THE Nigerian edition of “Big Brother” has the same mix of larger-than-life narcissists, banality and backstabbing found in every other version of the reality-television show. But an extra dose of controversy was added to the fall-outs and flirtations when Nigerians discovered that their programme, in which contestants are locked in a house and filmed 24/7, was being made in South Africa. On January 24th the country’s information minister, Lai Mohammed, opened an investigation into “the issue of possible deceit”, urging those who had “bombarded” his office with complaints to stay calm.
MultiChoice, the production company behind “Big Brother Naija”, was unapologetic, pointing out it was easier and more cost-effective to stage the show in its existing house in Johannesburg. During the only previous Nigerian edition a sponsor had removed the fuses from the house’s generators in a dispute over advertising, taking the programme off air for eight hours, says Remi Ogunpitan, a producer at the time. Eleven years later Nigeria’s power supply is still erratic, and the price of diesel for generators has more than doubled in the last six...Continue reading
Source: Middle East and Africa http://ift.tt/2jZ9gHt
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