Understanding the BBNaija Jury: Here's How To Ensure They Lose Control Over Your Fave

The Jury’s decision to save Seyi Awolowo sparked a lot of angry reactions among the audience.

BBNaija All-Stars is shaking some essential tables, including friendships, fan-ships and fave-ships. Except you were away on Mars over the weekend or took a sabbatical from social media, you couldn’t have missed the storm that followed Uriel Oputa’s eviction from the Big Brother All-Stars competition.

Although controversies and hot takes flying after the eviction of a housemate is nothing new in Big Brother Naija, Uriel’s eviction sparked a lot more hot takes than usual due to the circumstances surrounding her saying goodbye to Biggyverse. The Jury’s decision - Laycon, Teddy A, Diana - to save Seyi Awolowo, although he had the lowest votes (again), sparked a lot of angry reactions among the audience.

Last week, the jury comprising Bisola Aiyeola, Mike Edwards and Dorathy Bachor also saved him from eviction, despite gathering the least votes. Fans didn’t complain as loudly because they didn’t necessarily think Princess was bringing the content. Still, many spoke against Seyi’s stay in the house and clamoured for the jury to send him home if he ever fell to the bottom again.

For those not familiar with the jury, it comprises former housemates who determine which current housemate they want to remain in the Biggieverse out of the two with the least votes. As an extension of the Big Brother Franchise, we got our first taste of the Jury system in the All-Stars season, and it has been a bumpy ride. The jury system was also in place in the Big Brother US game, coming up in several seasons.

For some, the Jury’s decision, especially the last one, was unfair. While fans can bandy some words to express dissatisfaction with their decision, especially when someone with more social currency gets chosen over the less favourite, we forget that these housemates have varying degrees of relationships with the jury members.

They are friends off/on the show, and realistically speaking, no one would choose an acquaintance over their close friends. In Seyi’s case, he is ‘guys’ with many of the jury members. From Bisola Aiyeola to Laycon, these ex-housemates have built a bond with the current ones and feel emotionally inclined to save their ‘people’ over someone they do not know. Most importantly, they are human, and that’s a human decision. It’s easy to argue that they should have listened to the viewers, but many complaining would do the same if they were in their shoes.

Interestingly, the real power still lies in the fans’ hands. The jury can only affect the fate of the bottom two, but they will never get that chance over someone if the housemates are not in the bottom 2. It’s that simple! As Laycon simply put it after the eviction on Sunday night, “Did you vote for your fave housemate?”

The only way to save your fave from the Jury’s fate is by voting massively to ensure they never make it to the bottom two or three. The more you vote, the less you worry about the jury.

Upgrade your existing subscription to earn more voting power and convert others to do the same. Better still, subscribe to the DStv Prestige package and enjoy the ultimate in voting power with 10,000 votes or the GOtv Supa+ bundle with 750 votes.

• Don’t be a comment section warrior, pay for your DStv or GOtv subscription, download the MyDStv and MyGOtv Apps and vote, vote, vote. You can only keep your fave out of the bottom 2 by voting. Banter and word wars on social media do not count as votes. 
• Don’t forget to use your mobile and website votes, even though it’s limited to 100 votes each. 

Remember: The more you vote, the less you have to worry about the jury.

For more information, visit www.dstv.com or www.gotvafrica.com.

Moniepoint is the Big Brother Naija All-Star Headline sponsor, while HFM Nigeria is the associate sponsor.