The National Council for Art and Culture said it had warned bbnaija not to import the culture of nudity into Nigeria.
The National Council for Art and Culture (NCAA) has asked the House of Representatives to give it a legal framework to go after the organisers of Big Brother Naija (BBN) over nudity in the show.
The council is also seeking powers to arrest and prosecute crossdressers in the country.
The Director General of the council, Segun Runsewe, made the call on Tuesday during an investigative hearing by an ad hoc committee of the House.
The committee is charged with investigating the duplication of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs).
The existing bill prohibiting cross-dressing
There is a bill in the House seeking to amend Same-Sex (Prohibition) Act to prohibit cross-dressing in Nigeria.
The amendment, sponsored by Muda Umar (APC, Bauchi), seeks to amend sections 4 and 5 of the principal act.
The bill proposes that “A person engaging in cross-dressing is guilty of an offence and liable to imprisonment of six months or a fine of five hundred thousand naira.”
Crossdressing, nudity in BBNaija not our culture – Runsewe
Mr Runsewe, who has been very vocal against popular Nigerian cross-dresser, Okuneye Olanrewaju, popularly known as Bobrisky, told the lawmakers that he ordered the police to disrupt the birthday celebration of Bobrisky.
He said he had previously raised the issue of nudity in bbnaija to the organisers.
“I am the first person who took Big Brother Nigeria to the NBC to report them because they were having…I took it up and Big Brother (organisers) tried to reach me and I told them that if the culture in other parts of the world is to be naked – nudity, etc they should not bring it to Nigeria because our culture is rich and it respects the integrity of our country,” he said.
A lawmaker, Alex Egbonna (PDP, Cross-River), complained that the intervention has not stopped the display of nudes on the show.
“That is the problem with Nigeria: you start something, you don’t end it. But they were still naked even in the last event. That thing you started, taking them to wherever you took them to – has not ended, that is what I’m saying. They are still doing the same thing. They should have learnt. There is no solution to what you started and that is the Nigerian factor,” he said.
Responding, Mr Runsewe said if the lawmakers would give the council the needed power through the legislative framework, the issues will be addressed.
“I will give you an example. When Bobrisky started behaving like a woman, I rose and followed him to Lagos. I ‘scattered’ his (birthday) party and I told him, ‘This is not our culture.’ But at the end of the day, that is just Part 1. This honourable house just needs to empower us with just a legal framework and that nonsense will stop,” he stated further.
The Big Brother Naija ended its season 7 reality show on Sunday. It was won by Ijeoma Otabor better known as Phyna.
The organisers said the show titled “Level Up” gulped over N4.7 billion.
Merger of MDAs in the tourism sector
Meanwhile, the committee is considering the merger of some MDAs in the tourism sector.
The MDAs in consideration are the National Council for Art and Culture, National Commission for Museum and Monument, National Gallery of Art and National Orientation Agency.
Others are: Nigerian Tourism Development Commission, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, National Theatre and National Troops, Centre for Black African Art and for Civilisation and National Institute for Cultural Orientation.
The Chairman of the Committee, Victor Danzaria, in his opening remarks, said the committee has a mandate of assessing, ascertaining and doing a root-cause analysis of regular bickering among some established agencies.
