Are BBN’s Tega and her husband playing us?

Who is us? I’m sure you are far too smart to fall for the antics of some fame-seekers? Hopefully, you know what prompted the above question? Just in case you’ve been too occupied with more important-life and death-things, allow me to bring you up to (some kind of) speed. Tega Dominic, the 29-year-old mother of one was one of the housemates in the ongoing Big Brother Naija, season 6. Tega who is also very married got into some under-the-sheet shenanigans with fellow housemate and evictee, Boma Akpore, 34. Boma who prided himself as being ‘okro’ because of his slippery nature where women are concerned, was married but now divorced. He didn’t stop at romping with a married woman on TV, he was also a kiss and tell and he said some unflattering things about Tega saying that certain parts of her smell like fish.

As usual, TV viewers (and non-viewers) have had a lot to say about how Tega has disrespected her husband, Ajeboh aka AJ Money, and their marriage vows. Right now, I suspect that many consider Tega to be the face of adultery in Nigeria. Some have also suggested she goes into the business of advertising fish. Don’t try to reason or be logical about this. There’s a ‘War of the sexes’ angle to it all. If Tega’s husband had done what she did, do we know whether the reaction would have been the same? Does anyone ever accuse Nigerian men of disgracing their wives, their manhood, or their family?

Whichever way you look at it, this past week has been hard on relationships especially between men and women. But women have been the worse hit. Just as people were discussing the merits (or lack thereof) of what Tega did and whether it’s right for men to allow their wives to go on shows like Big Brother Naija came Annie Macaulay Idibia’s anguished outburst on social media about her husband Tuface/Tubaba’s (Innocent Idibia) refusal to put proper boundaries between him and one of his baby mamas, Pero. Since her viral posts came to light, almost everyone now has an opinion about marriage. There are quite a few single people who feel this Annie/Tuface/Pero confusion somewhat vindicates their reasons to remain single. Based on these kinds of people, what hope is there for marriage? After all, Tega who in spite of being married carried on as if she was single. I was certainly surprised to discover that she was married and even a mum. Unlike fellow housemate Jackie B who almost prefaces every conversation with her son, I can’t say I ever heard Tega talk of being married or being a mother. I recall hearing her talk of an ex-boyfriend who visited her on a Wednesday but went ahead to marry someone else a few days later.

Then there’s the whole paternity mess concerning Uzoamaka Ohiri, Nedu’s (Chinedu Ani) ex-wife. Nedu, a comedian and an on-air personality had revealed that DNA results showed that their first child, a boy, wasn’t his. A clip was published of Uzoamaka saying Nedu only assumed the child was and his and that she hadn’t told him he was the boy’s father or words to that effect. However, after listening to an extended version of her interview, the story becomes clearer. Uzoamaka met Nedu after she’d broken up with her ex-boyfriend not knowing she was already pregnant. The said DNA test was conducted in 2019 which tells a different story from the one we’ve been hearing that DNA came about because Nedu was trying to apply for a Canadian visa (?) for his children. Meanwhile, the Tonto Dikeh issue is on another level altogether. In all this, the use of social media has compounded simple issues. Nonetheless, let’s stick to Tega, Boma, and AJ Money.

·   Should married people enter Big Brother?

If we are being sincere, the real question is whether it’s okay for married women to take part in the Big Brother reality series. How many men will happily give their permission for their wives to go into the Big Brother house? If you think a husband’s permission is not necessary, it means you’re too woke. Anyhow, I haven’t heard many complaints about the married men that go into the Big brother house. Off the top of my head, there have been a few married men in the history of Big Brother. The most is Tanzania’s Richard, Big Brother Africa, who even though married, carried on in the house like he wasn’t. In recent BBN seasons, there’s been, Mike Edwards. In BBN season 2, Thin Tall Tony did try to hide his marriage. Yet, even in this current season, there was one married man, Niyi. Although the fact that he was one of the first housemates to be evicted from the Shine Ya Eye BB House cannot help anyone see marriage as an advantage. I imagine many would argue that Niyi didn’t “disgrace” his wife and their family. Never mind that it’s not quite clear what a man would have to do, how bad it must be, to be considered a disgrace to his family.

Anyhow, whether married people should be part of Big Brother is an ongoing conversation/debate. Single or married, going into the Big Brother house for me is a complete no-no. The very idea of Big Brother, especially as it’s being conducted in these parts, is to expose housemates to temptation by distorting their contexts, and see how far they can fall. By the time you add alcohol, all bets are off. Which is why I could never compete in Big Brother. It isn’t just about being yourself (how I hate this ‘being myself’ phrase). Housemates make a big song about not having a game plan and I always ask: How can you plan to win N90 million naira without a plan? Not having a strategy is in itself a plan/strategy. Or by just being yourself. Are you that interesting? Don’t forget you have to carry fans and potential fans along too. Meanwhile, fans can be fickle. One minute they’re pushing for more interesting content, pushing housemates into different ‘ships’: relationships, situationships, foolishness-ships (or yeye-ship), etc. The next minute, these same people turn moralistic, asking for housemates’ heads, especially when women are involved.

So, where do Tega and her husband come in? There’s no doubt that Tega and her husband, Ajeboh decided that she try out her luck on Big Brother Naija seeing it as some kind of shortcut to fame. When the news of Boma and Tega first broke, Tega’s husband put out a short video claiming Tega must have been paying him back for his infidelity. And she had to do so on national/intercontinental TV to get back at her husband? The man would later go on to claim he was devastated by Tega’s involvement with Boma. He also claimed that his wife hadn’t called him after leaving the Big Brother House. Yet she insisted in one of her interviews that she called him and didn’t know why he was saying otherwise.

·      Become a celebrity or die trying?

Now, the latest videos show the two hugging and holding on to each other for dear life. So, who’s lying? And is all the embarrassment worth it? I blame the craving for celebrity. Nowadays, there are many willing to do just about anything in order to become famous. No matter how undignifying. These are the kinds of people that believe any kind of publicity should be is welcome. Under the guise of providing content and entertainment, a lot of nonsense gets swallowed. And why not? Bad behaviour seems to be rewarded. Tega was celebrating moving from 6k Instagram followers to 27k plus. By the time I checked, that number had moved up to 306k. You go figure.

Onoshe Nwabuikwu, AIRTIME columnist is a renowned TV/Film critic, and Film scholar. She also has experience in Advertising as a senior Copywriter and Corporate Communications as Communications consultant