Funke Treasure, a veteran, multi-genre broadcaster, who retired from Radio Nigeria as an Assistant Director, Programmes, in this interview by Sam Nwaoko, speaks on her active broadcasting years, the current state of the industry, and her current campaign against gender-based violence in the South West.
How did your media journey begin?
I can say I started my media journey when I went to Abia State for my national youth service in the mid 1990s. There I joined the orientation broadcasting service and that made me very visible within the camp. I would host request programmes, read news and so on. We rocked the NYSC Camp in Abia State. For my primary assignment, I was posted to the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State (BCA Radio) in Umuahia. I served in the News and Current Affairs Department of the radio station and that’s where my career actually stated. I was writing editorials, commentaries and so on and that was a good foundation for me in my career. After my service year I moved to the production unit where I became a news anchor and presenter on the station. From there I later joined Radio Nigeria and I didn’t look back until I retired.
Was your media journey a deliberate plan or you just found yourself in the media by accident?
It wasn’t deliberate. I will say it was the orchestration of the Divine. I didn’t plan it but I know that in school back then, when we did the final presentation of our project, everybody clapped and joked that ‘that’s Funke Akintoye reporting for the BBC’. Apparently at that time, I had a really good voice and diction, but I didn’t think much of it until I got to the OBS and I ended up at the BCA and finally ended up as a presenter at the same station a couple of years after. I became really quite famous as a presenter and news reader at the Broadcasting Corporation of Abia State but it wasn’t something that I planned. That informed my going to the Radio Nigeria Training School. There I encountered Radio Nigeria people and since I had left BCA then, I remember it was Ilemi Okoka who said ‘let me give you a note to the Deputy Director Metro FM’, at that time it was Madam Boma Kalaiwo. That’s where I met this beautiful professional woman. I did the audition and passed very well. That’s how I became Radio Nigeria staff member. I was at Radio Nigeria 2 which metamorphosed to Metro FM Lagos today. I continued like that accessing international fellowships and trainings here and there. It’s been a glorious career for me.
Look at the BCA and Radio Nigeria newsrooms. What are some of the differences that were remarkable when you look back at the two organisations?
Interestingly, the professionalism at BCA at that time was quite high. It was a really professional station at that time. We had veterans, people who, at some point, had worked with Radio Nigeria. So, when I got to Radio nigeria, there wasn’t really much difference in terms of what we did. In fact, at that time, where I was coming from, we worked strictly with scripts. We perfected our presentations before we went on air. On a show, we scripted what you were going to say and you knew how many songs you were going to play for the 30 minutes or one hour, as well as your speech time. You knew about the artiste you were going to feature, the stories about the song and so on. It was wonderful because I grew up in the hands of professionals. I learnt the way I should. So, when I got to Radio Nigeria, interestingly then, they weren’t scripting. So, I found it strange that they weren’t scripting their presentations. I blended, yeah but it was different from what I learnt from Chief Chidi Iboko who was the Director, Radio Services back then at the BCA.
Comparatively, I think I was just lucky because at that time in Radio Nigeria, they also had quite a collection of professionals who were still at work. Now, a lot of the professionals have retired, some have passed on. I met people like Osaze Iyamu. I was co-presenting with people like Mr. Patrick Oke, Mr. Jones Usen and quite a handful of other people at that time who were really great voices in Radio Nigeria. I was with them on Radio Express, a programme which Osaze Iyamu was producing. Mr. Iyamu was with Voice of Nigeria but later became a Zonal Director in Radio Nigeria. These persons shaped my professionalism and understanding of the terrain further. Later in life, when I found myself where they used to be, I didn’t take prisoners at all. I did what I saw them do.
Who are some of the other people people who influenced you, people to whom you looked and said ‘I like how this person does it’?
Chief Chidi Iboko has retired now. He was a great influence. I also worked with Mr. Omo Ole who was the Director, News in BCA. He was a thoroughbred professional and I’m really very proud of myself that I cut my teeth in News and Current Affairs with him. I also had the privilege of co-presenting with the Chidi Iboko. It tells you how really bold I was on the job. I presented with the best. Carol Nelson Achonwa was the best voice on BCA, I also presented with her.
In Radio Nigeria, Ilemi Okoka was a trainer at the Radio Nigeria Training School at that time and later became a Deputy Director, Presentation at the FRCN headquarters. She was also my head of Programmes at some point at Metro FM. She became GM Capital FM. I also talked about Madam Boma Kalaiwo, Deputy Director, Radio Nigeria 2 (RN2) at that time, later she became Director, Lagos Operations, Director FRCN Marketing before she retired. Imagine when you worked with people like that! I also remember my experience with Madam Regina Anajemba and Ndidi Osoaka. I remember also the late Veronica Osawaru. I paired with Zakari Mohammed on the network news. In my generation, I was the first to read the network news. I broke the ceiling at that time… shattered the ceiling actually. The first person I read with was Tolu Fatoyinbo. You can imagine when you had to read your first network news with a seasoned sports commentator, presenter, news reader like Tolu Fatoyinbo. When I did that, everybody started to aspire to read the network news as well. When I did that, Eddie Iroh was the Director-General of FRCN. He made way for the younger generation to be in the elitist pack that was reading the Radio Nigeria network news at that time. Zakari Mohammed was one of the best voices on Radio Nigeria. If he heard that I was in Abuja, he would call and say ‘Funke I must read with you before you go back to Lagos.’ He was such a jolly good man to work with. There are lots of great people I can’t readily remember now.
The era of Dr Eddie Iroh as DG, which was also the time of Ben Murray-Bruce at Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) was a time of great transformation in these organisations. When you look back, do you still see what we had then, that same aura of the past?
It’s not the same and we must understand that life itself is in constant state of flux or fluidity. I met the professional discipline that used to be and in a different dimension. News reading was the exclusive preserve of the very best. In terms of programming as well, we did the best. We ensured that the best did the right things. You didn’t get there because a senator or one influential person sent you there and you had to be fixed in. There was no such thing at that time. By that time I had become a leader there, this sort of thing had started creeping in and I tell, that’s what eventually led to the collapse of professional discipline in both NTA and Radio Nigeria and maybe Voice of Nigeria as well. The politicians infiltrated the ranks and started sending all manner of people to these media organisations. So, whether you like it or not, you took them in and they lacked personal leadership, they lacked professional discipline and they were unfit for production, for news reading and so on. We then had to continually struggle. There was this constant conflict of interests. We always had ‘okay, we just have to put this person there, what can we do?’ So, somehow, as the professionals were leaving, these people were climbing up the ladder in terms of administering some of these departments and units and things were just going down in terms of standards and quality of service and all of that. But we still have quite a number there who insist on the standards, although they are in the minority. They are easily labelled for doing the right things. That’s the sorry state of things. That’s where it started going wrong.
There seems to be no proper replacement plan for those of you who were brought up in that thoroughly professional environment. Many of you have served and are not retired. Is that still about the politicians or a systemic issue?
There are a lot of politics within the civil service. At some point when you were somewhere and you are craving for better opportunities with higher aspiration coming to play, you begin to look at your capacity and the realities of where you are. I can’t speak for other people, but for me I was already an internationally certified trainer, I was a producer producing programmes on the network service and within the local station where I worked in Lagos; I was a news reader here and a news reader there; and a presenter of peak programmes like Radio Link. When you get your prowess to present a programme which someone like Sani Irabor started, you know that you have arrived at that time. Nowadays, it is anybody-everybody. But at that time it was a carefully selected corps of people who read the news and presented programmes like that.
I had my own programme on the radio on the network service, it was “Nigerian Pride”. This was at a time Nigerians hadn’t woken up to having a programme on Nigerians in the diaspora. I was a pioneer there. I will say I have the pioneer anointing. I told you I shattered the ceiling for my generation on news reading on the network news of Radio Nigeria, it was the same thing for the diaspora programme long before it became a fad now. We started it through the late director-general of Radio Nigeria, Ben Egbuna. He met me in South Africa while I was there as a finalist of the CNN African Journalist of the Year. He had just been made the DG coming from the Voice of Nigeria where he used to be the Director, News. He said ‘Funke, there’s something I’ve always wanted to do but I could not find the personality who could carry it.’ He said he would like me to do it on the network service of Radio Nigeria and he gave me a few contacts. At that time, Femi Oke was at the CNN and he said ‘people like Femi Oke, I’d like you to interview her’. There was a popular restaurant in Johannesburg owned by a Nigerian, he said I should go there and interview him and other Nigerians doing well all over the world. That’s how I got the beat. He assigned the Director, Programmes FRCN then, Madam Maria Ode, to me. She’s a thorough professional who went on to become the acting DG of FRCN. So, you see’ I’ve worked with the best in the industry. I’m so proud that they have beautiful things to say about me professionally and otherwise. I’m very proud that I met them in the course of my career in Radio Nigeria and my journey in this life. It’s a thrill.
When you look at broadcasting and the mass media generally, what prospects do you see if there are?
Things have changed dramatically since many of us left. By the time I was leaving in 2019, misinformation and fake news were creeping in and were becoming an issue. Now, it has become hydra-headed. At the time we were there, there was a lot of sanity in the use of social media and technology, but now it has gone haywire. Now they engage artificial intelligence to do quite a number of things. So, things have changed dramatically. Back then broadcasting mentorship was far-between, some of us had to look for mentors. Nowadays, there are many mentors here and there, nevertheless many of our young people do not appreciate the availability of these mentors. Some even equate being an influencer on the social media to being a professional broadcaster. They think they know it all and the line has been blurred between OAPs – whatever that means – and broadcasters. Nowadays, there are all kinds of styles in broadcasting but we were taught using the style of Britain and that is what we were used to. However, whatever style you adopt, it’s okay for you so long as we have discerning listeners and viewers. Please be professional in whatever you do. I don’t care what you call yourself so long as you have capacity and you’re competent. But many of them do not have it. However, there are flashes of excellence in the new generation, one must admit.
What was the issue of sexual harassment like during your early days? Would you say you came across anything like that with the benefit of hindsight?
None that I know of. We have different individual experiences, I didn’t experience that in my career. Nobody forced me to do anything. I can’t remember anybody doing that to me either as a presenter or not.
However, I don’t think it’s about generation anyway. I think it’s as old as mankind itself. Sexual harassment comes in different forms but I didn’t experience it. I don’t think it’s something that was in your face back then. Nobody saw me as an object, rather they saw me as a competent lady and they were determined to support me in doing the things I loved to do. I was like a trophy staff member for Radio Nigeria. I was really celebrated. When the in-house newsletter of Radio Nigeria was published, I was featured many times. When they were going to start corporate development in Lagos as a department, I was the pioneer manager. I pioneered a lot of things in Radio Nigeria. When they wanted to turn Radio One into all news station, I was the one they gave the task. I completely changed the general format to all-news format. It was the most challenging team project I’ve ever held in my life. I had a lot of highs in my career and they gave me awards for them.
I had my low moments. I also had my fulfilling times. For instance, I left empty. I gave my time, my intellect, my energy and everything. People rose through me and a lot of people learnt many useful things through our efforts. I thank Radio Nigeria for giving me the wings to fly.
Now that you’re are retired, what have you been doing to keep the body and brain busy?
I’ve been going round states in the South West region to get the women high chiefs (Iyalodes) and market leaders (Iyalojas) to get involved in the fight against gender-based violence because they’re closer to the grassroots. We also hope that as community leaders, they would be able to educate their communities and, as role models, influence them and stand for justice and speak to our people to stop gender-based violence. We also hope that justice is served for those who are survivors who made it to the courts. We create awareness generally. We’ve been to Ondo, Ekiti, Oyo and Lagos states. We have Osun and Ogun states pending and we plan to go to those states soon.
What has the response been like?
It’s been amazing. Our women have stories to tell and they are right in the middle of these occurrences here and there. They have heard and seen a lot. When we came to Oyo State, we had a lot of calls from Shaki, from Ogbomoso and so on. People were calling in because we made it a live town hall meeting on select radio stations. It was an eye-opening experience being an anchor of this series of town hall meetings. We heard women saying how do we send our fathers, our mothers, our brothers to jail when they violate our daughters or sons? How do we lose at both ends? How do we deal with the shame that comes with everyone knowing that your daughter has been violated by her father, by her uncle, or by her brother? These are the issues they are dealing with and it’s tough making that decision to report or not to report. They’ve been living with the consequences. How do you continue with such a husband? How do you continue with such a father? How do you deal with the psychological trauma?
These things are real. Some people claim that these things are as a result of the clothes that you wear and we ask: what about the underaged, is it also about the clothes they wear? The things we get to hear from these women and their resolve is inspiring. Now that they know better, we cannot lose at both ends. The fact that somebody is your husband and he violated your daughter or stepdaughter doesn’t mean that you should keep quiet. That girl deserves justice and you deserve better than a violator as a companion. It’s a tough conversation to have since we have been having this conversation in South West Nigeria.
My focus since I left Radio Nigeria has been the South West media campaign which has grown into all kinds of things including scholarships for school girls – we have more than 2,000 girls on scholarship in 12 states of the federation. We are launching our drama series ‘Radio Soap’ this week in Kaduna, Cross River, Imo, Lagos and Oyo states and Abuja in the first phase of airing the drama which will take a quarter (three months) to air. We thank McArthur Foundation for supporting us with funding to produce and air. We also have a podcast for that. We also have an essay competition for girls which we are judging by October on the International Day of the Girl-Child. We will be announcing the winners. In-between, I’m training, doing a lot of training and mentoring. So, my hands are full.
Your hands are full indeed. But, do you miss the newsroom?
I do. I’m busy doing this but I see what is going on. In-between I was newspaper analyst for TVC and an advocate on PlusTV Africa both in Lagos. It was so fulfilling doing the analysis on the two stations. Nowadays I don’t do that anymore but I wish sometimes that I’m still administering station and the many things I would have done and how I would have treated some stories. I miss that. I wish there were alternative views to some of the breaking news in the country. I miss that a lot.
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