Introduction

Itremainsa known fact that some people getsinfluencedbywhat they see, especially ontelevision. The television as a broadcast medium is a potent tool that is capable of shapingcultural values. If not used positively, it may lead to many undesirable results such as domesticviolence, psychological disturbances, juvenile delinquencies and many more (Ekhayeme, 2011).Television is one of the most influential media and it has become very easy for people to getattracted to televised programme and become addicted to it because pictures, sound and coloursarenaturallypowerfulingredientofinfluence.Studieshavefocusedonhowtelevisionprogrammes that appear to be "real" alter the viewer's perception of reality or social reality(Nwafor&Ezike, 2015).

However, a buzz television programme that is leaving its mark on the youths in recent times inNigeria contemporary society is the Big Brother Naija (BBNaija) which originates from BigBrother Africa (BBA), and this programme appears to be taking over reality TV in Nigeria(Oluwakayode, 2013). Big Brother Naija, was previously known as Big Brother Nigeria and it isa reality TV competition television series in which 26 contestants live together in an isolatedhouse and compete for a large cash prize of #60,000,000 (Sixty Million Naira) (the money variesevery year) alongside a brand new SUV car at the end of the show by avoiding being evictedfromthehouseby viewers through voting (Nwafor&Ezike, 2015).

The first edition of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show was first aired on DSTV Channel 37from March 5 to June 4, 2006. The voting results were verified by the Auditing Company ofAlexander Forbes. A second edition of the Big Brother Naija reality TV show premiered onJanuary22,2017inwhichDeltabornhousemate,EfeEjebaemergedthewinneralongsideBisolaAyola as the first runner up. A third edition of the popular show debuted on January28,2018 which lasted for 85 days of double drama with the theme" Double Wahala" which was athrough reflection of one of the contestants Cynthia Nwadiora, (Cee-C). Imo State born, MiracleIgbokwe emerged the winner of the competitionamongstother contestantssuch asNina Ivy,Tobi Bakare, Teddy A, Bambam, Khloe, Lolu, Anto, Leo, IfuEnnanda, Bitto, Rico Swavey,Ahneeka,Princess, K-Brule,Vandora,Alex,Dee-oneandAngel(Andyke,2019).

The fourthedition of Big Brother Naija 2019 (Pepper Dem) reality TV show commenced on30th July, 2019 with 21 housemates, few weeks later, 5 new housemates were introduced to thehouse. The reality TV show had its auditions held in eight selected cities in Nigeria to includeAbuja, Lagos, Ibadan, Benin, Warri, Enugu, Calabar and Port Harcourt. And each of the auditioncentreswitnessed asurgeof over5,000 contestants (Oak.tv, n.d; Akinyoade,2019).

Reality TV as a genre of television programming that has grown over the years and has becomean addition of some sort for many of their viewers especially youth. Many people watch realityshows for several disparate reasons. Reality television show has in recent time significantlyproved to be the youth's favourite, especially those whose ages range from 18-25 (Chikafe&Matereke,2012).AmongtheseprogrammesistheBigBrotherNaijapopularlyknownasBBNaijawhich is thefocus of this study.

According to Chikafa and Matereke (2012), the concept of Big Brother was borrowed fromGeorge Orwell's novel of 1984 titled, 'Fictional Dystopia of Oceania' in which he described aworld of never ending surveillance. In the novel, the dictator who watched over citizens ofOceaniawascalledBigBrotherandhisterrifyingsloganwasBigBrotheriswatchingyou".The

reality TV show debuted on the African continent in 2003 and has since then with the aid of thegrowth of satellite TV in Africa, roused African audience interest and has remained an annualeventtill date(Chikafa&Matereke, 2012).

Big Brother Naija reality show has continued to receive criticism due to display of obscene andvulgar scene which is considered not to be part of the Nigerian culture and un-African. In linewiththeaboveassertionOjoko(2013)opinesthatBigBrotherrealityshowhasnodoubtgenerated a lot of controversies in recent times and worthy of note is the fact that the sponsors ororganizers are near-faceless and the show exhibits low moral values and falls short of what isexpectedinthesedayswhereclamourforthegooddayswhenculturalandgoodmoralvalueswas at its peak. According to Laitto (2015), the disturbing level of sexual immorality beingcelebratedbytheBigBrotherrealityshowisadjudgedshortofprogrammesdesignedforeducating viewers. Bethat asitmay, greatnumber Africanaudiencesparticularlythe youthshave continued to emulate the damaging style portrayed in the programme (Oluwakayode, 2013).Thishas led to severalcallsdemanding for its ban and censorship.

For instance, in 2007, the lower legislative chamber otherwise known as Nigerian House ofRepresentative directed the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to discontinue the airing of theBigBrother realityshowas itis unhealthy forpublicconsumption (Ralvy,2007).

Despite these outcries and the moral panics, the reality show has neither improved in moral tonenor level of viewership reduced. The number of viewers have rather increased from over fortymillionin2012toseventy(70)millionin2014andin2017hadanestimatedvoteoftwenty-six

1. million. This shows that there is a large followership amongst the Nigerian youths as thereality show practically seems to have a lasting influence on the social life of youths (Nwafor&Ezike,2015).

Hence, it is against this backdrop that this study seeks to investigate the influence of Big BrotherNaija 2019 (Pepper dem) reality TV show on the social life of undergraduate students of ImoStateUniversity.

StatementoftheProblem

The viewership of Big Brother Naija since its debut has grown tremendously and it has remainedunarguablyoneofthemostwatched/followedtelevisionrealityshowsinNigeria(DailyIndependent,21stJuly2013).However,realityTVshowhasbeenheavilycriticizedforpromotingimmoralitythroughitsdisplayofobscenesceneanduseofinordinatelanguageswhich seem to be alien to Africans. This according to critics such as the Nigerian noble laureate,Wole Soyinka as cited in Lengnan, (2013) is not part of the Nigerian culture and that of Africa ingeneral. Soyinka and his fellows described the show as "pervasive and debasing" (Leugnan,2013).

According to Nwafor and Ezike (2015), the TV reality show has displayed uninhibited sexualfrolicsinopencameras,accusations,STD'sbeingpassedaround,shamelesssmoochingbyhormonally charged housemates and ear-tingling swear words are the predominant values beingshown, which lamely try to project positive African cultures and traditions which is ironicalbecause such modern franchise like Big Brother Naija are Neo-imperialist means of eroding theveryessenceofAfricanism.

Due to the desperations of the contestants to smile home with the ultimate price of #60,000,000(Sixty Million Naira) and a brand new SUV, the housemates seems to forget that virtues such asmorality, dignity, self-respect, posterity, discipline, decency in dressing and maturity exists, theyall have their eyes fixed on the price, throwing caution to the wind as they display all manner ofpromiscuity,immortality,envy,immaturity,,indecency,violence,jealousywithrecklessabandon.

Consideringtheseproblems,andsincetelevisionisseenasanaudiovisualmediumthroughwhich some youths especially undergraduates are influenced in their day to day activities as aresult of what they see on reality television shows. These therefore necessitated the research toinvestigate the influence of Big Brother Naija 2019 (Pepper Dem) reality TV show on the sociallifeof undergraduates ofImo StateUniversity.

ResearchQuestions

Theresearchers asked thefollowingquestions:

1. WhatisthelevelofviewershipofBBNaijarealityTVshowsamongundergraduatestudentsof Imo StateUniversity?
2. WhatgratificationdothestudentsderivefromviewingBBNaijarealityTV shows?
3. WhatistheinfluenceoftheviewershipofBigBrotherNaijarealityTVshowsonthesocial lifeof thestudents?

Reviewof RelatedLiterature

InfluenceofRealityTVShowsonthe SocialLifeof Students
The influence of Reality shows viewing and the effects it has on the social life of students cannotbe deemphasized as it has been a dominant topic since 1960's. With the ever changing landscapeof television programming reality shows has become increasingly popular especially amongstudent audiences. This study explores George's Cultivation Theory (1998), which assumes thattelevision has the ability to influence the attitudes and perception of its viewers, and uses it as afoundation to determine if there is an association between reality shows consumption and theattitudeof students.

Because of the popularity of reality shows among young people, it is important not only toreaffirm that students or youths watch reality shows but to determine the level of how connectedthey are with those reality shows. Reality shows gives a coherent picture of what exists, what isimportant, what is related to what, and what is right. In today's society and with the growing useofinternet, media isomnipresent making itsinfluenceeven greater(Ayarza, 2011).

These type of shows aim to show how ordinary people behave in everyday life, or in situationsoften created by the show makers, which are intended to represent everyday life. Reality showsare those shows that contain producer created environments that control contestant's behaviour(Anolik,2016).

Television companies and programme producers capitalize on this interest and try to pitch theshowthatwillgainthemostviewersandhighestratings.Unfortunately,thisscriptedplaymostof the times turn reality shows into unrealistic, dramatic, manipulated situations. Those behindthe scenes benefit, but to viewers, especially the young naive ones, this tactic can be harmful totheir perception of reality. If a show is meant to be based on reality, then situations should not bemanipulated.Theendresultofthiskindofmanipulationiscalledenhancedreality

(Punathambekar,2010).Mostrealityshowsusuallycreatescenariosthatdemonstratehowcertain behaviour can be rewarded and how certain defiant ones are punished too. The concern isthat frequent viewers of these shows will learn from these behaviours, consider them as desirableandthen model them in the actual real world.

EmpiricalReview

Wifred, et al. (2019) conducted a study on students' perception of reality shows on television andit was revealed that reality television programmes are produced with educational contents meantto teach the audience skills being performed or perfected by the contestants and the programmeshelps audience members to learn things about other people. The study concludes that realitytelevision programmes have serious influence on audience members as they desire to be like thepeople they watch inthe programmes.Nwafor and Ezike (2015) dida studyon Viewership ofBig Brother Africa and its influence on the moral conduct of undergraduate students it was foundthatBig BrotherAfricahaswideviewershipamongEbonyi Stateuniversityundergraduatestudents and it influences their perception and attitude towards decency and morality. Some ofthem learn technical kidnapping skills while others learn to cohabit with the opposite sex in theiroff campus hostels, and this contributes to the many cases of rape, teenage pregnancy, sexuallytransmitteddiseases, abortionand abortionrelateddeathsamong thisvulnerable group.

Ugwanga (2013) carried out a study on reality TV shows and it influence on youth and it wasrevealed that majority of youth spend most of the time watching TV and most of them watchpopular reality TV programmes such as 'American Idols", "Survivors", "Big Brother Africa" and"Star Performers." And that since the 2013 BBA winner was a Namibian, Delish Matthew, itseems this inspired many youths in Windhoek and they are well motivated to keep watchingBBA. Contrary to the widely held negative views about reality TV shows, the study argues thatthey are important social phenomenon. It does not suggest that there are no problems with realityTV shows, but indicates that there are positive and negative influences that reality TV showsimpose on youths of Windhoek. Osman (2010) did a similar study on the impact of televisionprogramme on the mindset and attitudes of youths in the ruralareas and findings revealed thatthe content of television programmes does have a significant impact on the mindset and attitudesoftherespondents asviewers areusingtelevision programmes aseducational tools.

Pernpek, et al. (2009) conducted a study on college students' social networking experience onFacebook and it was revealed that college students are a particularly vulnerable population tomessages portrayed through media, as this is a crucial time during which their identities areformedandbehavioursadopted.Realitytelevisioncouldpotentiallyshapethefinancialbehaviours of college students if behaviour on reality television in general is imitated in real lifeandperceived to bewithout consequence.

Papacharissi and Mendelson (2007) conducted a study on appeal uses and gratifications of realityTV shows it was revealed that the most salient motives for watching reality TV were habitualpass time and reality entertainment. Additional analysis indicated that those who enjoyed realityTV the most for its entertainment and relaxing value also tended to perceive the meticulouslyedited and frequently pre-planned content of reality interaction as realistic. Lundy, et al. (2008)carried out study on reality TV consumption patterns and it was revealed thai while participantsperceive a social stigma associated with watching reality television, they continue to watchbecauseof theperceivedescapism andsocialaffiliation provided.

TheoreticalFramework

This study was anchored on cultivation theory to the fact that the theory is more prominent andcloselyrelatedtothetopicunderinvestigation.GeorgeGerbnerwastheproponentoftheCultivation theory which is seen as positivistic, meaning it assumes the existence of objectiverealityand value-neutral research (West & Turner, 2010).

TheprincipleoftheCultivationtheoryisthatheavyexposuretomedia,overtime,subtly"cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality. According to Gerbner and Gross "Television is apowerful medium of socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviours. Itsfunction is in a word, enculturation". Within his analysis of cultivation, Gerbner draws attentiontothreeentitiesinstitutions, messages, andpublics (Morgan& Shanahan,2010).

Cultivation Theory for many, media represents a window into the world, especially worlds thatare notpartof their immediate settings.Thisperspective prompted scholarstoexplore therelationshipbetweenreality and reality asportrayed on television.

According to cultivation theory, media consumptions tend to work to create distorted perceptionsof the world. The main idea of the theory is that heavy users begin to view the real world as itexists on television; for example, a heavy television viewer can be made to believe that the bestmen to date as a lady are only from specific given community after watching for some time. Thisgets to skew their reality based on culture, upbringing, and personal experience. Cultivationtheory research therefore establishes specific psychological processes that occur with heavytelevisionusers.

Theextendedexposuretotheseveralepisodesthereforecouldleadtheyouthstoviewandhandle dating within themselves in Nigeria as it existed on television. For example, an individualis most likely to respond aggressively to their dating partner if the reality created by the realityshow,was that of datingcouples who wereconstantlyaggressiveto each other.

Methodology

The research design adopted for this work was the survey method. The area covered by theinvestigationwasundergraduatestudentsofImoStateUniversityisImoStateUniversity,Owerri.Populationofthestudycomprisesof20,000undergraduatestudentsofImoStateUniversity,Owerri(https//imsuportal.imsu,edu.ng). The sample sizewas396andthiswasdeterminedusing Taro Yamane. Thestudyemployedmultistagesamplingtechnique.

STAGE 1: The researcher selected the whole 11 faculties in Imo State University. The facultiesare; Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Business Administration, Engineering, EnvironmentalSciences,HealthSciences,Humanities,Law,SocialSciences,Science,EducationandMedicine.

STAGE 2: Out of the eleven (11) faculties in Imo State University, the researcher randomlyselected two departments from each faculty apart from the faculty of Law that one departmentwasselected, thereby making it a total of21 departments.

STAGE3:Inthisstage,theresearcherpurposivelyselectedfromeachofthedepartments,300leveland 400 level students becausetheyarelikely to havecableTVat their homes.

STAGE 4: From the selected 21 departments, 396 copies of questionnaires were purposivelydistributed to the 3001 and 4001 students who were exposed to BBNaija. That is, 36 were giventolaw faculty and then 18 to each department.

The researcher made use of the questionnaire as an instrument in gathering data and it was facevalidated by mass communication research expert. A Pearson product moment correlation wasrun to determine the reliability of the instrument between responses of 20 respondents in twoseparateoccasionsbutstillonthesamequestions.Therewasastrongpositivecorrelationbetweenrespondents'firstanswersandthesecond,whichwasstatisticallysignificant(r=0.6,n
= 20, p = 0.05). In analyzing the data collected using the questionnaire; the researcher used thesimplepercentagemethod.

DataPresentation andAnalysis

Theresearchersdistributed396copiesofthequestionnairetotheselectedlevelsofthedepartments in each of the faculties. From the numbers distributed, 396 (100%) copies wereretrievedand found valid.Analysis of Psychographic Data

Research Question One: What is the level of viewership of BBNaija reality TV show amongundergraduatestudents ofImp StateUniversity?

Source:Fieldsurvey,2019

Fromtheabovetable,theanalysisconfirmedthat100%oftherespondentswatchBBNaijareality TV show. The implication is that, all the respondents were aware of BBNaija reality TVshow and they watch it. Analysis indicated that 49.9% of the respondents watch BBNaijarealityTV show daily. This implied that the respondents watch the show every day after academicactivities. Further analysis showed that 78.8% respondents watch BBNaija in the evening. Thismeans that the students watched the show in the evenings after school activities in order not tocompromisewith their academicschedules.

ResearchQuestionTwo:Whatgratificationdostudentsderivefrom theshow?

Source:Fieldsurvey,2019

Analysis revealed that BBNaija provides a means of relaxation to 90.4% respondents and that86.1% of the respondents said BBNaija reality TV show provides an escape to some academicstress. There were indications that 66.4% of the respondents can't say whether BBNaija promoteor enhance peaceful coexistence. To 50.8% of the respondents it can he clearly deduced thatBBNaija provides an avenue for relationship/dating tips. Further analysis revealed that 48.7% ofthe respondents agreed that BBNaija show broadened their intellectual horizon through theirgame puzzle.It isevident fromanalysis that87.6% of the respondents are enlightenedbyBBNaija through the debate competition organized for housemates. 50.3% of the respondentsconfirmed that BBNaija Saturday parties appealed to the social life of the students. Analysis alsoshowed that 86.1% of the respondents enjoyed cultural exhibition by the housemates in BBNaijarealityTV show.

Research Question Three: What is the influence of the viewership of BBNaija reality TVshowon thesocial lifeof students?

Source:Fieldsurvey,2019

Analysis revealed that 46.2% of the respondents admired the personalities and lifestyles of theBBNaijahousemates.Also,53.8%oftherespondentsdidnotemulateanythingfromtheBBNaija housemates despite admiration of the personalities and lifestyles portrayed by some ofthe housemates. From analysis 93.7% of the respondents agreed that they can control their sexualurge within a specific period of time. Further analysis showed that 51.3% of the respondentsagreed that BBNaija has influenced them positively in the area of living peacefully with theirroommates, neighbours and hostel mates as a result of their exposure to BBNaija. And also,94.2% of the respondent disagreed that they now dress indecently as a result of their heavyexposure to BBNaija reality TV show. 48% of the respondents could not say whether theirrelationshipwith people changed positivelyas a resultof theirexposuretoBBNaija.

DiscussionofFindings

Findings revealed that BBNaija reality TV show has a wide viewership among undergraduatestudentsofImoStateUniversityatanaverageof76.2%astheywatchedtheshowdailybutinthe evenings after school activities. This is in line with Ugwanga (2013), his findings revealedthat majority of youths spend most of the time watching TV and most of them watch popularreality TV programmes such as American idols, survivor's, Big Brother Africa, etc. Also, it is inline with the findings of Nwafor and Ezike (2015) which revealed that Big Brother Africa haswide viewership among Ebonyi State University students and it influences their perception andattitude towards decency and morality. In view of the cultivation theory exposure to media,overtime,subtly "cultivates" viewers' perceptions of reality.

The study found out that 90,4% of the respondents feel relaxed watching BBNaija, 86.1% of thestudents watched the show to escape the stress associated with busy academic calendar, 50.8% ofthem learned new relationship/dating tips from the show, 48.7% of the students were gratifiedthrough broadened intellectual horizon from the game puzzle in which they picked new tricks, at87.6%, BBNaija enlightened the students through the debate competition among the housemates,meanwhile, the Saturday parties appealed to the social life of the students at 50.3% while 86.1%of the students enjoyed the cultural exhibition of different attires by the housemates which tothem,(students) promotes cultural integration. This is in close affiliation with the findings ofLundy, et al. (2008) which revealed that College students watch reality TV because of theperceived escapism and social affiliation provided. In a similar relativity also, Papacharissi, andMendelson, .(2007) findings revealed that the most salient motives for watching reality TV werehabituallytopasstime andrealityentertainment.Fromtheoreticalperspectiveanextendedexposure to the several episodes therefore could lead to instances where the students will try tocultivate what they see on television. This implies that undergraduate students of Imo StateUniversity watch BBNaija show to gratify their needs such as relaxation and an escape fromacademicstress.

FindingsofthestudyshowedthatBBNaijarealityTVshowhaspositivelyinfluencedthestudents of Imo State University at an average of 72.5% in the area of living peacefully with theirroommates, neighbours and hostel mates and also in controlling their sexual urge for a certainperiod of time due to their exposure to the show. However, it also revealed that the show did notinfluence the students negatively. This implies that the students are still very much consciouswith good morals and values as they maintain and uphold them in high esteem without beingnegatively influenced by what they watch on TV. This finding negates that of Wilfred et al,.(2019), their findings revealed that reality TV programmes have serious influence on audiencemembers as they desire to be like the people they watch in the programme. The findings is alsocontrary to the findings of Yemolayeva and Calvert (2009), their findings showed that reality TVcould potentially shape the financial behavioursof college students if behaviours on reality TVin general is untied in real life and perceived to be without consequence. Also, the findings arenot in line with that of Osman (2010), which reveals that content of TVprogramme does have asignificant impact on the mindset and attitudes of the respondents. This underscores the analysisof cultivation theory that heavy television watchers are likely to exhibit characters or traits likethosethey watch on television.

Conclusion

Findings from the study apparently indicates that the students watch Big Brother Naij a realityTV show in order to ease themselves of some academic stress as the show also provides a meansof relaxation to them. It is also evident that the show broadens their intellectual horizon asstudents through the show's game puzzle. It showed that Big Brother Naija reality TV showpromotesculturalintegration throughtheexhibitionofcultural attiresby thehousemates.

Therefore, it is safe to conclude that the students are not negatively influenced by Big BrotherNaija reality TV show despite their heavy followership/viewership. Even though they are heavilyexposedtotelevision,theydonotdressindecentlyandarenotinfluencednegativelybywhatthey watch on the reality TV show. This invariably implies that the students are still very muchconsciousof moral values as they uphold and maintain them in high esteem.

Recommendations

Giventhefindingsandconclusionsreached,thefollowingrecommendationsareputforwardbytheresearchers;

1. Since reality TV shows (BBNaija), has large viewership among undergraduate students,televisionregulatorsshouldensurethatrealityTVprogrammesairedonNigeriantelevision stationsare those capable of impacting knowledge, positive skillsand lifestylesof Nigerian youths.
2. It is recommended that the show reflect more educational content, Nigerian indigenouscultures and serve as a channel for transporting Nigerian and African cultures in itsentiretyto the outsideworld.
3. Theresearchersrecommendthatscriptwritersandfilmproducersshoulddevelopthehabit of writing films that can add values to the cultures of the viewers; they should seereality TV show as medium for cultural exchange where messages should be reasonableandpositiveto impact and influencethe watchers positively.

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