- Says Show Has Created ‘No Physical Value’
By Oyinlola Awonuga (The New Diplomat’s Entertainment, Fashion and Sports Desk)
A popular Nigerian writer and critic, Mr. Bemigho Reno Omokri has said the ongoing Big Brother Naija TV reality show has failed to add any value, but instead it has become another ploy to exploit Nigerian youths.
In a series of Tweets on his verified Twitter account, Omokri said while the #BBNaija organizers are “reaping huge benefits,” and the viewers are having their fun, a programme that can promote “youthful business,” would have been more appropriate at a time when the nation is still battling the Covid-19 economic crisis.
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He said: “Then I read how much was spent on making the Big Brother Naija House COVID-19 safe for the 2020 edition of the reality show, I was stunned. Yes, this money is being put up by a private company, and not by the government, but they are investing their money, not to create jobs, but to exploit the Nigerian people by making them vote and then reaping huge profits.”
“Nothing is being produced. No jobs are being created. No tangible physical value is being created. There is no treasure in this venture, only pleasure.”
According to him, it cost N2.5bn to build the 2020 #BBNaija house, noting that despite the comatose state of the Nigerian economy due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the much fund has gone into a venture that has no prospect of creating the needed jobs.
“And you wonder why Nigeria is the world headquarters for extreme poverty?
“As a nation, we do not have a scheme to fund young entrepreneurs. Banks give out business loans at double-digit interests. Our Bonny Light Crude is losing market share in the features market. Yet, we can fund young slay queens to have public romps with young studs for the delight of our youths.
“No wonder our population is the only thing that is growing in Nigeria. The N2.5 billion could have empowered 1000 youths with a seed capital of N2.5 million to start a business. But who needs a business in Nigeria when you can look at big buttocks?
“And why are we even still running this show in the year 2020? I would instead think that Nigeria needs a TV competition, like The Apprentice, where youths compete on how to succeed in business, and the winner gets a large sum of money to spend on their business and employ other youths. It will be far more productive for the minds of our youths than BBNaija! Even in The UK, where our version of Big Brother originated from, Big Brother ended in 2018. We are the world headquarters for extreme poverty. Our population is growing twice faster than our economy. We need shows that promote youthful business, not BBNaija that promotes youthful sex! We need more jobs for our youths, not more babies and abortions! We need shows that make the youth think of money, not shows that make them horny!” He said.
46-year-old Omokri is a Nigerian writer and lawyer and also a host of Christian teaching TV show broadcast on San Francisco’s KTLN and Detroit’s Impact Network.
He is one of the three spokesmen to the former Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan who is known for using social media to conduct political surveys and projects undertaken by the Nigerian government.
Omokri who served as a special assistant to Goodluck Jonathan, was also the vice president, Africa, at Joe Trippi and Associates, a U.S political consulting firm.
Apart from political affairs, Reno Omokri is also the founder of a multimedia project, Build Up Nigeria and he is a good writer who has produced so many short films in the U.S.
Omokri who graduated with an LL.M from the University of Wolvehampton, was part of the signatory of letter that called for the resignation of President Musa Yar’adua.
Omokri is also the pastor of the Mind of Christ Christian Center in Carlifornia and Abuja, where he spreads the gospel.
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Omokri Continued: “And it gets even more annoying when I see young Nigerians nursing hatred against each other because one set is #TeamNengi and the other is #TeamLaycon. I mean really? This is what Nigerian youths are fighting about? Chinedu Echeruo is a young Nigerian who made a billion dollars selling his app to Apple. Sadly, there are no #TeamChinedu in Nigeria!
“Our youths have not formed #TeamDangote, or #TeamElumelu, or #TeamOtedola, to ask to be mentored so that they can grow in business. Instead, they form #TeamNengi and co, just to discuss big buttocks and big other body parts that I cannot and will not mention here.
“This is the same way our youths idolised Hushpuppi and ignored the many young Nigerian entrepreneurs who were creating jobs for them, like Ayodeji Adewunmi and Deji Oduntan, who were forced out of business in Nigeria, when the Lagos state government banned commercial motorcyclists, thus rendering their business Gokada, which was employing hundreds of thousands of our youths, obsolete. No protest. No marches.”
