Bud House - One year later

Last year I was selected to represent Nigeria in the groundbreaking online reality show Bud House sponsored by Budweiser during the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We were 32 people who had never met but one thing that we had in common was that we were all football fanatics. So we stayed in this place called Shelley Point, three hours outside of Cape Town, throughout the show as the world watched us online. We had opportunities to go to the stadium in Cape Town to see matches live while the eventual final teams had their representatives at the final game in Johannesburg. Spain's Amanda had the honour of presenting the player of the tournament award to Andres Iniesta.

One year onwards, we still feel like a family. It feels like I have family all over the world. It was a beautiful exchange of cultures and we learnt so much from each other. On our last day in the house a reporter from The Sowetan asked about my impression of the show. I told him that for me it was more about cultural exchange than just a celebration of football. What the producers did unwittingly was to bring together 32 people from all over the world to experience each other’s differences in an atmosphere of love and realize that we’re not so different after all.

That is the lesson that even the United Nations has not been able to achieve in 66 years. That an equal distribution of resources in a fair atmosphere where everyone is allowed to be himself or herself is what the world needs to live in harmony. They have it written in their human right declaration. But in practice, it's not working. The reality was what we did in South Africa last year. It's what today makes me know that I have an amazing family in all the five continents. It's what changed my life and the way I view the world now. It happened at last year's football World Cup. I raise a glass of Budweiser to everyone.

The spirit of the show is encapsulated in the following video where I taught my fellow housemates Dov from South Korea and Ezra from South Africa to sing a Yoruba song from Nigeria. It was recorded by Brazilian housemate Adriano. Somos ciudadanos del mundo...we are citizens of the world.