Since the revelation that Big Brother Naija will return for a seventh season in June 2022, the Nigerian media landscape, particularly social media, has been flooded with varied viewpoints. It’s expected. One of the disputes that piqued this writer’s interest on social media was a plea to suspend this year’s edition of the event “because Nigeria is preparing for an election, and we don’t want any distraction.”

In the previous two years, I’ve argued in multiple pieces that the show has become one of the most promising ways for young Nigerians to leave the hustle life. The show also contributes to Nigeria’s economy. My position has evolved over time as a result of empirical data from reputable scholars’ study and personal encounter with several young Nigerians who I’ve discovered are making it big on the platform provided by BBNaija.

Just a year ago, I claimed that with BBNaija, Nigeria is regaining its position as the nation that the other 51 African countries look up to in everything, i.e. the ‘Big Brother’ of African nations.

When BBNaija season 6 ended in October 2021, Abeg Technologies, the reality TV show’s headline sponsor, reported that usage of its Abeg app increased by 7000% as a result of its sponsorship.

According to Patricia Adoga, Chief Operating Officer of Abeg Technologies, the success of the BBNaija show influenced the company’s business. The number of Abeg app users jumped from 20,000 before BBNaija Season 6 to 1.8 million during the show.

This is the power of the show. The Abeg app returns as a sponsor this year, albeit under a different name: Pocket by PiggyVest. As we prepare for the 2023 elections, we should look for methods to use BBNaija’s popularity to galvanize the demographic that will be glued to the show for the 70 days it airs on TV.

Sociopolitical activists should use BBNaija’s strength and influence to motivate and mobilize young people to participate in the process that can and will generate Nigeria’s next leaders. Especially in an election where issues that directly affect young Nigerians, including as insecurity, rising unemployment, and police brutality, will dominate discourse and campaign themes.

Now that young people have acknowledged their power and are prepared to use it in the next election, this is no longer a work for the politically minded. Despite the campaigning for the 2023 elections, there is still an army of young Nigerians who appear to be less interested about who becomes the next President or local government chairman who is expected to restore the life-threatening terrible roads leading to their residence.

Many of them are pop culture lovers. BBNaija is where you may find many of them and appropriately sensitize and encourage them to join the ongoing movement.

Because of their global reach, football championships like the English Premier League (EPL) have become a platform for demanding peace in the face of a full-fledged war in Ukraine. During the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the United States, the America Got Talent (AGT) event did not distract demonstrators. The show continued.

We should not suspend economic, social, and other activities in order to ensure that the elections are conducted correctly. If politics is a numbers game, and the Independent National Electoral Commission reports that 74.7% of newly-registered voters are youths aged 18 to 34, and this demographic is the primary audience for BBNaija, we should take the message to them where they are most comfortable.

We’ve seen how BBNaija housemates have used their daily jobs to address social issues such as rape, drug abuse, and mental health; it’s not surprising that the 2023 elections will dominate their daily activities during the seventh edition.

Rather than calling for a suspension, political advocates and social crusaders should investigate ways to leverage BBNaija’s capacity to reach more young people and harness their enthusiasm and numbers to drive social change.