The Managing Director of Vintage 93.7FM Ibadan, Mrs. Abiola Ibrahim Adedoja, studied Agricultural Engineering up to Master’s degree level but has veered to media management. She tells SAM NWAOKO her experience in the industry.
How did the idea of Vintage FM come about?
I had been thinking of having a platform through which I can address people, most especially women but how it would happen, I didn’t know. God has a way of making things happen. It was a dream I had been nurturing but how it would happen, I wouldn’t know. In 2019, I met a friend and we were talking about radio station. We talked about what it might take us to set up a radio station. We said if we had the radio station, what exactly do we want to achieve with it? We agreed that we should promote our culture and also promote religion and create further understanding of our religion among other things. In 2022, the dream came true.
How has it been since that time, looking back to the idea and the road you travelled to bring it to fruition and the goals you set for yourselves?
It has not been easy owing to challenges here and there but we give God all the glory. We are tackling and surmounting the challenges as they present themselves. We know that as we are forging ahead it’s going to be better.
Between idea and reality, what are the tangible things? A functional radio station, media management and management of people and so on cannot be totally left in the realm of ideas. Would you say the vision is in motion or you would change direction?
To a very large extent, we have been able to translate the idea. We have been able to bring the idea to reality and make it a tangible thing. Now, we are working to fine-tune things and we can see that things are taking the right shape as we envisage. We have been moving with the team to translate the idea. Like I said, we are tackling issues as they crop up and we are making steady progress.
When we look at the cultural and, sometimes, religious issues that often crop up when issues involve the womenfolk in Africa, do you think things are better being managed now than before?
Before now, it was a difficult thing for women to be in positions of authority but in recent times the situation is changing. Women are now accepted at the helm of affairs because women have been tested and it has been confirmed that women can do a whole lot of things other than the traditional things we associate with women. However, some of the successes men and women achieve are with the assistance of men and women. It is a common saying that ‘behind every successful man there is a woman’ I will also say that behind every successful woman too, there are men. It could be a father, a brother, an uncle, her friends, her colleagues and so on with whom they share ideas and how to translate them. So, I think it is the same for both genders. However, I hope that we are moving in the right direction in Nigeria with regards to gender issues and I believe that it can only get better.
Women now voice out and some of the inhibitive cultural practices are gradually giving way. The culture is now getting used to women handling some of the things they initially thought that we could not do. Women are no longer limited to the kitchen; women multi-task a lot and they are still doing that even more than ever before. Aside the kitchen and the ‘other room’, women are playing actively in the banking sector, in ICT, in Engineering and nearly all the sectors of human endeavour. I play in the media sector which wasn’t such a common thing. More women are now getting involved – even in politics and the 35 per cent affirmative action could be better. However, I think there should still be more representation of women in politics and they should be given more support in their respective fields. There are women doing excellently in many professions and entrepreneurial endeavours and they are making impact in the community and the people around them.
Women media executives like you are not very many. In Oyo State where there are dozens of radio stations, and Ibadan where most of them are operating, women owners are very few. What is it like out there as a lone ranger in this jungle? Are you intimidated?
It is not in any way intimidating. We are all operating based on the same set of rules and guidelines. So, there is nothing to be afraid of. Secondly, the people I meet, both men and women, have been supportive. The men folk that I meet have been supportive and have been helpful with some of the things we need. I heard that the new COO of Splash FM is a woman. So women are coming up. Something like sisterhood is coming up.
So, are you ready to take over or you would just be tagging along?
I will not say we are taking over, but we are ready to play the game with them. For us at Vintage FM, our mission is to bring the lost values in the society back. It is our aim to put a touch of positive Western civilisation to our culture and society so as to make it more acceptable. Our vision is to deliver unbiased information and make positive impact in our community. These are the ideas driving us and there is nothing about it other than to make our society better for all and sundry.
If you have an opportunity to sit one-on-one with Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, vis a vis what the media world is like, what would you tell him?
To the best of my knowledge, he is doing good in many facets of the Oyo State economy and he has been good to the media. However, I will tell him to be more accommodating of the media.
Your immediate police in the broadcast business is the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC). Does this agency inhibit you or, does the NBC affect the way you look at the broadcast media business?
I think the NBC has been like the Big Brother, monitoring what we feed the listening public. Rather than see the commission as an inhibition, I think they are of assistance. They ensure that the public is not misled or misguided by what we feed the society through our stations. The media has a unique audience and the NBC is there to ensure that we do not mislead or misinform them.
There are issues of taxation in Nigeria. Sometimes, it could be multiple-taxation; sometimes, the issue could be the amount payable. The print media is not left out in this. What do you think the government can do for the media outfits in this regard?
My recent experience with the Oyo State government is worrisome. We had expected the government to have given emerging and new businesses some breather as the businesses are set up. The window would allow then breathe and settle in before they are levied some amounts as tax. Sadly, this is not what obtains. Aside the PAYE tax that we do on the staff members, and the one paid by the owners of the company, the company itself also pays and the bill we got recently was ridiculously high. We started this business in December 2022 and we have received different types of levies and taxes that are, to put it mildly, shocking. I think they should allow new businesses some time to grow. There should be a tax holiday to allow them settle and master the ropes and get themselves immersed in that business before the taxes begin to roll in.
Is there a convergence of broadcast executives in Ibadan through which issues as the one you raised above could be tables and shared for a healthier business environment?
There is a platform to which most of the media heads belong. Media staff members also have theirs. On the platform we share ideas and discuss various issues. However, I think it is possible to have a kind of association through which issues like that of taxation and how the authorities go about it can be tabled as a collective issue and discussed. For now, I have not seen us doing that but I think it is possible. I agree that we need a group that can present as a common front for media outfits with regards to issues bordering on taxation, welfare and promotion of the broadcast outfits.
So, what stands Vintage 93.7 FM out?
I think it is the fact that we have a crop of young and purposeful staff members who are desirous of results. One of the best things that can happen to you as a leader is to have a crop of dedicated people in your team. That is one of our fortes at Vintage FM and we are grateful for that. Then we have some unique programmes which people can also listen to on our social media platforms and our demography is from the age 18 to 75. We are also on Radio Garden and through that, people can listen to us from anywhere in the world. Our philosophy in terms of programmes is 70 per cent Yoruba and 30 per cent English. In less than one year, we were able to gather eminent personalities, including the Chief Imam of Ibadanland for our Ramadan Lecture which was delivered by Dr Bada. We also organised a grand Children’s Day programme in which 11 different companies supported us. People were wondering how we were able to pull this off in barely 6 months of coming up as a radio station. Three of our children-winners at the Children’s Day celebration won tickets to train at RAIN – Robotics and Artificial Intelligence Nigeria, which is worth about N1million each.
What are the things you readily tell children to motivate them, especially the girls?
I always tell them: If you believe, you can and where there is a will there is always a way. Have the dream, believe you can do it. Pursue it. You will be there.
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