Then came along, Kiddwaya

It is rather difficult to make a name in this era of excellence and global competitiveness. It is not enough to be educated or bask in the comeliness of your birth or personality to make a name. Success is now defined through a complex web of parameters beyond the mundane, or Infact, away from the codified pattern enshrined by the enlightenment.

So for the organizers of the reality show, Big Brother Naija, whose initial idea was to parody George Orwell’s satire on communism in his novel, 1984, with the view to monitoring the regimentation of people’s lives in modern society, the idea has turned into a multi-billion dollar boom, probably beyond their expectations. Perhaps, even those apprehensive about the program on moral grounds still feel curious about how young adults from varied backgrounds respond to one another when locked up for weeks and months without external interference. In this case, every viewer becomes a big brother watching and listening keenly to participants as they engage in their personal and interactive businesses in a controlled environment.

Then the young man, Terseer Kiddway, came along. A typical millennium child with penetrating handsomeness, a mane of fashionable alquaeda beard and a British broadcaster’s accents, Kiddwaya’s Benue identity was however betrayed on the very first day by his proud Tiv name which he bore like a badge of honour.

 Kiddwaya instantly stole the show by recruiting cautious viewers like me into fanatical followers and financiers of voters. He demonstrated ingenuity and leadership by deftly using the show to shore up the image of Benue state at the time we so desparately needed a goodwill ambassador.

For a brief spell, we forgot the unending stories of adversities on Benue state in both the conventional and social media. News about the unending fulani herdsmen/Tiv farmers clashes, the permanent IDP camp dwellers, the lamentation of unpaid workers and pensioners, the communal clashes over land and the anguish of young men parading the streets as unemployed graduates. The Kiddwaya phenomenon, like a national football event has united the Benue, temporarily suspending our partisan, tribal and sectional consciousness and given a reason to positively identify with the rising celebrity.

Benue was greatly promoted by his regular proud use of Tiv, Idoma and Igede traditional fabrics in both informal and formal modelling as well as his many positive testimonials in his discussions about the good people of the food basket state. Kiddwaya also effectively proved to the world that a Benue child is resilient, hardworking, honest and ready to serve others. He cooked most of their meals, lent a shoulder for some brokenhearted and never insulted any of his fellow housemates. Although, most of the female participants were heads over heels in love with him, he proved the fidelity, chivalry and principles of the Benue man by being a gentleman. Those nasty stories about a Benue man being promiscuous or offering their wives to strangers were naturally corrected in the conduct of Kiddwaya.

It is however, impossible to tell the Kiddwaya story without embellishing it with the other stories of accomplished young celebrities like Tuface Idibia, the international hip-hop artist, Dr Paul Enenche, founder of Dunamis and Sesugh Uhaa, the current world heavyweight wrestling champion based in the United States. The emergence of Kiddwaya in this bugeoning clan of talented Benue indigines proves the formidability of talents and capacity to rise to global heights . Our state government could be great assistance in spotting talents from our local communities and nurturing them for global competition in sports, movie acting, music and so on. Those already doing well could be further encouraged to do much more in their chosen careers. Their success could inspire many other youths to get out of that mundane practice of rushing home after graduation from the university to seek white collar jobs where they do not exist.

Meanwhile, congratulations, Terseer Kiddway for being so exemplary. You have come along like a ready-made hero, you have seen, and definitely conquered the imagination of the African continent. Your next leap now should be to mega stardom of a career with a global appeal where, by association also, we shall be your cheerleaders.