CITIZENS COMPASS—A human rights lawyer, Maduabuchi Idam, yesterday, petitioned the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), for an immediate ban or strict regulation of a TV reality show, Big Brother Naija (BBNaija).
The programme has recorded huge success particularly among Nigerian youths.
Recently, the programme captured two of the contestants openly romancing themselves.
This has attracted criticism among some Nigerian parents.
The lawyer described the programme as obscene, indecent, and prof@ne, and gave the commission 30 days to act or face legal action.
In the petition addressed to NBC’s Director General and titled “Urgent need to ban or regulate the content of the television programme indecent, and prof@ne content, pursuant to the NBC Act 1999,” Idam accused the show of airing real-time explicit and pornographic content freely on television and social media.
“The show is not only aired on national TV but its profane content is proudly shared on the verified social media handles of the host company, in total disregard for public morality,” he stated.
He questioned why NBC, which had previously banned or sanctioned music videos by Olamide, Phyno, Wizkid, and others for similar reasons, has remained silent about BBNaija’s content.
Although BBNaija is rated 18+, Idam said this rating is insufficient because the show’s content is still easily accessible to underage viewers and the general public, especially via social media.
He argued that the programme contributes nothing of educational, artistic, scientific, or literary value and blamed it for undermining public decency and morality.
Idam urged the NBC to restrict the show to highly regulated channels reserved for adult audiences and to prohibit the distribution of expl+cit clips by the host company online.
He stressed that Nigeria, already struggling with insecurity and other social vices, cannot afford the moral damage caused by such unregulated content.
“The NBC must act now to prevent further erosion of our societal values,” he warned, threatening legal action if no action is taken within 30 days.
—9NewsNigeria
