By Moses Nosike

Jungle Search Reality Television Show is designed to promote and discover talents among young Nigerians especially in the entertainment industry.

Winner of the Jungle Search Reality Television show season two, Prince Chinyere Uwabie Jr. aka Bablo J is from Port Harcourt but he is based in Lagos.

In a media chart with Journalists in Lagos, how he came across the show and his experience in the jungle as a winner, he said, “Last year November, I was going through a friend’s status and I saw the flier, then I thought it was a joke and unserious, but asking my friend if this is not a scam he said, it’s real and I decided to give it a trial. It was not long I got a message that I will be among the 50 contestants that will be going into the jungle. It was like a movie to me but eventually I didn’t only join but I emerged as the winner”.

According to Uwabie, I am a rap artist and have been in the music scene for a while. “I have worked with artistes like Timaya, Duncan Mighty, Waconzy among others. I decided to go into the show because I always like to develop myself to see how I can cope with the other side of life.

In the first week of the jungle, I thought I will fall sick because of the different and difficult tasks we were exposed to but luckily I didn’t. I joined the jungle to discover myself but as time went on, I knew that I was going to win the show from the comments I was receiving from my fans and friends. During the show, we were allowed to use our phones for one hour everyday. From comments, I knew that if I don’t win the show, a lot of people will be disappointed, but glory be to God, I eventually won the show”.

Full of excitement, Uwabie said, “I am a whole new person since after the show. In the jungle, I discovered some innate qualities in me. Also I had to try to interact with other contestants in the house and let it not look as if one is being pride of himself, but because we are from different background, it was obvious that some contestants do not like me because of the way I do my things. Some of them felt intimidated and after the show, they told me that they knew I was going to win the show. I am fulfilled that I eventually emerged as the winner. During the show I was the fourth king of the jungle, there is always a king in every four days. We also did some collective tasks and shared ourselves in groups and we won some tasks.

Three years ago, I applied for one of the popular reality show but I didn’t get the opportunity to get to the final stage.

Today as a star winner, I won a $10 worth of deal, a plot of land, car and a vacation. Am into business where I supply some hotel items and I do other things. As a winner, I will visit the less privileged in the society, give them gifts and later focus on my career.

Second Runner-UP, Samuel Olumide Adebimpe, aka Samflex, a 400 level student of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, studying Computer and Communication Engineering, responding to questions from journalists Adebimpe said, “I got the flier from a friend who lives in Lagos, and since I have always be looking out for such opportunity, I decided to put in my entry and that was how I was selected to be one of the contestants for the show.

Adebimpe who lives in Bauchi while sharing his experience said, “it was hectic. It wasn’t easy, there was a lot of brokenness both physically and emotionally. The training was hard but is for my own benefit. I met a quite different characters in the House but I had to develop a manner to communicate with them having come from different backgrounds.

I went there with a different mindset, but after the training I saw the different. I felt I was the champion. Our captain, (moderator) taught us a lot of things. I learnt a lot of things there; we were given different tasks and it has really helped me. I also realised that the more responsibility given to you helps you to progress, makes life easier and you become more responsible”.

He said that they were 36 contestants and we spent 36 days in the house. “One of the task that I found very hectic was the one we had to pass through a lot of obstacles, juggling through different difficult tasks.

When it comes to creativity, the show has helped me because some of the tasks given to us deal with creativity and I like creativity a lot because it helped me to discover some talents I never knew that I had.

I also sing but when I’m singing I always fright at stage, but during the show, we had a lot of presentations and one of it was to perform one of the talents that you have. When I got in front of the camera, I was able to overcome the stage fright and now I don’t have stage fright any more.

However, I intend to continue with music and other forms of creativity. Though, I love robotics, I have a lot of things that I want to continue on my own even with my modeling career.There was only one winner for the competition and I emerged as the second runner up. The competition has helped me to learn a lot and I say thank you to the organisers for the exposure that they have given to me. I intend to participate in other reality shows in the country that will help me further realize my dreams. participating in Jungle Search Reality Television show is just the starting point for me.