unday, October 31, 2010
[size=14pt]Zimbabweans have no reason to be hungry if they can give $300,000 to a loser - Uti[/size]

'NONYE BEN-NWANKWO


Uti Nwachukwu may have remained in the background when he participated in Big Brother Africa 3, but today, the Delta State native is an international celebrity, as he emerged the winner of Big Brother All Stars edition, a reality show organised by cable company, Multichoice. During his homecoming news conference in Lagos, he relates his sojourn in the house with 'NONYE BEN-NWANKWO.


[img]http://odili.net/news/source/2010/oct/31/punch/images/pix200810112194510[1].jpg[/img]
Uti Nwachukwu







How I handled my father's death while I was in the house Immediately the news of my father's death came to me I was shattered; I thought of quitting. When I left home for the house, my dad was already ill and I come from a very positive family and we kept praying that he would recover. He had to go to India for surgery and the last thing I told him before he travelled was that I had been called back to the Big Brother House. He told me that people loved me and that I would have won the first time. He told me to go in and prove myself and that he would have loved to see me. It touched me because for me the first time I went I thought it was all about me, but when I came out I found out it was not all about me.

When the news came, I felt like coming back home to my family, to my mum, my sisters because I'm the last in a family of six. I was given 24 hours to think of my decision. They gave me two options: the first was that I leave the show to go and bury my father and not come back and they would understand. The second option was to be around, wait till the funeral day had been fixed, then they would give me some days to go and take part and come back to the house. While I was thinking, a voice kept talking to me in my head. It said, 'Grow up, you are an adult now, there is no need to get emotional. You're the last born, if you leave now and not come back what will you go and do back home when the elder ones are there with your mum?' The voice told me that the last thing I told my father was that I was coming back to the house so will my quitting make him happy, is it not better to stay and be evicted or win?

The housemates helped me a lot. They talked to me and gave me their experiences about handling a loss. They took their minds off the game and treated me like a human being, not a competitor. Then the next day I told Big Brother that because that was the last thing I said to my father about staying in the house till it was time for the funeral, then I would leave for the funeral, depending on how I feel I would decide to come back or not. I kept telling Big Brother to let me know three days before I have to travel. but as days went by I didn't hear anything. So, I asked Big Brother and he said the funeral had been postponed. In a personal message from my family, they urged me to stay strong and remember to be focused that the funeral had been pushed to November because of the flood that affected the roads in my hometown, Agbor (Delta State). So, if I had quit I would have come home, cried and just sat there and I wouldn't have had the chance to fulfil the last thing I spoke to my father. I might get criticised for that, but I still get to bury my father and give him the last respect. That is my joy.

Me and Munya

When it remained Munya and I in the house, I felt the luck could go either way. We were all strong characters in the house; everybody was really good. So of course at one point I said it could be Mwisho, Sheila, Lerato but when it was down to Munya and I, I said this guy could take it, but in my mind I kept repeating in my head that the winner of Big Brother All Stars is Uti. I was just saying, 'Uti, you have won, Uti, you have won.' I was picturing it in my mind over and over. That was why I sat down looking at one spot; I was just visualising my victory. I don't feel any different that he got more money from his country. Yes, I was in a competition with him in the show, but I have no bitterness towards him. If he actually got that money, I congratulate him and I pray that the people of Zimbabwe can use this same attitude to approach poverty, hunger and every other problem they have there. If they can give someone $300,000 for not winning a game then that means Zimbabwe should have no reason whatsoever to have people that are hungry, suffering or oppressed.

http://odili.net/news/source/2010/oct/31/802.html

crap

True talk by Uti