The Greatest Show of Shame Called Big
Brother Africa
By
Adeniyi Jaiyesimi
adeniyijay@yahoo.com
Ordinarily I wouldn't have bothered but I guess it has become
increasingly embarrassing to pretend that it really doesn't matter and
that could be misconstrued as being in support. What am I talking about
you may ask? Well before I answer, I want to tell you an incident I
witnessed at a wedding reception in
Lagos.
The chairman of the reception in his speech attempted to counsel the
newly weds especially the groom. He informed them that in his thirty
years of marriage, he had never had any cause to be unfaithful to his
wife. What happened next is something that has baffled me and will
continue to for a long time because the chairman had not finished this
sentence before cat calls and shouts of unbelief started pouring out
from the guests especially the men. Now whether the man was telling the
truth or not is not the issue here but the fact that people have become
so depraved in their thinking and lifestyle that they would rather react
with unbelief and cat calls to an admonition for faithfulness by
partners in an institution as sacred as marriage. Well, that is the bane
of the world today and quite unfortunate. Many would want to think that
there are no more people who still uphold the stand for fidelity in
their marriages.
Today's society has become obsessed with anything and everything fleshy.
The word 'fleshy' meaning anything that involves the display, attract,
expose, stimulate or indulge in, whether covertly or overtly of carnal
desires. We have become slaves to passion and its allurements and would
do anything to satisfy our appetites for them. Many would steal, lie,
fight, cheat, deceive to receive, malign, slander and commit the worst
crimes like rape and kidnapping just to satisfy this cravings.
What is it about humans that we are so easily captivated by the lure of
the flesh? I guess the answer lies in the fact that we have thrown
overboard all values and sense of morality that has guided the people of
the Africa continent and substituted it with everything foreign. In
attempting to be western in our lifestyle, we act more western than the
west. We pretend as if we do not see the repercussion or consequences of
this type of behavior in the western society (break down of
traditional family values) and yet we copy! copy!! copy!!! even
to our ruin and eventual downfall as a nation and as a people.
The so called entertainment TV Programme, Big brother Africa is a
glaring example of the extent of our depravity. I do not see anything
different between what happens in this show of shame and what
prostitutes and harlots and their pimps do for a living. Slaves to
money. When two or more people who have never known each other except
for the fact there have been placed in the same house to live-in would
indulge in such show of unbridled carnal appetites all in the name of
entertainment is a clear indication that people have indeed gone
bonkers, and all sense of value and discretion have disappeared from the
African society. The producers, sponsors, presenters, actors and indeed
the VIEWERS of such Programme are all liable for destroying the fabric
upon which genuine society (Decency and upholding of
traditional family values) is built.
I am writing this piece and thus raising alarm, peradventure something
can be done to salvage the situation before it gets out of hand. I am
glad that the House of Representatives has taken a major step in
curtailing the total destruction of the Nigerian society. The world has
become a global village, Agreed! But that does not mean we have lost our
sovereignty as a Nation. We can analyze and determine what type of
information should flow to our people. Any information that attacks and
destroys the upholding of
traditional family values should be prevented from getting into
the country.
Allow me give a bad example, the government of the
peoples republic of China in its effort to resist vulgarity and
indecency in the country recently banned all reality TV shows from
showing during prime time.
I want to use this opportunity to caution our own ofunekka who featured
in the recently concluded edition of the BBA reality TV Programme that
she shouldn't be deceived into thinking that all is well or she has done
anybody proud because she hasn't!! Infact her actions at the end of the
show only confirmed what I had always suspected; that she was a
pretender and with time and a little pressure she would display her true
colors. I'm sure if the show had run for another week, we would have
seen her in much worse behavior. SHAME ON YOU!
You say your parents are proud of you? What manner of parent would be
proud of a daughter that goes on to bath nude for millions of eyes to
behold? Your guess is as good as mine. What type of daughter would get
drunk in the first instance and thereafter pretend not to be aware when
she is sexually assaulted? I'm sure even a prostitute would put up a
better performance! You have brought ridicule to our Country and our
people and ought to bury your face in shame.
Adeniyi Jaiyesimi, lives in Abuja.