Thursday, November 3, 2016

MY DAY WITH LAGOS' RADIO STATIONS

So, on my way to work every morning, when I don't have, or haven't decided on a particular soundtrack to burn the grind time with, I listen to the radio. I do this also on my way back from work, when I take a break from the soundtrack of the day, having been 'pon deh replay all day. The hours specifically are from 7am to 8:45am and from 6pm to 8pm, which I devote to radio stations in Lagos on work days. While the weekends include 8-9am on Saturdays and 2-3pm on Sundays. These times I spend catching up with news and current affairs, while at other times I'm probably trying to listen in on the latest Nigerian and foreign music, or other special programs that have to do with health, entrepreneurship, and the likes on radio.


I wouldn't have been bothered to write this, except for the fact that recently I've begun considering changing that routine as the monotony is becoming dangerously unnerving, especially with news and current affairs interactive programs, following the last general elections last year, after Muhammadu Buhari emerged president with his party's CHANGE mantra, and the accompanying prosecution of an anti-corruption war, that only the blind and deaf can continue to hail as being not selective and vindictive. I don't bother listening to news in the morning on radio, because the morning's news aren't any different from the 6pm news of the day before, so I simply go for newspaper reviews. When I was an early riser and didn't have a deluge of TV series to catch up on, my day usually stated with the Yoruba language "Kókó inú ìwé ìròyìn" program on 92.9FM from 6:20am to 7am, before going on to 97.3 CLASSIC FM's newspaper review with Jimi Disu whose fixation with Buhari is legendary. You'd think that he has a shrine somewhere in his house where he worships and pours libation to him before coming to work in the morning. That's why I haven't gotten myself to follow him to LAGOS TALKS on 91.3FM from 9 to 10am, because of his very biased views and analysis of events, even as much as calling for extra-judicial measures in fighting the war on corruption, even while Nigeria remains a democracy. Unfortunately, he claims that his dead pan biased views and analysis are for the sake of children, who may be mislead by present events without guidance, while he on the other hand is busy stoking the flame that will burn them, should the grow up with the "I-Know-It-All" attitude of intolerance he promotes on air.

JIMI DISU IN THE CLASSIC FM STUDIOS.

It doesn't matter if the headlines are of an earthquake in Nigeria, or that the world is on the brink of extinction by reason of nuclear holocaust after Russia hypothetically struck first, and the Americans retaliating while in the throes of death, or any other apocalyptic scenario your dark mind can fathom, amongst others making the news; the man will simply latch on the one piece of news he may as well be jerking on, like the one this morning about the former Customs' Comptroller General returning a whopping ₦1 Billion to the Economic and  Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. Even when subsequent news items about the worsening economic situation is read to him, he still somehow finds a way to come back to the issue of corruption, prodded by zombie followers, many of whom should know better than engaging in media lynching of suspects arrested for financial malfeasance (that are often times thrown out of the courts for lack of evidence, or poor  prosecutorial handling of corruption cases), mainly of the opposition in the last government, while members of the president's party, regardless of the number of times they trend on social media (where the lynching of the others, not in the good book of government take place routinely) for one act of corruption or the other, are allowed to roam free without as much as been invited over by the anti-corruption agencies to respond to allegations of corrupt activities, many of which are so glaring that even the blind can see, leveled against them.


Sports with Deji Omotoyinbo, still on Classic FM spares me "Uncle Jimi Disu's" shenanigans and dry jokes, which after fifteen minutes affords me the chance to listen to what's left of another interactive current affairs program on SMOOTH 98.1FM's "Freshly Pressed", a delight because of the sound analysis by Cheta Nwanze and sometimes Mazino, which is interjected most times by the female OAP, so called Miss Ireti with a fake British accent spewing the most shit on radio, with her half intelligent reviews and responses to text messages and tweets, especially when they are critical of her views. 8am is when I switch to "Daily Guide" on STAR 101.5FM presented by the duo of sisters' Moyo and Mofe Oyatogun, whose late father was a sportscaster of repute. Though in recent times, only Moyo appear to retain the slot anchoring and discussing as dispassionately as she can, politics and related sundry, the way the common man will understand, with guests on either side of Nigeria's politico-socioeconomic divide, though when the jobless Alester "Obama" Wilcox and his Buhari-praise singing, butt-kissing, boot-licking ass comes on air (almost as frequently as he parades radio and TV stations in the Ikeja axis of Lagos, like one looking to be noticed by the  government in power for his relentless effort at whitewashing their sepulchre), I'd brace myself for the most ridiculous of excuses for a largely underperforming government Nigeria has seen since independence. But I also am inspired by the charity work that both sisters have enabled with their program, and the side attractions from frequent callers like "Prince Y. S. from Amuwo Odofin". Sadly, both sister-Oyatoguns lost their beloved mother earlier this week (barely months after they lost their father), for which I, like many of their fans Lagos-wide extend my most sincere condolences.

A FULL STAR-FM STUDIO AS DAILY GUIDE IS PRESENTED WITH MOYO OYATOGUN, THE ONLY FEMALE WITH GUESTS.

When I'm in a good mood, I go back to listen to sports again on SMOOTH FM by 8:15am to 8:45 on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, just for "The Tiger" Terga's beautiful voice and her analysis of almost all sports as she guests on a sports panel. Mehn, that chic knows sports, abeg. Even those very alien to Nigeria such as cricket, in fact I developed my love for F1 from her analysis, and then going further to make Lewis Hamilton my hero. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I may make the mistake of listening to showbiz gossip news on the same station, or remain with STAR FM to endure guests like Alester Wilcox or the one that calls himself a Professor, Chris Nwokobia with verbose yet repetitive use of certain vocabulary, in order to prove his learnedness, with submissions that are empty despite hiding them behind much words, as he continues to project a change, which he campaigned for, but jettisoned by those he helped to get to position (like they jettisoned him), stating that unless certain things are done, the search to take Nigeria to paradise will be like "a search for Godot!"


It's people like these I try to avoid by simply deciding on my soundtrack early. Not because they shy from the truth most times, but because they exaggerate facts and fail to balance their analysis, especially when it's politics. That one I certainly can't deal with, particularly when a medium as powerful as radio is involved, where lies can easily become truth because of frequent repetitions and subliminal inundations. But my morning ordeal isn't even as bad as that in the evening with the program I oft-listen to on my way back from work from 7 to 8pm. I could write a book on that one alone, unfortunately much of what I'll have to report is sad and shameful, of what Nigeria's media has become, and why the Nigerian free (private and non- governmental) news and current affairs atmosphere has lost reckoning amongst their peers worldwide, as they wallow in the pit dug for them by mostly politician-owners of the tools with which they ply their trade.


'kovich


PICTURE CREDIT:
- http://www.classic97.net
- http://www.mobiletwitter.com/dailyguide

2 comments:

  1. Mazino left Smooth in Janaury bruv

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    Replies
    1. Oh, my bad. I thought he'd gone on some extended leave, or something else in the like.

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