By Lateef Dada, Osogbo
The leadership of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) B-Zone has thrown its weight behind the renewed call for the regulation of reality TV show, Big Brother Naija, soft porn skits and cross-dressing in Nigeria.
In a statement jointly signed by the Amir/Coordinator, Qaasim Odedeji; Secretary, AbdulJalil AbdurRazaq and the Public Relations Officer, Moshood Tahir, and made available to our correspondent in Osogbo, Osun State, the society declared its support for the call by the Director General, National Council for Art and Culture (NCAA), Otunba Segun Runsewe, who asked the House of Representatives to give a legal framework to go after the organisers of Big Brother Naija (BBN) over nudity in the show.
MSSN also backed the council for seeking powers to arrest and prosecute cross-dressers in the country.
The body representing Muslim students’ in the 17 southern states in Nigeria said, “It is imperative to also make our stand known to the public, especially now that immorality has been taken as the normal thing in our society.
“The call by Runsewe isn’t out of place and there are no two ways to look at issues raised against BB Naija, soft porn skits, and cross-dressing in Nigeria. What is bad is bad! What is immoral is immoral!
“You will recall that the second stanza of the national anthem which is now called the national prayer has it that “Help our youth the truth to know”. It is duty-bound on all well-meaning Nigerians to also join the call for this regulation before we all lose hold of the truth.
“The growing rate of immortality in the country is worrisome and we can’t exonerate the effect of reality shows crammed with nudity or soft porn skits that are all over social media.
“Recently, the Minister of Women Affairs, Pauline Tallen, said there has been an increase in the cases of fathers raping daughters in Nigeria. What a shame! We must rise to save our nation from the acceptance of imported culture alien and inconsistent with the moral value our nation commands.
“Some will argue with economic values and freedom of association and speech to justify these immoralities but fail to understand that the damage these show of shame is causing to our social-cultural value, economic and encouragement to criminality is far higher than the insignificant gratification it provides.
“We, therefore, call on all stakeholders; the National Assembly, the National Council for Art and Culture (NCAA), Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) to give the deserving attention on all the issues raised and help our youths know the truth,” MSSN added.