I am Igbo inside, Yoruba outside — Wazobia’s Lolo

Lolo Omotunde, popularly known as Lolo, is one of the most celebrated female on air personality in Nigeria. She works at Wazobia fm. Born of Ogun State parents and raised in Lagos, Lolo is known for her wits on radio. In this interview, the multiple award-winning radio presenter, comedinne and actress tells Newton-Ray Ukwuoma about her career, among other things.

On radio you are known as Lolo, are you Igbo?

Yes o. Plenty people think I am Igbo. I am Igbo inside and Yoruba outside. My real name is Lolo Omotunde. I guess that makes things clearer. You know, I grew up feeling we were all brothers and sisters, Nigerians. I remember we had neighbours who were Muslims and with whom we went to the mosque; sometimes to Quranic School. But now things are different; we are beginning to see ourselves as different. But as far as I am concerned, our humanity is the same.

Would you say your growing up prepared you for this career? Did you know you were meant for radio presenting?

My growing up did not particularly prepare me for radio presentation, but I knew entertainment was my calling. My mum told me I was a child of the tube. I learnt English Language watching Sesame street. Growing up, I was an independent child because I was in boarding house from Primary 3 to my secondary school days, CAC Primary School and Anglican Girls Grammar School, all in Ijebu-Ode. I am the last child of my mother. I have three siblings and three stepsisters. My dad played so many KSA songs. I got my humour from my mum. My mum can tell you jokes that will make you laugh. I still tell her, “Iya Ijebu, you are really cracking me up oh”.

How did you transit from broadcasting in English to pidgin?

We are all gifted in different ways, but it depends on what comes to us. I took it as a challenge. Every Nigerian is an average pidgin English Language user. I felt I could experiment with pidgin. I did, and the rest is history. I had hiccups in the beginning that people were like,  ‘wetin she dey do there abeg?’ I kept at it; the beginning is always difficult, but if you keep at it. I got my first award in the first year. The station started a year before I joined them. Yaw had his own and I had mine. They asked me which name I would love to be called at that time. I threw it to the public. More than 3000 entries came at that time. I loved Igbo and I love the culture. I know what Lolo means; in Yoruba, it means Olori and in Igbo, it means queen.

 How was your first time on air in Wazobia?

Ah, my first day was really fiery. Yaw was hard on me; he trained us. You know when you meet somebody that wants you to do better, not someone who just wants to punish you, Yaw pushed me to my limit.  I actually thought that I was not going to make it, but I scored very high. The first day, he will put off the microphone and say, ‘What’s wrong with you? I can hear your heartbeat.’ I was wondering, how I was going to make it. I was so scared, but he encouraged me. But day after day, week after week, month after month, I just got better and got better. And after a while, even the management felt that I was bigger than the news department. So, I started ‘Oga Madam’.

How were you able to connect to your fans?

Oh, I love my fans. The language alone is enough. I guess, at the time we started, people were tired of speaking English on radio. Some presenters will start British, end American. At times, you listen to radio and you want to shout to the presenters, ‘Be yourself’. No one was speaking Nigerian English. So when they saw Wazobia, they ate it like bread. It was easy connecting to my listeners. Wazobia fans are more than ordinary fans. If you ever got to our event, our fans are like family. There were times that fans organised parties for us. They don’t forget our birthdays. They come to our shows. We know our fans by name, especially our regular callers and texters. So far you are talking what the people want to hear and the language they love, it’s easy to connect.

What is your memorable moment on air?

My memorable moment was when the awards started coming.  Rotaract gave me an award. This month, Media Mix gave me and Yaw recognition awards. If a colleague you emulate gives you a recognition award, it’s a great thing.

You will be clocking 40 in a week’s time. How would you be celebrating it?

I am having a worship service. I love God. I am gathering some ministers for praise and thanksgiving to God. That is what I feel like doing. It’s not that people cannot come and eat rice o, after all, they’ve been eating rice on my head all these times. So, I will be going spiritual this time. I want to impact lives more henceforth. I believe it’s not really about the years you have amassed, but the impact that you have made.

In commemorating your birthday, would you be giving back to society?

When people talk about giving back, I’m not part of those that feel you have to do that on your birthday. I have an NGO that has been around when I was a nobody and I have been giving back through that NGO. It is called ‘Caring Sisters’. I do that on a monthly basis.

Why did you start the NGO?

I just wanted to make lives better. It was during my national service year that I gathered a group of my friends to find ways to affect lives positively. It is a registered organisation now. I’m not the president now, though I’m the founder. It has gone beyond me. For me, philanthropy is an everyday life; it’s not something I do on a special occasion. Right now, we are building a shelter at Shimawa after Redeemed Camp.

So what have you been up to?

I have been working. Everybody knows Jenifa’s Diary took the bulk of my time last year. It’s still taking a part of it this year. We are about shooting its ninth season. It’s been a huge blessing and people are beginning to see my face and other things that I do. My many sides. I love music too. Maybe a single will be released this year too. I shot a video last year; it’s not out yet. I’m still experimenting. I did a mini-series, called Aunty Bose. It’s a story about an Ijebu woman who came to Lagos. The mini-series is totally off what I have done before.

What gives you fulfillment?  

Fulfillment comes when you do the things that impact lives. I can remember a woman that sent me a message. I was so touched and moved to tears. She said that her life changed because of my program, Personal Hustle, done years ago. She is a housewife and my program pushed her so much, it was as if she was hearing my voice over and over again. She got a shop and now has four shops in Lagos. I was so overwhelmed. She started breeding a turkey for me for my birthday. She called it Happiness. She’s bringing it on my birthday. Those are the things that give me fulfillment. Another lady said she was rejected for an interview and turned on the radio and I was on air.  She started laughing and forgot about the disappointment. Those are the things that remind me that I’m touching lives on radio.

If you could change one thing, what will that be?

I would go back to Law School and change something. There were some decisions I took differently. If I could change one thing, I will go back to Law School and recreate myself from that time.

Not many know much about your family life?

I have four amazing kids. Yes I’m single. I know many know that I’m going through a divorce  process right now; it’s not all those noisy thing that I do. So it’s a mixture of things. I don’t like to talk about the father of my children. We are good friends. We have our own individual differences. My youngest child is five years old. I got married at twenty-seven-year old.

What are three things people don’t know about you?

Sometimes, I can be a melancholic person. I love looking at water (nature). If I really want deep thinking I just go to the beach. I love loving, I love ‘love stories’. If we can all be loving, many of our problem in this country won’t be there.

What do you think made Jenifa unique among others?

The grace of God, and also the producer, Funke is dogged. She is very hard working. She loves her craft. She knew what she wanted from the start. It wasn’t  a surprise that the sitcom became so big. We put a lot of work into the casting and the technicalities. Nothing comes easy.