Co-Director and Producer of youth-targeted enlightenment series, MTV Shuga Naija, Tope Oshin, in a recent interview with The Nation Newspaper talks about the importance of keeping the conversation going amongst youth about sex, sexually transmitted diseases and living above the stigma of HIV/AIDS.
Due to her experience in different capacities since the inception of the Shuga series, the producer says that Shuga is a life-changing show, very much needed at a time when there’s a lot of sex amongst youth but not much knowledge on how to handle the aftermaths, as the show returns for its fourth season.
Read excerpts below
Talking about how she became producer on the show; Tope shared; “I have been a part of the Shuga, right from Season one. I’ve worked in different capacities. Initially, I was casting it, you know, putting the characters together and getting appropriate actors for it. And then last season, I was called to direct the stories. I received a call sometime in May last year to consider producing the show, which meant that my company became the official production company for the show.”
Speaking on the good she thinks the show has done over the years, she said; “MTV Shuga Naija and MTV Franchise in general has been known to be high messaging show, even though it’s the most entertaining show that we have presently that connects with the youth which is a big factor for it as well – the ability to connect well with young people, the ability to listen to its target audience, mirror their lives and speak back to them in the language they understand. This has contributed to the great success of MTV Shuga and why it’s still going on. We’re currently in the fourth season in Nigeria. And this is the eighth season in general. It keeps going on strong, sponsors keep coming on board, just because of the efficacy of the message, the ability to be able to combine successfully entertainment and messaging for social change. This is the biggest thing about Shuga and that is why it’s celebrated so much in the world.”
Commenting on how Nigerians have related to the show so far, Tope said; “I think Nigeria today is getting to a very interesting point where we’re beginning to have this conversations that matter. Conversations regarding our sex, regarding our sexuality, regarding sexually transmitted infections. You know, all of these things are real. Some of these things are deadly, some of these things affect society in a negative way. And we’re beginning to have these conversations. In the media, you will find that we’re talking about rape, we’re talking about people speaking up, gender-based violence and all of that. So, I believe that MTV Shuga started this even before this conversation began in Nigeria. The time is now for a show like MTV Shuga Naija to keep going on with all these messages. Talking about sex is not what we’re used to in Nigeria or in Africa because we believe this happens behind closed doors.”
Read the full interview here.