Dear Big Brother, we need to talk

Big Brother,

I would give you some credit this year for raising the dyke on your choice of housemates— I hear there are MBA holders, lawyers and pilots in their midst—smart! At least we are not saddled with chaps who only know to clown and fool around.

But folks like Efe, Nina or Khole bother me. It’s almost suicidal to give so much fortune and exposure to people who have no grounding, no right footing on anything. This is not to suggest that their kind do not deserve the dream of getting on the big screen via your platform. No one is too lowly for the whooping prize and the exposure that comes with living under your constant surveillance; no one should be exempted from the dream of rising from obscurity to fame. Even Nina, the naïve Owerri girl is fast becoming a crowd favourite and word on the street has it that Rochas is plotting a statue for the lucky kid.

Nonetheless, time and past seasons have shown that winning or merely participating is no instant ticket to sustained celebrity. Efe was adored, if not worshiped while he was in the house. But the clime of the real world has not favoured him as we see him struggle embarrassingly, music video after music video. You want to drag him aside and ask him to just stop! Efe should learn from contestants who leave the show and upon arriving home, they realize they are not made for the limelight. Wisdom profitably directs them to gently ease back to their cocoons and lead quiet lives.

Here is a typical tale of the an ex-Big Brother Housemate: Either she returns to an avalanche of praise showered on her by a teeming fan base, or she returns to a whirlwind of controversy surrounding her name which often takes time to simmer. Think the K-square chaps you disqualified last week on the grounds of verbal assault and general misconduct. Think Kemen who could not keep his hands to himself and how that incident with TBoss trails his name till date, and Thin Tall Tony who denied his marriage.

If housemate is fortunate to receive warm reception, she goes ahead to build a career. If she is a good actor, she appears in brilliant movies; if she is a singer, she makes great records; if housemate is eloquent, she hosts talk shows or better still, uses her platform to lend a voice to a worthy cause. As a viewer, it is beautiful to see someone take full advantage of the opportunity Big Brother avails.

But housemates like Efe crave the limelight, they have fan base, but nothing of repute to offer. This is the type I have a grouse against. The pressure to live up to the public eye and keep up appearances become overwhelming for them, so they dapple into everything. They try music but soon forget that music respects those who have kept long vigil at its side, those who have paid allegiance to it through years of hard work. You don’t just roll out of bed and saunter into a studio to make music. Listeners have keen ears and are quick to discern between those who are using music as a vehicle to pilot quicksilver fame and those who really have a musical bone in their body.

It is hard, almost pitiful to watch Efe and his ilk fail; to watch them hustle backwards. I did not vote any housemate for them to remain at the base level of their quest for fame. Anyone who has been at Big Brother ought to milk the cow Big Brother doles and move a step higher than where he was before he got into the house.

I wish you’d render your platform to young people who already have a footing in their hustle, who require the extra launch pad to arrive at their moment, or peeps who just want the money and nothing else. Next time, pick young people who know their onions, who can maximize the exposure apportioned them. Not just fame hungry fams who have nothing to offer.