Youths, Big Brother Reality Show and Voting Behaviour in Nigeria: Lessons for the Nigerian Government

Abstract

Voting is an acceptable way of making the preferred choice among many alternatives. The return to democracy in 1999 has recorded mixed feelings about the voting behaviour of Nigerian citizens, especially the youths who are characteristically apathetic politically. Surprisingly, the same youths who have been passively involved in general elections have on the other hand been actively voting to decide the winners of Big Brother Naija reality since the inception of the TV reality show in 2006. It begs the question of why Nigerian youths would go out of their convenience to vote to retain their preferred housemates that may not directly add value to them but will show apathy during the national election that usually determines the fate of all citizens for four years. This paper based on secondary data from desk research seeks answers to questions such as why Nigerian youths actively participate in voting during BB Naija editions compared to voting during general elections? What are the factors responsible for this youth voter apathy during the general elections and what lessons can be learnt from BB Naija electoral process? The findings show that digitalization is key missing link. BB Naija uses youth-friendly media platforms for electronic voting while the Nigerian government discourages it. Also, voting in BBN carries no risk of threat to life as the general elections in Nigeria does. Thus, if the Nigerian government learns from and adopts the electronic voting system such as used in BBN, the country will record a higher turnout of youths in the 2023 general elections. The study therefore recommended electronic voting as a pathway to making Nigerian youths to change their voting behaviour in general elections.KeywordsBig Brother NaijaNigeriaSocial mediaVoting behaviourYouths