Consent is Key in Romance, Grass to Grace is Real & More: Here are 7 Vital Lessons from #BBNaija 2017

heheheehe....... As Nigeria's most watched reality television show, Big Brother Naija 2017, comes to an end after Efe emerged the winner, some lessons have been learnt from the show.

For 11 weeks, Nigerians watched and talked about the second edition of the Big Brother Nigeria reality TV show, and while it lasted, fans rallied around their favourite housemates.

 

One by one, the housemates were evicted, based on the votes cast for them by the audience throughout Nigeria, other parts of Africa and beyond.

 

As the days grew into weeks, fans brought out real life lessons from the show.

 

Here are some of the lessons learnt from the 77 days of action.

 

1. Nigerians appreciate good distractions

 

Nigerians need pleasant distractions from the many political intrigues going on in the country.

When the reality TV began about 78 days ago, there were many political issues that were generating heated conversations on the social media space. However, when the show began, many of these conversations were left solely for hard core political enthusiasts to discuss. At the end of the day, some of the by-products of the show were hijacked by politicians to pass their own messages.

 

2. Nigerians love the “grass-to-grace narrative”

 

Many people identify with such stories. One of the sentiments that propelled Efe Michael Ejeba to victory in the show was the empathy many viewers had for him. Whereas some of the housemates boast of how they had travelled round the world and so many other fantastic stories, Efe stuck to his “grass-to-grace” story and all the votes came flowing in.

3. Affiliations matter a lot

 

Again, Efe played the “affiliation card.” Instead of claiming Jos, Plateau State, where he was born and brought up, Efe claimed Warri, Delta State, where he probably has never spent up to a month. It worked. All Warri celebs queued behind him.

 

4. Nigerians don’t like pretenders (how they detect that is still not clear!)

 

All housemates perceived to be “pretending” or “not real enough” were given the boots early enough. Ask Gifty, Uriel and TBoss.

 

5. Nigerians still appreciate gentleness and other virtues

 

While many people may not have given the guitar-clutching Debie-Rise any chance at all, her gentleness captured the mind of many. Gentle to a fault, many assumed she had self-esteem issues. A few persons even suggested that she should see a therapist after the show. But no, Debie is fine; she is just another gentle Kogi girl focused on making it in life.

 

Maybe that would also explain why fake housemate, Jon, also got much love from housemates and audience.

 

6. Give it all. The end justifies the means. But there are limits

 

ThinTallTony gave it all. A few times, he even almost fed his integrity to the lions and that irked a lot of viewers. Perhaps if he had played within some limits, he would have brought the money home. Nevertheless, he didn’t get the N25m prize money and the SUV, but he now has people willing to partner with his brand more readily.

7. Women are not playthings. Consent is key in all relationships

 

There was so much kissing, caressing and even some crossing the line under the sheet; yet, only one of them resulted in the disqualification of a housemate.

 

The difference is that all other romantic shenanigans were done between consenting adults.

 

Credits: Punch