Please!!! Ban Big Brother Africa (BBA)

I had thought this essay today would concentrate on the beginning; that it would serve a prefatory function by delineating what shall be, from today and henceforth, my focus in this column. I had planned to chart, in the manner of the cartographer, the pattern and style of my intervention as a columnist for this […]

I had thought this essay today would concentrate on the beginning; that it would serve a prefatory function by delineating what shall be, from today and henceforth, my focus in this column. I had planned to chart, in the manner of the cartographer, the pattern and style of my intervention as a columnist for this unarguably one of the most widely read newspaper in this country. But it did not take long before I realized that the beginning, like the origin, is already predetermined by He whose existence has no beginning.

It did not take long before it dawned on me that there can be no other style or method for me here, as it is in other fora, other than that which would and should be fashioned against the depraved principalities of evil, immorality and dissoluteness which continue to threaten the very existence of our nation and the very essence of our being as culturally constructed entities.

Immediately I sat in front of my laptop to do this piece and the moment I did a cursory assessment of questions bordering on the essence of our existence as a nation, I came to the conclusion that the space yielded by The Daily Trust would serve no better purpose than that of seeking a return to life of decorum and dignity for all Nigerians. I came to the conclusion that any essay that would grace the pages of this tabloid must derive its mandate from the necessity to reinvent the Nigerian nation through a careful deconstruction of the contradictions that nest at the core of that geographical entity known as Nigeria.

Coming to that conclusion equally became easy when Big Brother Africa (BBA) “invaded” my homestead a couple of weeks back. But that did one other “positive” thing: it called my attention to the tsunami of 2004. The event of the tsunami was, in the reckoning of contemporary historians, unprecedented. It was, according to scientists, largely unpremeditated. But those imbued with learning and discernment, those who know a bit of the ways of the Almighty Allah would argue that whenever humanity decides to ‘invite’ the Creator into a duel and a fight, what usually result is untold natural disasters the like of which only the people of Ad, Thamud, Lut and Nuh would validate.

Thus I remember that hours, days, months and indeed years before the tsunami occurred that day, that year in 2004, nations bordering the Indian Ocean, like others across the world, had been immersed in iniquitous ways.

In parts of Asia, corruption had become the order of the day. There had been reports of women who had become tired of being women. In instances where they chose to remain as women, sexual incontinence had become commonplace. Some women had redefined their identities; they had taken pleasure in their sexual objectification. Such women derived pleasure and happiness in being seen as tools of advertisement, in being seen as sexual playthings. They had become worshippers of the new idol. The new idol was, and still remain women’s bodies.

But it was not only women that had descended into the abyss of Jahiliyyah; the abyss of ignorance. The tsunami occurred at a time some among men had also sought changes to their gender. A visit to parts of Asia then would expose you to the guiles and wiles of men who were no longer men. These were men who constantly sought to be penetrated. These were men who lust after their own gender.

In addition to the insuperable scenes of homosexualism, the hitherto unfamiliar sights and scenes of fornication and adultery had become familiar. There were lots of women who had no suitors; there were lots of men who could not afford the wedding ring. Yet, men always wanted to be men; women always wanted to be women, particularly those who are, in American parlance, “straight”. Thus where marriage becomes impossible, extra-marital affairs become, for the faithless, excusable.

But all of the above were actually not the most iniquitous event of the period. The most atrocious sin of the period – and even now – happened to be the culpable silence of those who know but refused to warn people against the imminent punishment of the Almighty. Parents beheld their daughters in gowns and garments which left little to imagination and yet shrugged it off. Boys went about in the city with earrings, sagging trousers and yet no voice of rebuttal was heard from their fathers.

 

Muslim clerics constantly read the Quran including the following: “Curses were pronounced on those among the Children of Israel who rejected Faith, by the tongue of David and of Jesus the son of Mary: because they disobeyed and persisted in excesses; They did not prevent one another from committing sins nor would they themselves stay away from them. Evil was what they had done (Quran 5: 78-79).

 

 

Yet no voice was raised by the clergy against men and women of evil in their societies. The world had by then become ripe for retribution; it felt as if humanity desired to be given a “taste of [the consequence of] what they have done that perhaps they will return [to righteousness”. (Quran 30:41).

 

Thus when the Tsunami occurred, it left in its wake total destruction. It killed “an estimated 230,000 people and wreaked untold devastation on a wide swath of coastline from Somalia on the east African coast to Sumatra in Southeast Asia. While most earthquakes last for only a few seconds, it is reported that the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, as it is known to the scientific community, lasted almost ten minutes, triggering other earthquakes as far away as Alaska and causing the entire planet to move at least a few centimeters”. While scientists would argue that factors for the

 

Tsunami may have included global warming, the Quran further teaches that the world constantly sits on the precipice. What keeps it on hold is blessing of Allah and humanity’s preparedness not to transgress the boundaries and limits set by the Creator. Whenever it does, perdition follows. The Quran says: The Most Merciful; Taught by the Qur’an; (He) Created man, [And] taught him eloquence; The sun and the moon [move] by precise calculation; And the heaven He raised and imposed the balance; That you do not transgress within the balance (Quran 55:7)

 

I recalled the above lessons of the Quran when I returned home from my lectures a couple of weeks ago and decided to catch up on the latest news in town. News programming on the Cable Network happens to be the only ones I enjoy. I know that news is evil. But I equally prefer to be aware exactly when this world comes to an end. I do not want to be told when the madness

 

in the world would experience a cessation. Even if the news is evil, I always argue, let me be aware of it perhaps I would be able to deflect it.

 

Thus immediately I turned on the television there appeared on the screen one of the atrocious images and scenes from Big Brothers Africa (BBA). I was completely taken aback. Before then, the so-called reality show had achieved renown for its depraved content. It had achieved renown for its degraded sensualism; for its lack of grace and refinement in moral rectitude and for its extremely “rich” potentials as the liquidator of human dignity and sanctity. When the show first emerged about a decade ago, I never had to bother about it. I never had to bother about watching BBA. As it is today, it was then. I never had enough time to “follow” or “like” anybody else but Islam, Prophet Muhammad and intellectualism. But I remember that the moment it staged its emergence, the BBA became an instant hit. It became famous, among the ornaments of the society, for its moral profligacy. It generated enough opprobrium that led to calls for its prohibition. As it is today, it was then. The BBA is the quintessential soap opera in the cathedral of the faithless. Its contents and characterizations call attention to the ways of Sodom and Gomorah.

 

Thus when the BBA programme suddenly appeared on the screen, when it “infected”, like a virus, the programme schedules of the Cable Television to which I subscribed, I immediately contacted the provider for its delisting, and on a permanent basis, from my account. Call that the pretension of a prurient conservative and you would be right. But I knew I had to do that immediately. I had to do right there and then because I knew I shall be held responsible for the extremely atrocious cues my children would derive from watching such programmes. I knew I would be held accountable for hosting in living room, albeit indirectly, a show in which vulgarity and obscenities now pass for art and excellence. I remembered the following tradition of the Prophet: “By Him in whose hands is my soul, you shall be under obligation to enjoin that which is right and forbid that which is wrong otherwise it is possible that the Almighty would send a punishment on you from Himself and for which you would call on Him but you would not be answered”.

 

Would you join me in forbidden evil and in spreading this call for the delisting of BBA from the menu of Cable Television providers here in Nigeria? Would you stop hosting BBA in your house, on the screen of your television sets? I ask these questions simply because I know that life here on earth is like a ride on train, or in a bus. Whereas I could prevent the corruption of the minds of my children from their viewing of BBA, such an effort would not be productive unless and until your children are equally aware that the BBA show is not only corrosive of our cultural values but is equally an infraction of the divine will. Whenever a woman commoditize her femininity in the open, which is what happens on the BBA anyway, and a section of the society applauds and eulogizes her, then such a society is due for ruination.