Was The Clamour To Ban BBA3 A Charade? - 2008-09-01

On account of the negative values it portrayed, Big Brother Africa 2, aired on DSTV, stirred up the hornet's nest among many Nigerians, the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the National Assembly. Multichoice, owner of the DSTV brand, was severely criticized for being irresponsible, and warned to desist from raping the intellect and sensibility of the Nigerian person. Bright Nwogwugwu examines the BBA  as a reality show which targets viewers who might be interested in it arguring that broader issues exist that requires the attention of the Nigerian government.

Did a tiny minority, orchestrate a campaign which is today posing a problem for millions of Nigerians across the country? Was the loud clamour for the banning of Big Brother Africa 3, a clever scheme by a handful of Nigerians to deprive the vast majority of Nigerians their rights as adults to choose how they wish to be entertained?

While as usual, the answers to these posers may be debatable, what is clear is that going by the chaos in Multichoice offices across the country currently, every pointer indicates that the “storm” which we have witnessed especially in newspapers in recent months calling on the NBC to ban the broadcast of BBA3 in Nigeria, may be nothing other than a “storm in the teacup” after all.

Across Multichoice offices in Nigeria, over the last few days, since BBA 3 debuted, there have been long angry queues of Nigerians, who want their decoders enabled to watch BBA 3. Indeed subscribers are enraged at the new “innovation” by Multichoice that requests all subscribers who wish to watch BBA3 to specifically request for it by sending their smartcard numbers to a particular GSM phone number.

In fact, according to one respondent, one of the several customers angling to enable his decoder in the Multichoice office, as reported in The Nation of August 29, (page A3), “if the programme was not good enough and if indeed it encourages immorality, then you would not have seen anybody here scrambling to fill the forms to enable us activate BBA3”. Unfortunately, amidst the heat of the inconveniences generated by the directive to register to watch BBA3, members of the public are turning their venom to the National Assembly. It is the National Assembly, many citizens, have said, who should be blamed for the unfortunate turn of events in which citizens are being subjected to unnecessary difficulties all in an attempt to watch a program which they are ordinarily free to watch as citizens and which is being watched freely in the over 50 other countries of Africa.

Some reports have actually indicated that the same members of the National Assembly who were so vocal in their criticism of the BBA 3 are among those whose proxies are currently battling to activate their BBA3 channels.

But how did we come to this sorry pass? It so happened that sequel to the conclusion of BBA2, a number of activists took it upon themselves to decry what they claimed was immorality on the BBA 2 show. In so doing, they latched on vigorously to an incident that occurred among two inebriated housemates in which sexual indiscretion of sorts (not sex in any form) occurred. Writing under sundry pseudonyms many reproducing the exact same arguments in the exact same words, the handful of morality campaigners literally set the media ablaze with articles and letters to the editor on why further broadcast of the reality show should be banned in Nigeria.

The National Assembly, not to be outdone on any issue that appears “popular” in the public domain, quickly, without seeming to ask key questions, latched on to the arguments of the “emergency activists” as one critic has called them and began to make all the “right noises” including threatening to ban a private adult-rated program which is available to subscribers by choice.

Reeling from the massive bout of criticism therefore, prior to last Sunday's launch of the program (August 24)  Multichoice had advertised in the newspapers, requesting subscribers who were interested in watching BBA3 to so indicate by sending a text message to a particular GSM number or to do so by email. The company also reportedly sent text messages to several phone numbers advising them on the need to register, should they desire to watch BBA3.

It does not seem, however, that many people got to see these advertisements. On the other hand, there is a possibility too, that given the severe congestion challenges which Nigerian telecom networks face, many of the messages could not be processed before the launch of the phenomenally popular program.

The result is the pain, inconveniences and angst which subscribers are going through in a bid to watch a program, which by right, they should watch, having paid their subscriptions to Multichoice/DSTV.

A key question, to ask, however, is where was this majority when the minuscule minority held the rest of the country to hostage with the puerile campaign for the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and the National Assembly to ban BBA3? Why did they not raise up their voices to let the world know that as adults, they have a right to be entertained in any manner they deem fit, so long as they are not breaking the law? Why did they allow the tiny minority to create the impression that Nigeria and all Nigerians are against the BBA3 show when the truth is that Nigerians love the BBA3 show? Was it hypocrisy? Were they too shy to fight for their rights because part of the arguments bordered on sex, “pornography” and the like?

However while most of the critique of BBA3 may have been overblown and stylishly orchestrated, it is important to note that some arguments need to be addressed regarding the BBA show to minimize the potential to offend genuine public sensibilities.

One of such points is the so-called “shower hour”. While one would have expected viewers who are uncomfortable with this segment to simply tune to another channel, perhaps it is important that because the shower hour is ordinarily broadcast in the morning at a time when minors watch television, such a segment could indeed offend the public. Apparently, in deference to this mood of the public, the airing of the “shower hour” in Nigeria in the ongoing BBA3 has been moved to the night hours.

The producers of the program have also assured the public that alcohol consumption will be significantly reduced in the house, while sex is disallowed. There has also been a report (unverified) that hotels and public places would not be activated to watch BBA3. If this is true, then the rights of these institutions may have been breached in some way.

A key argument that was put forward by the minority anti ban BBA campaigners was that for a program that is available only upon personal subscription, the issue of ban needed not to arise in the first place. This minority reasoned that given the number and severity of problems with which Nigeria is currently grappling, a reality show on television that parades 12 adults who have on their own volition, consented to subjecting every aspect of their lives to public scrutiny, ought not be a priority for our government at any level whatsoever. In a country where electricity outages, bad roads, crime, ill-equipped schools, cultism, poverty and disease and other ills are on the daily menu of news reportage, the government ought to have been focussed on these broader developmental issues, not on an elitist private reality show.

Unfortunately, these arguments were not taken up and resonated by the majority pro-BBA3 elements until too late. And the consequences have been the inconveniences which tens of thousands of subscribers have been subjected to in the last few days since the new season of BBA3 made its debut.

This episode is a strong lesson of sorts for Nigeria. We need to realise that even though we are in a democracy, we need to make conscious efforts to defend our individual and collective freedoms. Even those who would not ordinarily be bothered to watch BBA3 should have spoken up against the misguided clamour to ban it. This is the only way to ensure that the majority do not become victims of the tyranny of the rather articulate even if misguided minority.

For now, the BBA3 has since August 24 taken off and is guaranteed to keep millions of people glued to their seats over the next few months. Hopefully, it will unearth as much excitement as ever among its sundry fanatical followers, whose rights to be entertained, we hope, will be availed them unconditionally in future.