Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed has asked the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to stop airing the Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) Reality TV Show.
The show premiered its season 5 on Sunday, 20th of July with 20 housemates.
During the week, Acting DG of NBC, Armstrong Idachaba told senior management members that he had the instruction of the Minister to stop the show.
The Commissioner intended to use the directive on social distancing by the Presidential Task Force on Covid19 directive as ploy to halt the program.
Organisers of the show were not disposed to putting a stop to an entertainment channel they consider most viewed in Africa.
There are insinuations on social media that the Minister intends to send Multichoice away in order for him to replace it with another service provider which he has an interest in.
Following Lai Mohammed’s position on the show, a letter dated July 1 was sent to Multichoice, Organisers of BBNaija seeking an explanation on their preparedness for covid19.
Multichoice responded with detailed explanations on their level of preparedness.
They told the Minister through Idachaba about the steps they took in collaboration with the Lagos State Safety Commission. The Lagos Sate agency gave them the go-ahead after a satisfactory assessment of the measures put in place by the organisers.
According to Multichoice, the housemates were screened for covid19 and, placed in isolation for 14 days during which covid19 would have manifested if anyone had it.
Prior to take-off, the house was decontaminated and adapted to social distancing protocols. This is in addition to eliminating the use of the traditional live audience. The also ensured that there was provision of generous amounts of hand sanitisers.
Acting DG Idachaba is reported to have insisted on carrying out the Minister’s instruction. The same manner he altered the broadcast code. This is more so as he deems Lai Mohammed to be very relevant to his confirmation as substantive DG of NBC.
Since the Minister’s directive, Nigerians have been analysing the motive behind the order:
