How I discovered John Momoh in Abeokuta —Olasope

Dr Kunle Olasope, arguably the first face to have appeared on television screen in Africa, is a veteran broadcaster. He will on May 8, clock 80 and his birthday ceremony is expected to reunite his colleagues and disciples.  In this interview by TUNDE BUSARI,  he talks of his voyage in the broadcast sector.

Since the Channels Television went on air in 1995 and spread to become Nigeria’s equivalent of the United States CNN, its exploit in broadcast journalism has been outstanding as gets showered with awards of excellence it year-in-year-out. and till today, few people know much about early yaers of the founder of the 24-hour news station, Mr John Momoh.

The only thing many viewers can say of the Edo-born founder of Channels and Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) is his stint at the Nigerian Television of Authority (NTA) from where he pulled out to birth Channels Television.

John Momoh might have ended in any other profession if he was not spotted by the right person at the right time. His flair for English Language and decent presentation might have landed him in the courtroom as a lawyer. That, however, never happened as Momoh captured the attention of a scout who was desperate for young, motivated and charming school leavers to pick up a career in broadcasting. Who was the scout?

“My name is Chief Dr Kunle Olasope. I was born on May 8, 1937. I am a native of Efon Alaye, Ekiti State. John Momoh was attending a school owned by the two twin brothers in Abeokuta in the 80s when I spotted him and brought him to Ogun State Broadcasting Corporation (OGBC) in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. I saw in him what was required to become a big player in the broadcasting and taught him all he needed to know to excel. The rest is history because he made me proud.

“He is not the only one I brought up in the industry. I am blessed with others too like Professor Akin Oyebode, Ayinde Soaga, Yomi Alalade, Akin Onabolu and others.  But the bottom line is the joy of having these people passing through me and also making their respective marks in the profession,” he remarked in his old Bodija residence where he hosted a team  from Nigerian Tribune preparatory to his birthday anniversary celebration.

While Olasope is always proud to reel out the name of his proteges in broadcasting, he is also excited at the mention of his senior colleagues who fired him up as a student of Igbobi College,  Lagos in the 50s, to pick a career in broadcasting.

At the college, Olasope demonstrated tremendous talent in public speaking to the extent that the school debate team was never complete without him. On account of this, he was always glued to his radio listening to different voices of respectable newscasters who informally sharpened his skill and boosted his confidence when he later entered the studio.

“I was looking forward to the likes of Micheal Olumide, Sam Nwaneri, Emmanuel Omasola, Kunle Alakija, Dehinde George who were shining stars then. With their motivation, I was seeing a bigger picture of myself in the career. And I am very happy that God gave me the grace to make use of the opportunity I derived in them to excel in the profession. I recall that while my other students were taking their lunch, I was always in the Common Room listening to the news.

I was also familiar, if not addicted to the BBC newscasters like Alexandar Moyes, Richard Westle and Timothy Brit. I was already seeing myself as a broadcaster. So when I got a job a job as a clerk here in Ibadan, I knew I was not cut out for that kind of job. I was on that job for only three months after which I spoke to the Head of Programmes, Radio Nigeria at Dugbe, who happened to be Micheal Olumide. I did voice test, performed well and was employed as a newscaster. That marked the beginning of my career,” he reminisced.

From Radio Nigeria, Olasope moved to the Western Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (WNTV) following an advertisement to employ announcers in the station. He was one of the pioneer announcers, which also had Anike Agbaje-Williams.

Although the issue does not come without a debate, it is on record that Olasope was the first face which the viewing public saw on the first television station in Africa. How did it happen and how did the issue become controversial?

“The opening ceremony took place at the House of Chiefs where the opening news I read was transmitted live with an OB (Outside broadcast) unit at 7:25 pm. The late Chief Obafemi Awolowo arrived while the news was going on because he had been earlier scheduled to arrive at 7:29. He did the commissioning after the news. Then we switched over to the television house and AnikeAgbaje-Williams as the continuity announcer at that end took over.

“But you know in this place, people have a way of distorting stories but at the 50th anniversary of the television here in Ibadan I laid the issue to rest and everybody was happy. I told them that we should all be happy that God spared our lives to witness the occasion. I said we should be thankful to God for giving us the grace because half a century is not a joke. Much water had passed under the bridge. I suggested that I am referred to as the first newscaster on television and Anike Agbaje-Williams as the first announcer,” Olasope explained.

It is a paradox that Olasope, who made his name using the power of his tongue, could not utter a word in his first three years on earth to the point that he was almost taken for a dumb. This created apprehension which the family eventually overcame and had the child blessed with the gift of the garb.

“I must also confess that it is one of the wonders of God. My mother was a princess from Ode Faboro, she was a culturally inclined woman and a great speaker too. By the time I started talking, it was natural for me to pick some of the attributes in her. I was eloquent and interested in public speaking. I was also in control of my nerves right from  childhood. So, the issue of stage fright never arose when I grew up.

“My father too was also a source of inspiration to me in the kind of discipline he impacted into all of us. He would never be seen supporting any shortcut. He was straightforward in his dealings. This must be one of the reasons he was fond of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory. Baba Awolowo would always stop over at our house,” he revealed.

Apparently because of the closeness between Olasope’s father and Chief Awolowo, he enjoyed a father-son relationship with the Sage such that he was always with Awolowo’s children, particularly the first child of the family, late Segun Awolowo with whom he attended Methodist Primary School, Agbeni, Ibadan and Igbobi College. Thirty years after the demise of Baba Awolowo, Olasope says his exit is fresh in him.

He recalled: “The demise of Baba Awolowo is like a bullet in my heart. This is so because Baba took me as one of his biological sons. I attended the same primary school, Agbeni Methodist School, Ibadan, with his first son, Segun. We also attended the same secondary school, Igbobi College, Yaba, Lagos. I was a year ahead of him both in Agbeni Methodist and Igbobi College but we were best of friends during those days.

“Till date, we still maintain the good relationship with the family. I also worked in Nigerian Tribune as Advert/Business manager after which I was seconded to Dideolu Specialist Hospital, Ikenne. The kind of his leadership is difficult to come by again. He was always ahead of his contemporaries in the North and East.

This can be seen in the many firsts he recorded in provision of infrastructural facilities, namely the first Television station in the whole of Africa, the first modern sports stadium in the Liberty Stadium which was later renamed Obafemi Awolowo Stadium. The Cocoa House is still standing erected at Dugbe. So also are the Ikeja Industrial Estate and Bodija Housing Estate. Baba was a trail-blazer in all ramifications.

Comparing the late Awo’s leadership with the current leadership in Nigeria, Olasope regrettably declared that the current generation of leaders is a contrast to what Baba stood for. Corruption, he maintained, is too pronounced in every facet of life.

“What we have today is a bunch of self-serving leaders whose only business in government is to enrich themselves and their families and leave the office worse than they meet it. There is no way the likes of Baba Awolowo, Nnmadi Azikiwe, Ahmadu Bello, Osita Osadebey and other notable politicians in the 50s and 60s will not be missed when terrible things like this are happening.

“I am also reiterating what the late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu said after the passing on to glory of Baba in 1987. Ojukwu said Baba is the president Nigeria never had. General Ibrahim Babangida also said that after independence, Awolowo still remains the main issue,” he said