Around Naija reality TV show soon to hit screens

Around Naija, a new reality TV show, designed and created to showcase and promote the rich cultural heritage of Nigeria as well as the depth of its history and tourist destinations, is set to take the country by storm.

According to the promoter and CEO of Blue Diamond Entertainment Limited, Otunba Olumide Adekunbi, Around Naija will showcase the aesthetics inherent in the tradition and culture of the Nigerian people as well as highlight the country’s unity in diversity.

“It is a road trip show that covers the 36 states of Nigeria and the FCT and participants, who will be competitively engaged among themselves throughout the show, will be drawn from across Nigeria through an auditioning exercise. The activities by the participants will highlight the economic engagements of the various ethnic nationalities, their food, language, dance, music, history and dress pattern in form of competitive tasks that would lead to eliminations, and ultimately culminating in prize-winning. 37 participants, each representing a state and the Federal Capital Territory, will be drawn through auditioning that will take place in five cities across Nigeria – Ibadan, Abuja, Enugu, Port Harcourt and Lagos – in March 2018.”

Adekunbi further stated that “The reality show is intended to be predominantly competitive and informative in nature, and is also designed to be a socio-cultural experiment as certain components of the reality show will help to showcase talent, potential and behavioural characteristics of participants or contestants as the case may be. It is basically life on the road, during which the culture and traditions of different ethnic groups will be the project’s main focus.”

He further explained that while the show is on-going, Blue Diamond Entertainment, in partnership with its sister NGO, Grow Naija will plant a thousand economic trees in each state of the federation as part of its corporate social responsibility. Adekunbi reiterated that safety and health of the participants are of importance to the organisers, as they have put safety measures in place in conjunction with security agencies.

The Project Coordinator, Mr. Hyacinth Aniemeke, explained that Around Naija has provoked deep research into the hitherto abandoned cultural and traditional values of many Nigerian communities and ethnic groups. These research and findings, he noted, would be espoused during the show and it is expected that the project will help in rekindling and preserving the cultural values and heritage of the Nigerian people.

“The participants will be divided into three or four teams. Each team will consist of a minimum of four members, led by a team captain. Team members may alternate captainship through votes among themselves. A common, multiple route, consisting of a series of common destinations, will be set for the teams. These routes are expected to be adhered to strictly. During the course of the cross-country road trip, project tasks will be awarded to each team, which are to be executed within a stipulated period.”The winner of the competition and the first and second runners-up will go home with N10 million, N3 million and N1 million respectively concluded.