19th September, 2023
Nigerian businessman based in South Africa, Charles Awuzie has proposed the Big Brain Naija reality television show as an intellectual alternative to the ongoing Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) show.
Awuzie, founder and CEO of Gemsbok Group, made the plan known while expressing his disappointment after watching a viral video in which BBNaija housemates flunked simple questions on current and national issues.
According to Nigerian Tribune, Awuzie lampooned BBNaija as a celebration of emptiness.
He said the video was a national embarrassment enough to bring the reality show to an end.
“After watching the video, I simply registered the domain ‘BigBrainNaija dot com’ as an intellectual alternative to Big Brother Naija,” he said.
He reiterated that it is time to change the narrative and launch a counter-reality show that would promote intellectualism, creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship while entertaining the audience.
Awuzie noted that a few hours after he made the proposal, on his verified Facebook page, he had been receiving dozens of messages as regards partnership and sponsorship.
He said the Big Brain Naija reality show would assemble the best brains in Nigeria in one house for 50 days with the task of building a unique solution to the problems in their community.
While the winner of BBNaija, founded in 2006 and now in its eighth season, goes home with N120 million, Awuzie is proposing something much less for his alternative reality TV show.
He stated that the proposed Big Brain Naija show, whose winner would go home with N50 million to convert their solutions into business, would be streamed on major media platforms in the country.
“We need a reality TV show that will show our children that intellectualism can make them great and influential,” he added.
He said that he has tasked his team to work on the branding and website of Big Brain Naija and get them ready in two weeks.