Yuguda, pioneer staff reflect on Nigeria’s first TV station
Weekly Trust learn that on inception, the station depended mostly on imported programmes to feed its audience. Some of the early foreign programmes included the Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Rosanne, Amen, Saford and Son, Family Ties and The Jeffersons, among others. With time, the station grew into producing local programmes following series of on the […]
Weekly Trust learn that on inception, the station depended mostly on imported programmes to feed its audience. Some of the early foreign programmes included the Cosby Show, Golden Girls, Rosanne, Amen, Saford and Son, Family Ties and The Jeffersons, among others. With time, the station grew into producing local programmes following series of on the job training for the staff.
The television since then never looked back again as it experienced many changes. One of the landmark changes was in April 1976, when the Federal Government took it over from the original owners through a decree promulgated by the military regime and converted the station to a national one. The Federal Government thus gave the station a new name – the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).
Taking a retrospective look at the business of broadcasting in Nigeria since it took-off in Ibadan in the last five decades, the former director of the Ibadan Network Centre of the NTA, Mrs. Elizabeth Aina-Scott, who is presently in charge of the Lagos Zonal Centre of the Authortity, said the takeover of the defunct Western Nigerian Television/Western Nigerian Broadcasting Service (WNTV/WNBS) from the old Western Region by the Federal Government was a blessing for the region and the entire country.
According to Mrs. Aina-Scott, the recent celebration of the 50 Years of Television in Nigeria is unique in so many ways. “One of such ways is that when television started in Ibadan, the whole nation depended on the broadcast from the WNTV/WNBS. Today, the story is different, because many branches have emanated from this one tree, spreading from the west to the east, north and south. Today, Nigeria can boast of about 200 television stations. This definitely calls for celebration,” she maintained.
Beyond the expansion within the NTA and establishment of television stations across Nigeria, Mrs. Aina-Scott was particularly glad that the Ibadan station has served as the training centre for virtually all the known names in broadcasting in the country. It has turned out products who have won laurels in major international competitions, and has shot many musicians and others to global limelight.
Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Kayode Adedire, a veteran journalist and CEO of Reality TV, Iwo, Osun State recalled his days at the WNTV/WNBS, Ibadan from where he cut his journalism teeth. Adedire, while comparing journalism practice in his early days to what obtains now, said quality as well as sense of dedication and commitment were the in-thing in those days, though technological advancement has presently taken the practice to the next level.
He said “when I started journalism, it was, ( and is still) a well-recognised profession. At that time, you could have a school certificate holder who would come into the profession. However, you must have identified some potential in him or her before taking him or her on board. As a result, it provided an opportunity for such people to grow. I am a typical example. That was journalism at that time. Then, there was also sincerity, dedication and commitment. But nowadays, apart from the various advancements that have changed the landscape of journalism, I don’t see anything that makes the present day journalism practice better than the past. In those days, when you introduced yourself as a journalist, people respected you. But now, we have charlatans, who cannot express themselves properly, parading themselves as journalists. When you look at how some journalists dress to events, you will be shocked. These days, you don’t see seriousness. I am sorry, but that is the way I see it. Yes, there has been great advancement in the practice today if you consider what technology has brought into journalism. But when it comes to quality and sense of dedication and commitment, I will vote for the past.”
Adedire spoke further: “The exposure is no more there, in terms of professional training. I started out as a greenhorn; I had just the school certificate, but because I wanted to make it a career, I did not go in just to test the waters and get out. So, within two years, my potentialities were discovered and the authorities then were ready to encourage me. Besides, I also helped myself by undergoing a lot of training. And it will interest you to know that I personally scouted for all the training I attended. I sought admission into the NIJ and I got it. Then, I approached my employers and they sponsored me. When I got a letter from the College of Information, London, I went there; and then, it was sponsored by the NTA. So, I went as a Commonwealth student on scholarship for the programme at Brighton Polytechnic. Also, when I later found out about the Biz News International programme, I put in for it. It was rigorous, as it involved a lot writings, but I was able to impress the organization. What I am saying, in essence, is that one should develop oneself.
“Nowadays, people just sit down and expect the authority or whoever to push them. There is no passion. As a boss of a place, I believe in training and re-training, but the present situation is that if you don’t make an opening for yourself, no authority will do that for you. There has to be a drive on one’s part. I can say with all modesty that I found the job rewarding and God has given me an opportunity to multiply myself. I have about 50 people that God has used me to help on the job. I just thank God. I am also one of the last generation staff of the WNTV/WNBS who are actively in service. All aspiring journalists should try as much as possible to give their best.
One of the pioneer staff at the WBTV/WNBS, Chief (Mrs) Olabisi Adebajo, a teacher turned broadcaster, also spoke on what life was in those days concluding that it was a golden era when practitioners displayed total commitment. Mrs. Adebajo, who turned 80 years old recently, declared: “we were very committed. I enjoyed it a lot. I was able to meet so many people who normally I wouldn’t have met. Due to the profession, I was exposed and well travelled. I travelled extensively to other parts of the world, which I wouldn’t have done even if I had the money, because in Nigeria, we don’t travel much since it wasn’t part of our culture, until recently when we started promoting tourism. I enjoyed broadcasting no doubt, it threw me into the limelight, gave me the opportunity of meeting so many people, many of whom I would not remember.
On how the pioneer broadcasters, particularly the female folk, were able to cope combining the home front with the profession, the old woman said “it was a gift of God as it was not easy to combine all these roles.”
She said “some homes are not stable because of the profession of the women in such homes. Some relationships hit the rock because the woman finds herself in a profession that she earns more than the man, and sometimes, men don’t like this situation at all because of their ego and the sustenance of their authority. You have to ask for God’s guidance and grace to make good in your profession, because nowadays, more than in our days, women contribute a lot to the running of the home. If there is no job, there is no home as it were. Whatever it is, a wife, woman should be able to contribute something to the running of the home financially and spiritually. Naturally, there is always a bond between a woman and her children. Consequently, a woman must be able to offer her children something positive. As I always say, the child that you have did not ask to be born. To have a child is a decision of a man and woman and if each woman takes it seriously, that it is her responsibility to look after her home, if she decides to combine being a career woman by all means, then the choice of striking a balance is hers. It is a good thing that young couples now cut down on the number of children they have because of pressures and responsibilities, as some had about 10 to 12 during our time. If you can afford two or five, please go ahead, but you must be ready to bear the consequences of your actions.”
Governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Isa Yuguda, also commented on the old WNTV/WNBS and gave kudos to the unusual vision of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the then Premier of the old Western Region, for establishing the station. “As the Premier of Western Region of Nigeria, Chief Awolowo was a source of inspiration to many of his peers and one of the founding fathers of political awareness on the continent of Africa as well as an elder statesman and a true nationalist who mortgaged his natural freedom for the comfort and independence of his people ,” he said.
Yuguda, while urging Nigerian media to always feed their audience with the truth as this is the only way to protect the right of the people to know, remarked that “the first attribute of the media in the service of the state is truthfulness or in journalistic parlance, accuracy of reporting.”