Big Brother Nigeria may be off our screens but its offspring, JFC refuses to keep quiet...
So much has been written about Joseph's Fan Club (JFC) and not all of it was good. They were accused of being the reason Joseph was voted out of the house, as they had turned viewers against him. Some people called them the mafia, some called them insane but these viewers remained true to their cause of fighting for their favourite (and very cute) housemate...
I had a chat with Jay Kuzwayo from JFC SA and she had quite a lot to say about JFC and the BBN housemates' recent visit to SA..so if you love gossip like I do, be sure to read this...
Brown Shuga: Hello Jay, please tell us a bit about yourself and what attracted you to Big Brother Nigeria?
Jay: Both my husband and I are BB fans, though I tend to identify a favourite or two quite early in the game. He, on the other hand, is totally indifferent about the personalities and still won't admit to outsiders that he's addicted to the show! (hahaha) When I began watching BBN, it was really more out of curiosity than anything else. I did not know any Nigerian personally, and it was one way of understanding a people who, till then, all we ever heard about in the media was negative things. If you ask me, the show was timely, cos through the housemates, and I salute each and everyone of them, we learned much about just how beautiful, courageous, decent and intelligent Nigerians are.
BS: And JFC? Why did you join this fan club specifically?
Jay: It happened by chance actually. I was just a Joe fan. Period. I also liked Joan early on too. I never voted initially, and I visited the BBN site quite late in the game, actually, after Chinedu left. I signed in on the forum link to see what's up. In fact what drew me to the forum was an open letter written by Ugo which appeared on the BBN home page, and I was very interested to read what this person had to say to Joe. It was there I encountered other people who felt the same way I felt about Joe, that is his maturity etc. It was also there I encountered for the first time the club JFC. The second time I went to the forum, Ugo was inviting us to visit the new website he had just opened. I never went back to the BBN forum after that, partly because I got tired of signing in each time I wanted to enter. I limited myself to the news and diary sessions.
BS: What criteria did you guys use to evict housemates?
Jay: I really can't speak for the others. I'm not sure there was a criteria to begin with, until the JFC website came into being. The criteria developed from there. The criteria, in my view, was simple really. We dealt with the nominated housemate who posed the greatest threat to Joe getting the prize money. If that was not an issue during certain nomination weeks, like when mainly the ladies were up for eviction, we targeted them either because they always nominated Joe, or as in Maureen's case, it was, firstly, because Joe told us to, secondly, and for me personally, I wanted to settle a score with her. hahaha. Having said that, however, I believe the block voting strategy started with Gideon's nomination.
BS: How did you make the decisions, did you guys hold meetings?
Jay: Yes meetings were held. I personally did not participate at those meetings. I was content that the strategy committee would handle the whole thing. In all but one case, I didn't need to be told who to vote for. The Kat nomination, the same week that Joe was up for eviction, threatened to divide us, but we prevailed.
BS: Tell us about the eviction of Joseph from the show, what the drama was all about because I believe some fans in Nigeria also lodged a complaint, please tell us more?
Jay: For me, and for true JFCs, Joe's eviction is a day that will live in infamy. It was a coup d'etat. Simple as that. To understand what I'm saying, you simply had to follow the voting patterns since Gideon, and maybe even before that. Everyone we targeted left the house, and even then by quite a big margin. Others we did not target officially, like Helen, we knew that she would leave cos there were enough in the JFC who sorely wanted to settle a score with her after the little tiff she had with Joe. I think I voted 10 times in total that week, many times less than I did for the 3 musketeers, Giddy, Bubu and Kat. JFC not only has the advantage of numbers, but organizing ability and resources. Already that week there were disturbing signs that it would be a tough week. Anti-Joe clubs sprung from nowhere, with people pledging their support right before our eyes, and we were seeing new entrants on the smses like the Don of Lagos. Something out of the ordinary was really brewing, and some in JFC let it be known well before the eviction that should Joe be evicted, the result would be contested. And contest it we did too! It was not to get Joe reinstated. Far from it. Speaking for myself, I wanted answers to certain questions, if possible a declaratory order that Joe survived that eviction, and I also wanted my money back.
BS: How do you feel about the winner, Katung? Do you think he did not deserve to win and do you also believe in the conspiracy that his win was planned from the beginning?
Jay: Yes, I think his win was planned from the beginning. But that's my personal opinion. That aside, however, and had Joe not happened to BBN, I probably would have supported Kat. I really liked him, and in a way, still do. He has this happy-go-lucky personality which I find disarming. He's intelligent, but has a way of not belittling others with his intelligence. He is quite cute too. I also liked the fact that he was the only one who spotted Joe's greatness when everyone else was preoccupied with their cliques.
BS: That is such an accurate assessment of Katung, I feel the same about him. Who was your least favourite housemate and why?
Jay: I have to say it was Giddy and Bubu. Giddy was utterly disrespectful to people, has a high opinion of himself, so high that he felt confident enough to urinate in the garden and still expected to have us hankering after him. Bubu, I get the feeling when he entered the house that he thought he was a sure-fire winner. He'd pitched his tent long ago, and I couldn't wait for him to be nominated. He was charm personified to the girls, meanwhile knowingly destroying Franca's confidence, and going around like he owned the place. Is he a son of a chief?
BS: Back to JFC, how did you guys get together?
Jay: We have to thank Ugo for that for he set up this website, and before long, we realised we had something in common to make Africa a better place, borrowing from Joe's example in the house, with Joe as our ambassador.
BS: I heard from very reliable sources that JFC South Africa was arranging to host Joseph in SA and the plans were rudely interrupted?? What happened?
Jay : Sabotage is more like it! It's not as if Storm did not know we were planning to host Joe on the 24th June. We said it as early as May, just after his eviction, that we want him for that date. Somewhere in early June, just after the final show, we got wind that they want to bring the housemates here. Of course, we called for clarification so that we did not keep planning. Soon we were informed that there was nothing concrete, and anyway, Joe has committed to us, come what may. Well, that was re-assuring enough. But funny, I was still uneasy, but kept on remembering that re-assurance.
Meanwhile, I'm aware that just about everything planned around Joe in Naija itself, is being scuttled by Storm. I guess I just never believed they'd do this to us. Literally the last minute, when the guys (we were expecting 8 JFCs, including Joe's sister and Izu) were due to fly the next evening, and after making contact with visa people in the SA embassy in Naija, where Joe and the others had queued for 10 hrs or more, we get word that the trip is on.
Needless to say, I was gutted, so were all the rest of JFC SA, and some were inconsolable. I guess we're just not used to adults behaving in such a killjoy fashion. It was surreal. I was told that Joe's contract with BBN ended shortly after the final show, and for people to still demand your presence in spite of that, well, it gave me some insight into the psyche of people. I guess if you are used to a political and legal order which was for many years characterised by totalitarianism, however much you detest it, somehow in your subconscious that's the only kind of authority you respond to.
BS: Do you think the organisers of the trip were aware of your plans to SA? Could it not have been a coincidence?
Jay: Of course they were. It was published on the BBN site. They had our minutes of the first meeting when we decided on the date. I guess JFC has made them look bad initiating things they should be initiating. I guess our most unforgivable sin was that action to contest Joe's eviction, though it was not the official JFC position to do so, and in fact some JFC stalwarts strongly opposed it. The housemates unknowingly have us to thank for all the attention they get from Storm to travel and visit places cos were it not for us, they wouldn't be in SA today, maybe only Kat. But to stop Joe from getting all the attention and endorsements, they had to come up with the costly scheme of flying all the housemates to ensure that Joe remained under their tender care. I believe they will be in Ghana next week as well, the same weekend when, I understand, JFC Ghana, were planning to host Joe.
BS: Wow, that is just heavy, Did you at least get to meet Joseph while he was in SA? What is your impression on him after meeting him face to face?
Jay: Yeah, I did. It nearly didn't happen though. I only met him on Sunday when I drove him to the airport. My impression of him? Let's just say I was not disappointed. He was the same gentle respectful soul I'd come to expect.
BS: Would you like to comment on the rumours that the BBN Housemates were abandoned by the organisers of their "trip" to SA?
Jay: What I know is, admittedly hearsay but reliable. But the bit about being left stranded with no transport to the airport and no spending money?
That is not hearsay. The reliable source for me is the receptionist at the hotel while I sat there waiting for Joe. He told me about the room mix-up for Joe when he changed rooms three times cos either it was a luggage room or was occupied. That was because the bookings were done at the last minute, for an entourage that was +20 strong, and they were expected to deliver seamlessly. I tell you, it was something straight out of a Peter Sellers movie.
As a result, they were scattered all over the place, some had to share rooms. Joe would have been so much more comfortable at the Sheraton, where we had booked him, enjoying a view to the magnificent Union Building. The receptionist also told me about their missing breakfast cos they slept late, and ended up eating MacDonald's.
Emmanuel, another JFC SA member, accompanied them for their supper at Kentucky Fried Chicken, which they had to buy themselves, while Joe was meanwhile being occupied and being spoilt rotten by JFC SA.
Zanele and Dee were approached by some housemates for accommodation and to be shown sites. Of course they couldn't accept that responsibility. One housemate asked another JFC member to find her a job.
BS: And the trip you made to Jhb International Airport with Joseph on Sunday morning??
Jay: Ha ha, but I would not have believed it otherwise. Straight out of an Inspector Morse episode. I didn't tell the JFC team till three days later about my little adventure to the airport.
Laura asked me later "Now how could you keep something like that to yourself?" Dudu said now that is news! What happened?
On entering the airport at 7-ish in the morning with Joe and a Virgin colleague (who was lucky to see us leave the hotel cos he needed transport, which I happily offered), it was quite full. Cars were jostling for space to park and drop off passengers. I was following this big white Merc when it suddenly stopped in front of me, and I had to apply my brakes quickly.
Realising when the driver stepped out that it would not budge, I tried to swing my car sharply to my right to move to the next lane to avoid shaving the Merc as I was so close behind it. As I did that, the back door of the Merc suddenly swung open, and I again had to apply my brakes quickly.
By this time even motorists behind me were agitated and hooting. Then from the Merc out tumbled this big fat tall black burly man. We made eye-contact briefly but he was unapologetic.
As I was driving towards a vacant parking spot close by I asked who that was. He said that's "so-&-so", from Storm, it turned out to be. Can you believe that?
This guy is leaving early knowing the housemates are stranded in the hotel with no spending money and no transport to the airport. It was then I realised that JFC had the last laugh, cos here I was bringing Joe to the airport and he sees Joe in this car when he thought he was back in the hotel with others and he could sneak out unseen.
BS: Now that Big Brother Nigeria is over, what is next for JFC because I believe you guys have just launched a new website?
Jay: And what a website it's turned out to be! www.jfc-international.org. We have plans to make a difference in the continent for the youth and the purposeless. Ugo invited JFCs to post him ideas for the website and we await the outcome of that.
BS: Jay, thank you for your time, this was more than I expected. I wish you and JFC all the best.
Jay: Thank you.