#CCBNaija Reality TV Show: We Are About To Change The Face Of Nigerian Building Industry, ULDA CEO, Gbola Oba

• Mercy Aigbe, Ninalowo, Nkechi Blessing, Teddy A, Others In Camp As Celebrity Builders

A television reality show that will showcase the skill of building a house from the scratch to completion is about to hit the Nigerian television screen.

The show involves the camping of select celebrities including movie star, Mercy Aigbe, Bolanle Ninalowo, Teddy A, Nkechi Blessing, Josh2Funny amongst others.

According to the visioner of the show and Managing Director/CEO of Universal Learn Direct Academia Limited, the parent company of ULDA Media Limited, Mr. Gbola Oba, the three-month show is the first of its kind and it would demystify the process of building homes from foundation to completion.

Explaining the concept of the show, the producer of CCBNaija and CEO/creative director of Ojis Media Limited, Asuelime Ojie Eniola, said the show is a 12-man contest consisting of top celebrities from across the entertainment genres including movie, music, comedy and reality.

The show, he clarified, is a marriage between the building construction and the entertainment industry.

According to Ojie, the entertainment industry ideally is being used to drive the ideas of the building construction industry, which we know that is long overdue.

“This concept is first of its kind in the whole of African continent and I think this is the reason we are getting a whole lot of attention from many countries,” Ojie stated.

Ojie added that CCBNaija is a show meant to get to the people in clear presentation the message of demystifying the building construction industry.

“When you want to get to some people, when you speak their language it is easier to get to them. So, CCBNaija is us trying to reach out to the general public in the language they understand, which is entertainment.

“Therefore, in the process of getting the entertainment, they are getting the real information that the show basically is all about,” Ojie explained.

Ojie further noted that even before the show starts fully, the celebrity contestants themselves, who are getting involved in the building training, are already admitting the positive import of the idea.

“One of the celebrity housemates said to me few days ago that she was building her house and that what she has learned so far from the training here has helped her to know so much about building a home with ease. She now controls the workers on her site.

“So, that actually is the message we are trying to pass across. By the time the followers of the show begin to see it, they also would get that information and we would have succeeded in driven home the main focus of the show which is to demystify the building construction industry,” he said.

He said the celebrities would learn theory and practical aspects of building fot two weeks and that the show would be aired for about three months.

Ojie stated that the celebrities would be divided into two teams and that they would build two houses; three bedroom bungalow each and that the two teams would compete on who applies the criteria they have been taught better.

“The eviction process starts later, and though it is a team work, the eviction is individual. The winner goes home with a five-bedroom duplex in Lekki corridor area of Lagos with other consolation prizes. That can be converted into money as they are not all Nigerians. It could be dollars.

“The first runner-up goes home with three bedroom bungalow, and the highest voting viewer also gets three bedroom bungalow that can also be converted into dollars based on location. You get an equivalent of the house like about $35,000. But we would prefer they take the houses. There would be winnings every week.

“Apart from the regular television stations there would be extended versions on the social media. It will be showed daily, buy the eviction would be live on weekends. We looked into the various industries in the entertainment circle and we looked at those who will come out strong.

“We look at their performances. You will get good entertainment, the first of its kind in Africa. You will get information on building industry.

“Industry experts in Nigeria would come on the show to talk to people about building. You will not just be entertained, you will learn a lot. So far, we have over one million engagement from our videos that were uploaded in the social media. This is when we have not put all of them together,” he said.

A construction carpentry director who is in charge of mentoring the housemates in the executive management course, Mrs. Joy Shittu, noted that the driving force behind the CCBNaija reality TV show idea is to ensure that people can afford their own homes.

“We are having the show to take people through all the processes of building a house, from land ownership to getting the joints done and to finishing the house. Government is not really doing enough in providing homes for middle income earners, even low income earners. So, what we’re trying to do is that, even if you’re earning so low, it won’t be so difficult for you to be able to own a home. When people have their homes, food shelter is the basic. So, we are not looking at luxury homes. A lot of people are doing a lot in the area of providing houses for people, but how affordable are these houses?

“So, we are looking at homes that are affordable, that people can key into, probably have a payment plan and be able to afford it. Once you have food and a home, every other thing is easier. That is why we’re putting up the show and we’re putting our best that it comes out well, hoping that the people will embrace it and realize that it is easy to own a land and build a house.

“We want other people to come and join us and see that it is possible. Investors can come in and people can pay as low as N3,000 monthly and have mortgage done for them. We would have done our part. What we are doing is not selfish. We want to play our own role and give something back to this country. We cannot wait for the government. All of us have to stand up and do something about it.

“For the organizers, the primary aim and projected success of the CCBNaija reality TV show, apart from entertaining an average viewer, would be for it to stimulate collaborative housing provision strategie’s amongst middle income earners of not only Nigerians but also other Africans and help find a way of systematically and sustainably solving housing problems that governments in Africa have failed to solve.

The airing of the show kicks off online on Wednesday, 7th of April 2021 and the television live airing begins early next week.

Gbola Oba said further that ULDA is into bricklaying, construction, carpentry and others, and that they established the training Institute in 2017 and that they established they knew it could not be just for skill empowerment, but for entrepreneurship.

“The only way to make sure that the beneficiaries of our training programmes become useful to themselves is to encourage adults who already make money to create a system to engage the graduates of our training school do what they have learned. Many adults in Nigeria desire to own home and there should be opportunities for our graduates.

“So, we went to England and encouraged Nigerians in the Diaspora who had free money to come together and form themselves into cooperatives because we have the manpower and the faculty.

“With the little change they put together, 100 pounds per month, we were able to do what we are doing. When we got to Nigeria we discovered that there were so many people who wanted to be part of this.

“In Nigeria also, we started a cooperative. The two cooperatives, Lagos and London came together to get these buildings. This estate is owned by the cooperatives,” he said.

The show, he said, is not a typical reality show, as the celebrities in the house are known, adding that they would attend to their businesses, while they are in the House.

“We set the criteria and chose the people that we wanted. The minimum budget for the show is about N250 million. Since we have built credibility with people, a number of people in our cooperative bought debenture bond for the show. We didn’t go to the bank. One unit of the debenture is about N100,000, and so far people have bought about N60 million worth of it. We have people, who bought four or five and some even bought up to 40 units.

“There are so many platforms for a reality TV show to make money, we will make money through sponsorship and advert. The most important aspect of it is the interactive session through text messages.

“Do we see enormous opportunity in it, yes. It is a social engineering project. We intend to use it to add value to whoever comes across us. We are building about 2,500 homes for people.

“The greatest success of the project is to start housing collaboration strategies among the middle income earners not only in Nigeria, but in other countries in Africa, to solve problems that the governments in Africa have failed to solve. If this show can do that, apart from entertaining the viewers, then it is okay. With N10,000 a month something can be done. We have 140 housing units here within a year.

“We wanted to start early last year, but there was lockdown due to COVID-19, and we started the project less than a year ago. One of the ways to fight poverty in our society is to encourage people to go into infrastructure investment,” he said.

The unveiling of the housemates of the maiden edition of Celebrity Come Build reality television show a.k.a. CCBNaija, took place on Friday, 2nd of April, 2021.

Fans from across African countries are already in high expectations as the first of its kind reality TV show promises to be a great fun and full of surprises.
The housemates in the competition are first-rate African entertainers in their own right, selected mainly from the film industry, music, comedy including some who have been part of reality television show before.

Meet the contestants

Mercy Aigbe

Mercy Aigbe is an award winning actress and filmmaker with so many filmographies to her credit.
Mercy is a Theatre Art graduate of the University of Lagos. She owns a drama school called the Mercy Aigbe Gentry School of Drama.
She is a brand influencer and has signed multi-million endorsement deals with top brands.
She is an entrepreneur and owner of the Mag Divas Boutique in Lagos and Ibadan.

Josh2Funny

Joshua Alfred popularly known as ‘Josh2Funny’ is a content creator, comedian, actor, musician and the face behind so many funny characters like ‘Mama Felicia’, ‘Brother Zakius’ and ‘Jugas’, which have become an online sensation.
He is acclaimed the King of Trends as he inspires global trends. From the trending #AllMyGuysAreBaller, #FinkAbarrit down to the #DontLeaveMe Challenge.

Teddy A

Tope Adenibuyan popularly called Teddy A is a musician, brand influencer, entrepreneur and actor.
He became a household name after contesting in a popular reality TV show and has gone on to make a name for himself through his many endeavors.
He is an award winning brand influencer and the CEO of Le Fern Multiservices, a commercial and post construction cleaning company.

Lizzy J

Adeyela Adebola popularly known as Lizzy Jay or Omo Ibadan is a Nigerian comedienne, host, singer and model.
She is the CEO of Omo Ibadan Cosin Senta, a principal comedy skit show which has attained populaity on social media, transcending language and cultural barriers.

Naledi Boltina

Naledi Boltina is a musician, actress and presenter.
She is a sought-after artiste who has done several collaborations with popular artistes from around Africa with a recent collaboration with Nigerian artiste, Ice Prince
She is a very versatile entertainer with credits in blockbuster film deals.

Funky Mallam

Saeed Mohammed popularly called Funky Mallam is an actor, comedian, Mc Compere and musician.
He became a household name in the entertainment industry after featuring in the popular sitcom, ‘Paradise Park’.
He has gone to create a strong brand for himself sealing endorsement deals with multinational brands and featuring in blockbuster films till date.

Anto Lecky

Anto Lecky is a leading media personality. She is an actress, model and sports administrator, public speaker, and brand influencer.
As an actress, she has starred in Cinema blockbusters.
She is the CEO of Anto Hair builder, Room 22 Agency and O’Compatriot Lifestyle.
She has represented multinational brands like Google, Bolt, Etihad, Coca-Cola etc as brand influencer.

Bolanle Ninolowo

Bolanle Ninolowo popularly known as Nino B, is an actor and entrepreneur
He is a successful and award winning Yoruba and English film actor who has starred in countless movies with the popular being, ‘Picture Perfect’, where he convincingly interpreted the role of tout.
He is a household name and brand ambassador to a list of multinationals.

Nkechi Blessing

Nkechi Blessing is a versatile actress, musician, filmmaker, and producer and script writer. She is regarded as one of the fastest rising actors in the Nigerian movie industry.
She studied Theatre Arts (Diploma) at the University of Lagos, Ojo and also bagged a degree in International Relations in Houdegbe North American University, Benin Republic.
She made a debut in her career when she produced the movie ‘Omoge Lekki’. She also produced three other movies; Fiditi, Church girls and Don.
Since her breakout, she has gone on to feature in over 50 movies and has gone on to produce her own movies.

Rosemary Afuwape

Rosemary Afuwape a.k.a. Rosie came into the limelight after winning the maiden edition of ‘Ultimate Love’ in March 2020. Loved by fans for her sweet and gentle nature, Rosie studied International Relations and Affairs at Eastern Mediterranean University (Dogu Akdeniz Üniversitesi) for her Bachelor’s degree and had her Masters in Marketing Management at the same university.
She is a contestant and co-winner in the first edition of the ‘Ultimate Love’ reality TV show.
She was crowned Miss African Queen while in the university and during her service in Nigeria, she was crowned Miss Big, Bold, Bright, and Beautiful at the NYSC camp.
She has brand endorsements with top rated corporate outfits.

Akuapem Poloo

Rosemond Alade Brown a.k.a. ‘Akuapem Poloo’, is a Ghanaian award winning actress, video vixen and brand ambassador. She began her acting career when she moved to Accra after her senior school.
At age nine, the actress was hawking a popular Ghanaian snack called ‘Poloo’, from which she earned her popular sobriquet, Akuapem Poloo.
She won the Most promising Actress Award at Ghana Nigeria Showbiz Award, 2018.