What is hidden behind Nigeria’s passion for reality TV?

Nigerian fans committed to the show of reality meetings Love Island USA are all ready to look at the next reunion of couples six weeks after the Fiji final.

“Nigerians love drama. We love “Wahala”, “explains Ashimi Olamiposi, a 20 -year -old Nigerian student, using the Nigerian word for trouble. And there are many on Love Island.

But the drama on the screen has also been equaled by off -screen tensions among some of the world fans base.

Nigerian viewers were often taken in the reticle with some to mark them “toxic” – and others wanting them to be prohibited from watching the show.

All this came from accusations that some in the most popular nation in Africa were trying to manipulate the result of the public vote as well as interfere with the social media accounts of certain participants.

For the uninitiated, Love Island USA is the American spin-off in the successful British dating format. Competitors, nicknamed “Islanders”, coupling in a luxury villa in Fiji, sailing on challenges, romantic tangles and public votes under the surveillance of the constant camera. The price: $ 100,000 (£ 86,200) and possibly love.

This year, the winners of Love Island USA were Amaya Espinal and Bryan Arenals, who joined the program’s last week – and are still together.

Ms. OLAMIPOSI wishes to distance herself from what she calls “crazy” attempts to affect the result.

Nevertheless, her passion for the show is always apparent when she speaks to the BBC in Lagos – a month after the final.

There is excitement in her eyes, her blond braids sway from front and back when she remembers the drama of the villa, group cat cats and fierce online skirmishes, like a war veteran sharing combat stories.

“Love Island USA” was tweeted about 2.1 million times during the season in Nigeria, culminating at 574,000 tweets in one day on X – more than in South Africa or Ghana.

Nigerians can watch Love Island using a VPN, which gives the impression that they are in the United States, then access the application from the Peacock broadcaster or, like Mrs. Olamiposi, see episodes published on YouTube by anonymous users.

Ms. Olamiposi, who had watched the previous seasons of Love Island USA, says that this year was different – mainly thanks to several Tiktok videos of a particular insular: Huda Mustafa.

“I said to myself:” Who is this girl who is brewing her eyes? “”, She said with fun – adding that she was one of the only islanders who “came for the right reason” and had “depth”.

The 24 -year -old mother has become one of the most spoken competitors because of her polarizing personality, her public confrontations and her complex relationships with other competitors.

Ms. Olamiposi came across a WhatsApp group after changing social media by trying to find ways to vote for her favorite island, because people outside the United States are not supposed to be able to participate.

The group she joined was co -founded by two people – one from the United Kingdom and the other in Nigeria.

Of the 200 people in the cat, around 150 were Nigerian, while the others came from the United States, Ghana, Kenya and the United Kingdom, Olamiposi told BBC.

With military precision and determination, the well -oiled WhatsApp group has pooled funds to buy American phone numbers so that they can vote.

Donald Clarke, a London-based television producer who worked on the first series of Big Brother Nigeria and has two decades of experience in African reality TV, is not surprised by this and the love that the Nigerians have for tele-reality.

“Nigeria has a huge narrative culture. Nollywood is a symptom,” he said, referring to the massive film industry in the country.

“This derives in reality TV and the way in which Nigerian viewers look at him. They are strongly invested, and they express this strongly on social networks.”

This investment, he explains, is amplified by social media.

“The shows arouse conversations, they cause discussion subjects, then the public fled. With social media and how he became memes and shared moments, the conversation becomes as great as the spectacle itself,” he said.

For Dr. Wendy Osefo, professor of Nigerian-American sociology at Wesleyan University and a member of the distribution of the reality show Real Housewives of Potomac, the love of Nigerians for reality TV is linked to the heavy political landscape of the West African country.

“Many Nigerians have politically lived their lives through the objective of being viewers,” she told the BBC.

In a country that has undergone a military regime for several decades and had allegations of contested elections, the Nigerians hardly felt more than the spectators, explains the 41 -year -old man.

“The biggest reality TV is our political system,” she said about Nigeria-adding that this could also be applied in the United States.

Admittedly, the two worlds tend to have great personalities, alliances, betrayals and dramatic twists – in the Legislative Assembly and the Villa on Love Island.

And like politics, the culture of fans of Love Island USA can become vicious, very quickly.

When he was asked to connect the BBC to more people in her group WhatsApp, Ms. Olamiposi was reluctant – suspicious of potential spies there.

Some fans of Love Island USA who support other islanders have infiltrated the group and disclosed their conversations and strategies, she explained

“Wahala” then followed allegations according to which the efforts were made by the group to close the social media accounts of certain candidates, which led to “toxic” accusations.

A user on X said: “Please prohibit Love Island from Nigeria.” This has raised nearly 9,000 likes.

“There must be a way to ban Nigeria from watching Love Island again next year,” said another person in the United States.

Someone in the United Kingdom tweeted: “Why the Nigerians with this toxic attitude towards television programs? … Nigerians in Nigeria must leave Love Island alone.”

Tensions between American and Nigerian fans are often based on their different perspectives, especially with regard to identity, explains Ms. Olamiposi.

“Black Americans are still racing while Nigerians don’t care so much about that,” she said.

In the programming of the show, there were four daughters alongside Huda Mustafa, who is of Arab inheritance.

CHELLEY BISSAINTHE and OLANDRIA CLAThen were the only black island women in this initial programming and faced many racist comments. When other black women have not supported them, some saw it as betrayal.

Ms. Olamiposi says that she was nicknamed “anti-black” because she supported Mustafa.

“I was bambooed,” she said, her eyes widened with shock.

Dr. Osefo says that these cultural differences are rooted in distinct historical experiences.

“I think that when you come from a black predominance nation, the breed is not something that is at the forefront of your mind,” she said, explaining that blacks in America do not have the luxury of thinking like that.

The Nigerian Fandom is also shaped by the more colorful use of the language, known as the academic.

“There is a saying that if you hear Nigerians speak, you might think they are arguing, because we are so passionate.

“Even in the way we educate people. Your mom in the United States could say:” You have to make your bed. “A Nigerian mother could say:” Do you want to live your life as a poor one? “Is it deeper and this passion is reflected in social media.”

For Mr. Clarke, this underlines how deeply reality TV is in Nigerian culture.

“This is part of the fabric of society now. In its best form, reality TV reflects the public and reflects the desires and hopes of the people who look at it.”

The registry evenings are expected – some practically – for the visualization of the Love Island USA meeting, due to stream later on Monday.

“I want everyone ‘to be held on”, “10 toes” business, “explains Ms. Olamiposi – using two slogans who have become viral during Love Island USA of this season.

In essence, they transmit the message: signify what you say and say what you mean.

If this happens, like most Nigerians, will turn the “Wahala”.