Give us power to sanction Big Brother Naija, Bobriski – NCAC

The Director-General of the National Council for Arts and Culture, NCAC, Segun Runsewe, has asked the House of Representatives to give his council powers to go after organizers of Big Brother Nigeria over nudity in the reality TV show, and popular online personality, Bobrisky.

Runsewe made the call on Tuesday, October 04, 2022, while appearing before an ad hoc committee investigating the duplication of ministries, departments and agencies.

What Runsewe said: He stated that nudity as displayed by the organizer of the popular show is against the culture of Nigeria.

How this can be fixed: The DG stated that proper amendment of the council’s act will allow them to go after BBN organizers and crossdressers like Bobrisky.

“I am the first person who took Big Brother Nigeria to the NBC to report them because they were having—I took it up and Big Brother (organisers) tried to reach me and I told them that if the culture in other parts of the world is to be naked – nudity, etc., they should not bring it to Nigeria because our culture is rich and it respects the integrity of our country,” he said.

He added that “This honourable House just needs to empower us with just a legal framework and that nonsense will stop.”

What you should know: The National Broadcasting Commission already has the power to sanction the airing of nude content on Television.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Victor Danzaria, said the government is wasting a lot of resources on agencies that are doing the same functions.

“This is a waste for this country, we are looking at areas where we can shrink governance and increase productivity,” he said.

Necessary history and facts: In 2019, NCAC made moves to to push for the signing into law of the 2008 Nudity Bill, in a bid to ban the Big Brother Naija reality TV show.

According to reports, the NCAC has already lodged a complaint with the NBC) over live sex’ witnessed in the ongoing reality TV show which airs on DStv.

NBC has currently banned the showing or viewing of the current Big Brother South Africa known as BBMzansi from being televised in Nigerian over nudity.

In a video which trended online in January 2022, the show organizers aired the moment the housemates were bathing in their shower room. These moments were not supposed to be seen by local viewers as BBNaija tried to sensor them in their past shows.