother shows. This means we are able to deliver high production values while meeting tight schedules and ensuring the show gets to our viewers on time and with the quality recognized around the world. “
“The house has hosted other Big Brother countries including; the General Big Brother Africa, Mozambique, Angola and now Nigeria. The past 10 years and successes of other Big Brother Africa shows have provided an opportunity to improve the show and now we are ready to bring the best version of the show to Nigerians,” her statement continued.
However, the backlash prompted Nigeria Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Mohammed to respond to the matter. The minister said concerned Nigerians had bombarded his office with calls to complain about what they saw as an anomaly of the shooting outside the country, a show intended for Nigerians.
He urged concerned Nigerians to remain calm, adding that he has directed the National Broadcasting Commission to investigate the reason for hosting the show in South Africa. He said the show may be breaking some rules and that there was a possible “scam” as viewers of the show were not informed of the actual venue of the show.
“As a country of laws, only the outcome of the investigation will determine our next course of action,” he said.
The Big Brother TV series has had a number of country specific shows in addition to its Big Brother Nigeria show. Big Brother Angola is the Angolan version of the reality television series Big Brother. The show, which is in its third season, has included contestants from Mozambique. And like the main show of Big Brother Africa, it is also filmed and set in South Africa.
Previous Big Brother Nigeria winners include Katung (2007) and Efe Ejeba (2017).