GUS Contestant To Wannabes: Beware Of The Jungle

Chinedu Ubachukwu, one of the contestants in the Gulder Ultimate Search reality show, has advised other wannabes to think twice before coming forward to contest in the programme.

The University of Port Harcourt graduate of Petroleum and Gas Engineering asked future contestants to brace up for tough times as staying in the jungle could be very harsh and unpleasant.

According to Ubachukwu, he would discourage loved ones from competing on the show as it literally stretches contestants to the limit. The Orange team member said: “To be sincere, I won’t advise a loved one to come here. But the loved one may think I don’t want him to progress in life. Because he or she may think that I’ve come and I’ve made it and I don’t want him or her to make it. But here in the jungle, it is really tough.”

Ironically, Ubachukwu had dreamt of being in the jungle ever since he was young. Just before entering the Aguleri forest, he had said: “Gulder Ultimate Search is the first reality show I grew up watching and I have always admired the participants, and I have always imagined myself in the jungle. I’m so happy and feel so fortunate to have made the last 14 this year.”

Otto Canon, another contestant who got into Gulder Ultimate Search after four unsuccessful attempts, also admitted that competing in the show is very tough. He explained: “There’s so much difference between watching Gulder Ultimate Search on TV and experiencing Gulder Ultimate Search in reality. When you watch Gulder Ultimate Search on TV, you really can’t tell what the feelings are like.”

Speaking on his experience so far, Canon said: “I’ve come to appreciate food so much that the least piece of rice or garri means so much to me right now. At home, I don’t eat left over garri, but right now, I don’t care. At home, I’m very conscious of the water I drink. I would rinse the glass cup I want to use to drink water, because I am particular about it being clean. Right now, I am very comfortable drinking water from the stream. The jungle is a place that humbles you and kills your pride.”

Indeed, life in the jungle is a stark contrast to the luxuries of city life that the contestants are used to. The 14 contestants have had to depend on rain and stream water to quench their thirst, even after competing in gruelling games. Their sleep has been cut short when it rains, because the palm fronds, which serve as the roof of their huts, sometimes fail to provide them the needed cover. The contestants have had to depend on palm kernels and ‘baby’ sugarcane that sprouts from the grounds not too far from their jungle abode.

Dr. Ikenna Emedike, one of the contestants, incurred the wrath of the Council of Elders and was almost evicted for taking cassava without authorization. He attributed his act to hunger and wanting to survive at all cost in the jungle. “When I was walking to the stream, I saw a heavily weeded farm looking like it had been abandoned for years. So, I looked at it carefully and when I saw there was a cassava sprout, I felt it was abandoned. If it had been properly weeded, I wouldn’t have touched it. However, I admit stealing it, because it wasn’t my farm. It was just about survival,” he confessed.