Modern televisions, electronic screen-posts and general screen gadgets are often very beautiful and desirable. Despite their beauty, they are used to show the meaning, beauty and use of other things to human beings. Those beautiful televisions, gadgets and sign-screens are used to advertise, explain or show products, ideas, people or events. Like fine televisions and sign-screens, people are influenced by famously beautiful people and are receptive to their messages. Hence, marketers, governments, religious groups and other organizations use beauty pageants, movies and reality shows to sell their messages or products.
Recently, there has been a multiplicity of organizers for beauty pageants, movies and reality shows in Nigeria. Despite tags of immorality, sex scandals, coded prostitution, uncertainty of breakthrough and risks, many people still organize beauty pageants, movies and reality shows. And despite the criticisms, many Nigerians openly or secretly follow the beauty pageants, movies and reality shows and their messages. Presently, marketers of foreign products take advantage of these people’s followership to market their products and ideologies to Nigerians. Unfortunately, Nigerians miss the opportunity to use this followership to influence productivity and social responsibility in Nigeria.
Societies are organized for productivity, harmony and common good based on their social values. After building these ideas, social organizers need mediums to promote the values to the society. Thus, progressive societies incorporate models, beauty pageants, movies and reality shows to promote their values for society’s progress. Also, they encourage productive members to incorporate these famous people to advertise their products, services and life-messages in the society. Yet, when a society does not have real products to market, nor socially-responsive messages, they misuse their famous people. In this case, foreign powers, producers and marketers use of their celebrities, beauty pageants, movies and reality shows.
Colonialists formed Nigeria by imposing a militarized government on several unconsented kingdoms and communities for exploiting resources. Before leaving at independence, colonialists trained and enabled few indigenes to replace them in seizing and selling the people’s mineral resources to them in exchange for finished goods.[1] And to appear democratic, Nigeria’s colonially-imposed government created states, local governments and ministries to share foreign products as infrastructure, salaries and charity handouts. Since then, different Nigerians struggle to occupy the colonially-made offices to enjoy foreign money from seized resources.
Today, the main jobs in Nigeria are connected to marketing, counting, using, prescribing, installing and reporting foreign goods and services. So, there is a need to inspire Nigerian communities to retrieve their resources and educate their people for productivity. There is a need to redirect Nigerian youths to update their knowledge and skills for industry and economic liberty. And just like in the western societies, Nigerian beauty pageants, movies and reality shows could be used to direct Nigerian minds to this economic freedom. Unfortunately, Nigeria’s imposed government ignores the opportunity in search of cheaper products to import to justify seizing people’s resources. Thus, foreign powers seize the opportunity of Nigerian celebrities to market their products and subtle social messages.
Nigeria may not incorporate beauty pageants, movies and reality shows in a true Nigerian purpose, without reorganizing the society for productivity. Hence, a new generation of leaders will arise to organize a true national conference for Nigerians to reorganize themselves for local productivity. Then the government will release the people’s resources for industry and incorporate Nigerian celebrities in marketing ideas and products of the new Nigeria.
[1] Walter Rodney, How Europe underdeveloped Africa 2009 edition (Abuja: Panaf press, 2009). p.319.