That’s really the only way to put it. These past few weeks and the various scandals on the show have confirmed to us that it really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about it, the cultural power the show wields is insane.

Think about it. People spend tons of money making and trying to get people to watch television shows. Many people have just accepted that Nigerians generally, save for a small subset, don’t watch TV if it’s not football.

Somehow, this show – which, by the way, airs only on cable TV, not online or on terrestrial TV – has everyone constantly tweeting and talking about it. Nominations and live shows are events of their own on social media. Different combinations of housemates’ names trend on Twitter everyday. The show generates a dramatically larger amount of organic conversation than other shows (scripted or otherwise) could even dream of. Even The Voice, the last TV show we can say truly captured the attention of the Nigerian public so rapturously, didn’t wield this much power.

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So, what’s the reason? Hard to say. We suspect it’s some combination of the fact that it’s ‘real life’ and the ‘anything can happen’ vibe of the house. The fact that it’s real people essentially results in anything that happens being less ‘plot twist’ and more ‘gist’ or gossip.

And what do people love more than that?

Editor