Indeed there was an outcry when word hit town that Big Brother Nigeria Nigeria is being shot in SA. And the reason for the outcry was not farfetched; Nigeria is not benefitting financially.
In a swift reaction, the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed had directed the NBC to investigate the allegations and determine whether the producers had breached Nigerian broadcasting code including the issue of deceit because Nigerians were not informed it was shot in SA.
However, when Multichoice reacted, it had come up with the flimsy excuse that the reason for shooting in SA was because they have a fully equipped house in SA.
The question now is, is it in Nigeria’s national interest?
According to Wikipedia, national interest encapsulates a country’s goals and ambitions. Popularized by Niccolio Machiavelli, the underlying principle is that states should pursue their ‘selfish interests’ aggressively
For a country that makes a huge slice of its profits from Nigeria, it is unacceptable that Multichoice should take the show out of Nigeria because of the issue of capital flight among others.
While some Nigerians have argued sentimentally that it was for technical reasons, the excuse falls flat because when nations interract in the international system, sentiments are thrown aside.
How about investing in the country where it makes most of its profits? Nothing short of that will serve Nigeria’s national interest. Big Brother franchise is worth millions of dollars and especially at this time of recession, the jobs that were exported to SA would have gone to Nigerians.
In the above light, the NBC should act promptly and if there is need to wield the big stick, it must not hesitate because that would be protecting ‘aggressively,’ Nigeria’s national interest.