Big Brother Amplified’s Karen Igho: Heroine or villain?

Although she emerged victorious in the just concluded 2011 Big Brother Amplified held in South Africa, Nigeria’s Karen Igho has been widely criticised for her roles in the TV reality show.

The controversial BBA star has attracted more of condemnation than praise from diverse quarters, yet she remains a success story by being the first female and joint winner of the popular reality TV show. She clinched a whooping $200,000 as co-winner of the BBA.

Karen who represented Nigeria in the 91-day show was accused of many things while in the house. She received hard knocks for her open display of her big boobs such that some of the male housemates fondled her. Not only this, she was noted for her street-like bahaviour, which presented her as someone lacking in finesse, and who is friendly with alcohol and tobacco while in the house. She was therefore accused of portraying Nigeria in the negative for the whole period she spent in the house.

Nevetheless, there are people who believe that something unique is inherent in Igho’s conduct. This uniqueness is embedded in being herself throughout her stay in the BBA house. Many Nigerians who saw her in the house insisted she was neither hypocritical nor pretentious and that she used every opportunity to demonstrate the stuff she is made up of.

When the news went round last July that Karen had been declared winner of the BBA 2011, many Nigerians jubilated that the country has recorded another feat with its representative carting the ultimate prize of the reality show. Coming after past winners-Kelvin Pam (2009) and Uti Nwachukwu (2010), Karen’s victory added another feather to Nigeria’s cap in the BBA contest. But unlike Kelvin and Uti, many Nigerians believe Karen did not represent the country positively.

The controversy became intense following allegations that the Minister of Youth Development, Bolaji Abdullahi has endorsed Karen as a youth ambassador for Nigeria. But in a swift reaction, the minister denied the allegations, saying that he only hosted the BBA crew in his office and that since a Nigerian housemate emerged winner, it was only logical for him to accept the crew in his office. Nevertheless, Abdullahi insinuated that many of his critics were just being hypocritical about Karen.

He was quoted to have said’’ What I see here is the rising tendency to be sexist in this country in a way that is not acceptable…someone won this competition last year and he was hailed and hosted everywhere like if he was a hero…Now, because Karen is a woman, therefore she is what? If it was a man that went into that programme and did all the escapades, will we be treating him like this?’’

The minister however denied ever making Karen a youth ambassador; ‘’What we did as a Ministry of Youth Development when we were informed that they will like to visit us, I mean, we welcome them. That does not meanthe same thing as endorsing whatever she did or did not do. No one mentioned anything about role modelling. Nobody mentioned anything about being an ambassador.’’

Meanwhile, Karen who was described as a street girl in BBA and who had taken to various odd jobs before entering BBA house may have triumphed over her critics. Some people have described her story as being instructive in the sense that she crossed from obscurity into prominence by being her real self. Having started as a nobody, a girl without a fatherly figure who was forced to live with her grandmother, she tried to escape into marriage but ended up a failure.

She later opted out of marriage and tried her luck in diverse odd jobs, includding stripping at night clubs, only to end up as BBA winner with a lifeline to go with it.