BBTitans

It’s just week 2, but shout out to Big Brother and his children for acting like top bond and keeping us glued to our screens with their messiness.

HOH Games

After twerking and tugging like their lives depended on it, paired-up housemates, Blaqboi and Ipeleng, now known as Blaqleng, were crowned the heads of house for the week.

Southey vs Naija

Between Jenni O and Theo Traw’s fight that went from zero to a hundred real quick, and Thabang, Nelissa and Khosi’s egusi complaints, it’s a surprise Biggie hasn’t split the house according to nationality.

Inappropriate love nwantinti

We should come together as a community and beg Khosi and Yemi to leave each other alone so that we can all collectively REST. #Khoyemi broke up last week, but now they’ve somehow managed to find their way back into each other’s arms, wrecking chaos all over Biggie’s house.

The soft-launching of Jayvonne

Juicy Jay has finally moved past his confusion from last week and made a decision. After sharing their first kiss on Tuesday, Yvonne and Juicy Jay have moved from their throuple with Jenni O, soft-launching their ridiculously cute situationship in front of the entire house.

Mummy and daddy yard

I mean that, literally. Lukay and Ipeleng have spent more time in the garden this week than in their combined and individual beds.

The case of the scorned

A week of confrontation. Khosi had enough of Yemi and Blue Aiva’s canoodling and decided to go to her as a woman. As expected, that went down horribly. Blue Aiva became a clearing and forwarding agent overnight, and the entire altercation opened up a can of worms in the Khoyemi/Khosicle triangle, which led to Miracle preparing himself for a possible battle with Yemi.

Clearly, Biggie’s children have all come together to star in their broadway production: The Case of the Scorned.

The end of J.O.Y

All glory be to Juicy Jay’s unique brand of confusion. The J.O.Y squad is no more. After Jenni O went on a house-wide tour carrying face for Yvonne and Olivia and discussing her flirtatious interaction with Juicy Jay after Saturday’s party, the girlies have finally decided to be friendly from a distance.

The word for the season is Disrespect.

If I had a naira for every time these housemates went on about disrespect. I would be able to buy like two coaster biscuits by now. The housemates have built at least twenty-five ships in the space of eleven days, that even breathing around each other can now be termed as disrespect. I need Big Brother to ban that word so we can all hear word.

Saturday night is almost here, hopefully Big Brother and his Djs fix up, and the housemates make it to next week without burning the house down.

Starting next week (January 31st, 2023)
To stay entertained and unmoved by the bs, these are the only trusted, effective ways to watch BBTitans.

Don’t have a fave

Go in blind, come out blind. If possible, don’t even take note of their names. Give them nicknames, or better still, call them contestant 1 to whatever number they came in as. Detach yourself from Big Brother’s children lest they carry you go where you no know.

Make a deal with nepa

Go to their office with a big fat hamper and beg them one by one. We don’t care how they’ll know when you’ve watched enough. Just beg them to cut your light off when it’s enough.

Watch it only on your TV

Watch big brother only on your tv. Do not, and I’ll repeat it, do not watch it via Twitter. Agendas will rise. You’ll want to see what’s happening in real-time. Next thing, you’re awake at 3 a.m. watching your fave like a witch watches their calabash.

Wear a rubber band around your wrist

It’s going to get heated. The housemates will get into fights, but you have to remember, it’s their fight, not yours. So every time you feel like standing on your sofa and swearing for the poor TV that hasn’t done anything to you, snap the band around your wrist to snap yourself back to reality.

Hire a slapper

Pay your slapper well oo, so they can slap you just enough to reset your brain if you start doing the most for the housemates, but not enough to give you temporary amnesia.

Don’t ship

I know they’re cute, I know you love love, but remember, human beings cannot be trusted. If you ship, they’ll do as they please, and you’ll have to defend them on Twitter. Bye bye sanity.

Japa

Pack your load and leave the country. Get as far away as you can. That way, you can’t just turn on your TV and see them. Problem solved.
These are exciting times for young Nigerians. Unless you’ve been disconnected from the modern world, you’d know that a lot of activities — or what some people would term “distractions” — stand in the way of voters as we approach the 2023 general elections.

On January 15, 2023, we were treated to the latest of them, the Big Brother Titans. The reality show which is hosted by Multichoice on DStv has found popularity among young Nigerian audiences, especially within the Gen Z age bracket. Without much ado, let’s get into the gist of these so-called distractions.

Football

The beautiful game is loved by millions of Nigerians. Lots of us follow the big European leagues like the Italian Serie A and the English Premier League. As title challenges get tougher, so does the decision to select Nigeria’s next President.

Let’s face it, you won’t always watch your team play. Either because you’re unavailable or in some cases — like Chelsea fans will tell you — your team isn’t fun to watch.

You can stream the highlights later while you dedicate election weekends to voting. Suspend watching football or even playing football so you don’t disenfranchise yourself as a registered voter.

Netflix (and chill)

2023 will see lots of great shows featured on your favourite streaming services like Netflix, Prime and Showmax. There’s also the chill component which should be more than enough to distract you from any pressing issues, including elections.

We ask that you take two days off — February 25 and March 11 — to exercise your civic duties. The elections come once in four years. You can always return to Netflix, so chill.

TGIF

Everyone looks forward to the end of a work week, which makes Friday everyone’s favourite day. Trouble is, you could party too hard on Friday and get completely hungover on Saturday which is election day.

We’re not saying you shouldn’t be a baller, we’re only saying you shouldn’t forget to mark February 25 on your calendar. Let’s get out there and vote the right people in so we don’t become mechanics.

BBTitans

BBTitans is a reality show that brings together housemates from two countries, Nigeria and South Africa. It’s the first time this is happening. The original shows in the respective countries are Big Brother Naija (BBN) and Big Brother Mzansi. This merger will see the best — and worst — of both cultures battle it out over 72 days for the grand prize of $100,000.

The show’s title alludes to the fact that the two countries are the continent’s economic titans vying for supremacy.

Meanwhile, Nigerians on social media have held interesting opinions regarding the show’s timing. One account referred to the organisers as part of an “organized crime syndicate.”

Then there’s this guy below concerned about the “over 20 housemates” that will determine the outcome of the 2023 elections. An election with over 93 million eligible voters.

While these are no doubt comical, there’s nothing that says you can’t have the best of both worlds. Go out and vote for your candidate during the day and then vote for your favourite housemate up for eviction in the evening.

Social media

Twitter is a fun place to be for banter and the occasional dragging. It’s also a place to get lost in, same as other social media platforms around like TikTok, Facebook or YouTube.

While we’re all for having fun, don’t do it at the expense of missing out on voting on election day. It’s the least you owe yourself if you truly want Nigeria to get better.

In summary, there are enough distractions to go around — those are unavoidable. You shouldn’t, however, use them as excuses to not exercise your civil rights. Big Brother, football, Netflix or Twitter will always be there. The polling booth on the other hand will be closed for voting by 4pm on the election days.

So the ultimate question is, would you rather trade a moment of inconvenience for four years of suffering?

We write the news and track the 2023 elections for citizens by citizens in our weekly newsletter, Game of Votes. Make the subscription of a lifetime here.
Yesterday marked the beginning of another season of Nigeria’s most-watched reality TV show, Big Brother Naija.

Or should we say Big Brother Titans (BBTitans) since it is fused with both the Nigerian and South African franchises?

As many Nigerians were excited to see what the collaborative season would hold, some patriotic Nigerians were not so happy about the Big Brother Titans’ timing. It clashes with a critical point in Nigeria’s history — the 2023 general elections.

I actually agree that Bbnaija organizers are tone deaf and part of our problem in Nigeria 🇳🇬,

Starting the so called Big Brother Titans show this weekend is a very wrong timing,

They should suspend the show until after the elections.

Elections >>>> BBNAIJA
— Man City Principal 🕒 (@BarcaPrincipal) January 13, 2023

There are also conspiracy theories about political parties sponsoring the show to distract voters, according to Labour Party spokesperson Yunusa Tanko.

Was launching BBTitans the right move? Could it really “distract” young voters? Here’s what four Nigerian youths had to say about this:

“The timing is alarming and gives money laundering vibes for the elections.” — Martha*

Videographer Martha believes that while people are now more politically aware of the need to vote, the BBTitans may be funded by political opposition parties because of the timing.

According to Martha, “Why would they be having to run the whole show now? What happened to having to do a reunion for the last set? Before a new one begins? And they had to kickstart a new one by January? It doesn’t just feel right.

I also believe it’s a money laundering avenue for the elections. Any money that is moved at this point would be considered as “sponsor’s money”, and there will be no trace to find.”

On her thoughts of voting for the 2023 elections, Martha sadly can’t join the bandwagon of voters this year, as she could not catch up with Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) registrations.

“The BBTitans are also at risk of losing viewership during the elections” — Isaac*

Isaac as a media practitioner is highly anticipating voting for his favourite candidates in the 2023 elections and doesn’t see the show as a distraction.

However, he also wants people to realise that the 2023 elections are not the only program at risk of losing the attention it deserves.

In his opinion, Multichoice (the African broadcasting company hosting the show) would also be aware of the 2023 elections holding and might also be taking a huge business risk by organising the show at this time.

He also feels that the decision was made due to the two countries (Nigeria and South Africa) coming together to host one show.

“People arguing about the BBTitans timing is an agenda that is unreal.” — Yinka

For upcoming music artist Yinka, he doesn’t see why an election process of 2-4 hours for 2 days will clash with BBTitans.

According to Yinka, “As a voter, I am not going to spend the whole day watching BBTitans. I am also not going to spend all day at the polls. Most of the BBTitan drama happens in the evenings from past seasons. This doesn’t coincide with voting which takes place in the morning. The fact that people are literally taking this agenda and running with it shows that Nigerians are bored and just looking for anything to talk about. It is an agenda that is unreal.”

“Big Brother will not distract me from my tasks.” — Elizabeth

Big Brother is definitely not the hindrance that people think it is, according to Elizabeth.

In her own words, “I think there’s no one that was really going to vote that’d be distracted by BBN. I watch BBN and still deliver on my tasks, so this is not even that deep.”

Sadly, Elizabeth can’t vote due to issues with recapturing her Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

So what do we think about their opinions? Let us also know your thoughts in the comments below.

Don’t forget to pick up your PVC and vote come February!

We write the news and track the 2023 elections for citizens by citizens in our weekly newsletter, Game of Votes. Make the subscription of a lifetime here.
We’re all watching you BBTitans for the fun and drama, but there are life lessons you could use to up your dating game in there too. Here are a few surefire tips on how you can shoot your shots at your crush, BBTitans-style.

Be mysterious

They’ll be curious about you when they’re not sure who you are, what you are, or whether or not you even have sense. The best way to do this is to not talk too much.

Flirt with them and stylishly ask if they have a partner

Not because it matters to you or because it’s going to stop you anyway. But because you need to know early on if you have competition. So flirt with them a little and start dropping lines like “I don’t want anybody to come and beat me o”.

If they do, snatch them

If they say they do, go on the offensive and snatch them. Don’t worry about the relationship they already have. That’s just collateral damage.

Become their listening ear

You need to be the person they share their deepest secrets with. So they can let you in closer and closer until they’ve let their guard down completely.

Then tell them you’re related to Kiddwaya

You can get their attention by just randomly dropping it in a conversation that you’re related to Kiddwaya and you don’t really need the money.

Be a little ~~toxic~~ dramatic

Have someone else on the side and flirt with them in your crush’s face, so they can feel a little peppered and pay you some attention.

But love-bomb them with food

You already have Big Brother’s kitchen to yourself. Love-bomb them with food till they forget their sense and start following you up and down. Confusion is your primary agenda.

Do their laundry

Offer to wash everything they own. Yes, everything including their underwear. That way, they’re sure you’ll do anything for them.

Give them your duvet

Even if they already have one, give them your duvet so they can stay warm when it’s cold. Yes, we know it’s blazing hot these days but that doesn’t matter. Cold is coming and they’ll need more than one duvet. Love is all about sacrifice.

Or just watch BBTitans on GOtv to learn all the other tips yourself

There are just too many tactics for shooting your shots and we can’t just release all of them to you like that. So, watch the BBTitans show yourself so you can learn more and have fun. It’s showing on GOtv. Don’t say Zikoko didn’t do anything for you.