Nigeria: Random Notes On Broadcasting In Nigeria [opinion]

The present crop of Nigerian radio broadcasters have fallen short of and diminished the glory days of broadcasting in Nigeria. Before you accuse of hasty generalisation and of being fixated on the past, let me add that there are a few exceptions to this fact and also advice you to read this piece to the end.

I am of the opinion that broadcasting in Nigeria, that is if we may use Lagos as a case study, has gone to the dogs; it has become an all comers affair. Sometimes I wonder how some of the radio on-air-personalities passed an audition and ended up in front of a microphone doing continuity, presenting a programme and reading the news. Because of the annoying mannerisms and drab style of most of them, I often fiddle with my car radio trying to look for a presenter that would not irritate me with affectations. All of a sudden everybody on radio is slurring their words in an attempt to sound English thereby pronouncing words wrongly. In the glory days of broadcast journalism, word enunciation, good diction and a good command of the English language were sacrosanct requisite for showing up in front of a studio mic. If you did not quite have it, then you have to be teachable and willing to learn.

I grew up in Ibadan and Lagos listening to some of the finest broadcasters that this nation has ever produced – Yanju Adegbite, who had a chemistry and sublime partnership with Deola Alagbe at the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS). There was also Kunle Job (the crowd pleaser) and Kola Bolomope, the few that my memory can throw up. In Lagos, there were, Earnest Okonkwo of blessed memory, Danladi Bako, Soni Irabor, Richard Asiegbu, Priscilla Adasaren (now Delightsome Alfred), Bisi Olatilo, Smart Utemu, Mani Onumonu, Zakari Mohammed, George Omagbemi, the late Momoh Kubanje and a host of others that my memory fails still to recall their names. These men and women, some of them still active one way or another had wits, understood issues, could pronounce Nigerian names with a certain accuracy as if it was their own. They spoke the English language with clarity.

I have heard the excuse a couple of times when a presenter says she is Yoruba and should not be expected to pronounce an Igbo name properly and vice versa. There is something about us Nigerians that trivialises the importance of pronouncing  names correctly. The Igbo man does not care if your name is Afolayan, when he says the name it sounds something like Ifunnaya. The Yoruba are experts in laying claim to any name that sounds phonetically close to their language. Take the names Onosode, Kubanje, Omawumi or Omagbemi for example.

Now, my name is Dafe, I can not for the life of me get over the fact that some of my Yoruba friends from secondary school days still think the ‘f’ is ‘v’ and call me Davi or put the stress on the last letter ‘e’. If they cannot pronounce a name as short and simple as that, how can they attempt my surname – Ivwurie (excuse me the ‘v’ is silent). I remember some of my teachers calling me Ivory even after spending five years in the school! Somehow, you can excuse your teacher or neighbour or colleague in the office. But someone who makes a name and a living from talking cannot and should not be excused.

I have even heard some presenters anglicising their names in order to sound hip but sounding stupid in the process. This is very common with the new generation radio stations mushrooming all over Lagos. And if I get a rejoinder or refutation from anyone of them, I will be forced to name names next time.

Radio, like any other medium of communication is set up to inform, educate and entertain. Some of the presenters that we have today are just busy clowning around instead of entertaining. They do not even come anywhere close to informing and educating. It seems to me that they do not embark on any research before coming on air to throw a topic open on the phone lines. It is amazing how the present crop of on-air-personalities, in spite of the technology and easy access to basic information available to them, on just about any topic conceivable still sound very flat and unschooled. What does it take to really sound intelligent on the radio? I seriously think that if you take the phone-in away from a radio show, most of these guys (and ladies if you insist), cannot last one hour dissecting a topic in a very intelligent, educating and entertaining manner.

If that is difficult, what about reading the news? Some people are of the opinion that reading the news is the easiest thing to do on radio because you are reading from a script. That could be correct. However, one must state that if it is done well it looks very simple and if it is done badly everyone can tell. I guess everyone can tell that we hardly have any good newsreader on radio these days. There is a rhythm and personal presence and authority that a newscaster brings to delivering the news that I do not hear on radio. I suggest that new generation newsreaders listen to tapes of the likes of Mani Onumonu, Cyril Stober, John Momoh, Soni Irabor and Zakari Mohammed for practical tutorials. Some of these stations should actually yank off their newscasters because to put it mildly, they are irritating.

One of the greatest achievements of the Ibrahim Babangida administration was the deregulation of the communication sector, breaking the monopoly of government-owned stations, in essence providing alternatives and choices. It has also provided jobs for a lot of young men and women who hitherto would have been unemployed or forced to pursue another dream in a sector that is not necessarily their first choice. But once you have taken up a job as a broadcaster, it behooves you to do everything to stand out in a profession that is no longer for a privileged few. Instead of focusing on how to promote and validate their celebrity status, they should actually concentrate on how to hone their skills through voice elocution, presentation techniques, pronunciation and generally keeping abreast with local and international current affairs with a view to speaking authoritatively on issues. After all, it is assumed that a journalist is expected to know something about everything.

The management of some of these radio stations should make it a fulcrum of their policy to train their staff both locally and internationally. To make it very effective and engaging, they should organise in-house coaching clinics. A very important and strategic edge that the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), has over privately-owned radio stations is the training school at Shogunle, which has trained and produced some of the outstanding professionals mentioned above. I have had a first hand experience of doing a basic production course for radio at the prestigious institution under the tutelage of the likes of Benson Idonije, Mr. Ofili, Dr. Shuaibu Useni and Emeka Odikpo. The course opens up numerous possibilities in radio broadcasting.

Another aspect that these radio stations have jettisoned and treated with levity is programming. Apart from sports and musical programmes, which are often marred by phone-in segments, information overdose or under-dose and lack of preparation, the radio drama seems to be dead or almost dead in most of these stations. I understand the need to stay in touch with the youth population, but we must dig deep to also create characters that empathise, project and give voice to the yearnings and aspirations of the this young, restless, upwardly mobile and often impressionable group. There are issues that need attention, which we need to bring to the consciousness of young men and women because they might make or mar this generation – sex, environment, globalisation and what it means to Nigerian youth. Radio has to move from mere entertainment into being a tool for behaviour change. We must create characters that influence positive change.


- February 19, 2010 by Dafe Ivwurie

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Source: independentngonline.com/DailyIndependent/Article.aspx (accessed on 22.02.2010)