While growing up, my favourite TV shows were Binta and Friends, Papa Ajasco, This is Super Story, Checkmate and lots of others I cannot remember again. These were amazing shows that made my childhood more fun and hilarious. In those days, there was stable electricity so I never missed watching these shows. These TV shows were always aired every week and they were shows I don't miss watching whenever I return from school.
On most weekends while we are expecting the electricity to come up, we would use the time to perform some drama. I was the one in the duty of giving names to each character from these TV shows, giving each person a role to play and our parents and adults around then would laugh at our drama and acting skills. It was always a happy moment replicating the exact scene and our parents were always proud of us then.
The only time we relaxed to watch all these shows was during weekends because, during weekdays, we were always mandated to do our assignments before watching any TV and by the time we were done with assignments, lunch and chores, they would have finished the shows and it would always pain us. There are other weekdays when we are lucky not to have lots of assignments or chores left to do and would enjoy watching these shows as it entertain us a lot more than playing roughly with others in the compound. These shows occupied us and kept our companies as we learned amazing lessons alongside.
There was a notebook where I wrote the days and times for each show as we never wanted to miss any series because of how interesting each part was and we wanted to know what was next for each character. Binta and Friends was my main show as it featured an adventurous girl called Binta who had friends and faced lots of challenges as young children which they navigated through and were taught different life lessons. This show was aired in the late 90s and it took a great turn in our lives then. This show talked a lot about education, health, and social issues which was played in an educative manner with much to learn from and have fun with. Binta and Friends was produced by Wale Adenuga production which was popular then.
Aside from this show, there is another interesting and comedy one titled "Papa Ajasco". If you are from the '80s and '90s, even the early 2000 and do not know about this TV show, I guess you should cover your face as a Nigerian 😀. Papa Ajasco was a show that was also aired in the late '90s and early 2000s. It was produced by the same Wale Adenuga for children's entertainment. It is a Nigerian comedy television series that was running for a long time which made childhood memories entertaining and fantastic.
This show centered around the family of Ajasco who were always hilarious in their talks, dressing etc. The show was led by the patriarch Papa Ajasco who is known for his witty dialogue and memorable character.
In all of these, this show stood out for me, which was titled "Village Headmaster." Many times, this show made me dream of acting and being on the theatre stage because of their style of acting and how entertaining the characters are. Village Headmaster is a legendary Nigerian television drama which is in series and was aired between 1968 to 1988 (I wasn't born then 🤔) but this show became a favourite of kids as we would always expect that particular day for it to be shown as we all would be engrossed in it.
If you are familiar with NTA (Nigerian Television Authority), this was the channel where this show was always shown during one of the days of the week. This show was set showing a fictional setting of a market called 'Oja' with its community members depicting the lives, struggles and victories of the residents living around the market. The village headmaster is a respected figure who is known to be a mediator and a good leader in settling the conflicts and issues in the community and would make sure peace reigns.
One thing I love about these TV shows is how they depict the lives and values of Nigerians and how they are faced with challenges and the solutions to embark on to make sure things are better again. In all, these shows were the epitome of entertainment and happiness in the lives of children growing up to embrace the right morals. These shows not only serve as entertainment to audiences but contribute significantly to Nigerian television by addressing social issues, promoting cultural values and exposing local talents in each individual.
Images were created by me on Bing AI
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