Entertainment top shot, Olisa Adibua, is still a bachelor at almost 50. The fun loving director at Beat FM explained the reason for that in an exclusive interview with YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, AZUH ARINZE, a while back, at De Place, on Isaac John Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos. He also spoke on other issues, especially as they concern his entanglement with radio and television.
What makes a good broadcaster?
That’s a big question. I think passion for the job. Communication skills, definitely, are very important. Knowledge. You’ve got to be a Jack of all trades and master of everything. You’ve got to know a little bit about everything and you’ve got to be able to communicate that on a mass level. Knowledge is crucial. And your ability to not take issues too seriously. It’s not about you. You are just a conduit of information, of entertainment and education, because those are the three things really that you need to tell people. Entertain them, educate them and inform them. That, to me, is what broadcasting is all about and communication skill is vital. You need to talk so that everybody understands what you are saying; both your speech and also the content of your speech.
Why is that most people don’t make it in broadcasting or why do most people fail as broadcasters?
It’s a gift in a way. But also when you do have the gift, don’t become lazy with it. You must work at it. Someone like Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal, they might be the best players in the world, but they still practice five hours a day. Footballers! Messi would be on the pitch four, five hours a day. Beckham, taking free kicks, four, five hours a day. So, it has to be God’s natural given skill, but you don’t rest on that. You’ve got to work at it. What makes you a good broadcaster is the fact that you have to have the desire to improve yourself every day. You must say in your mind, I must be better than my last show. If I do a good show on Monday, Tuesday must be better. If I do a good one on Tuesday, Wednesday must be better. And by the time Friday comes, you will be smoking. You should be on fire. So, your show should be the hottest thing. That’s the desire. And then next week when you come back, I want to be better than last week. Then, next month, I want to be better. Even next year. It’s the same thing that happened to me when we started Beat FM. I wanted a new challenge. For 10 years, I owned it! And I said okay, do I want to go back and do the same thing or do I want a new challenge? I said let me go with the new challenge. I said let me do the morning show and see how good I can be. And I’m gonna do the best morning show ever on radio. Not in Nigeria, but West Africa. That’s what a lot of people lack. It’s that desire to be the best that you can. A strive for perfection. And you might never get the perfection, but every day you strive for it.
A lot of people look up to you in the profession, who are the people that you look up to?
I look up to God, my brother. That’s what I do. I look up to God. And obviously, a lot of people who came before me, a lot of brothers who I met before private radio came along, in government – owned radio stations. Many, many numerous guys who have helped me along the way. Working with FRCN, I met a lot of brothers, who were really, really fantastic…
You don’t want to mention names?
The likes of my brother, JAJ (Jacob Akinyemi Johnson), Mani Onumonu who have been friends of mine for long. We see; we hang out together sometimes when we do meet. There are a lot of people too who I used to listen to on radio when I was a kid. So, you learn from people that came before you, but what you want to do is to be better than them. Sometimes they will come to you and say that thing you were doing, it wasn’t good O! And you are like, sorry bros, next time; I will try and do it better. So, that’s how it is. You must always learn. It’s that constant desire for knowledge and improvement that makes you good.
What don’t you like about being a broadcaster?
I don’t like people who don’t do their research, who don’t get information, who misinform or dis-inform. If you are gonna say something, make sure it’s correct, make sure you checked it out and also, I don’t like people who are lazy in terms of, if you are giving me the name of an artiste and a song, make it clear, work hard. When you are on air, work hard. If you don’t want to be on air, then don’t come on the radio. When I go on radio, you don’t know what problems I’ve got back at home. Oh, I have them. I have issues. I have problems. But do you know what, if that microphone goes on, I forget them. And when the microphone goes off, I still have my realities to deal with. But I’m clear that people who listen to me have their own problems too. So, they are listening to me for escapism, from being relieved from their own. So, I don’t wanna burden them with my own problems. So, you must come there with an empty slate and a happy soul, happy spirit, ready to make people happy. Because that’s what we are selling. We are selling happiness, we are selling joy. That’s what the radio is all about.
What is the nicest thing about being a broadcaster?
The nicest thing is when people walk up to you and say I love your show, I love what you are doing, I enjoy listening to you or you guys play good music or you are the best radio station in the world. And also the joy that you hear in someone’s voice when they win a prize on the telephone. The scream that you hear.
What is the commonest mistake that most broadcasters make?
When people try to imitate accents that are not natural to them…don’t try and ape somebody living in America or living in the UK. If you’ve never lived in America or U.K, it’s not a big deal. It doesn’t matter, as long as you can communicate. Be yourself, be who you are, because it is easier to be who you are. You see, listeners can tell when you are not being real. They have ears. They can search it out. So, you must always be yourself. Don’t try and ape anybody, copy anybody or sound like anybody. Just sound like you. That is the best thing. The best compliment that people pay me is oh, you sound just like you do on radio.
The entertainment industry has done a lot for you, what hasn’t it done for you?
Entertainment has been very nice to me, but entertainment hasn’t…or government has not taken us seriously enough. The President now, Jonathan, is taking us a bit more seriously than most people. We need more regulation and more control in our industry, especially in the music industry. It is a multi-billion dollar industry in the making, waiting to happen. And it’s the same with the film industry, same with television. The regulations and laws are there, but they just need to be implemented properly. It is the regulation and the control that are lacking. They still see entertainers as anyhow people. No! It’s a huge industry in America, Europe and it’s a great export for them. They make money from it. But it has to be harnessed and channeled properly. That’s what is missing. But hopefully, things are getting better. This current government is working on it and my organization, both the radio stations and at Storm, we are working with certain groups to see and make sure that there are proper channels; proper structures are put in place. That is what is lacking. The structures in the industry must be put in place first. There’s no point in giving people one hundred million dollars, eight hundred million dollars, no! You must use that money to structurize the whole industry first.
You do radio, you also do television, which of the two do you prefer?
The funny thing is that most people come from radio to television. I came the other way. I went from television to radio. So, I love radio because it’s instant Karma. You can pick up a phone call and the person is there, and it’s either way and you get instant results. Television, most of it, is recorded. But it’s still good. It’s great; because what I like about it is that everybody has their own point of view. I think my love for both is equal.
When will Olisa Adibua get married or why doesn’t Olisa Adibua want to get married?
Well, unfortunately, my problem is that I’ve been married to my work for a long time. So, I’ve gotten used to a certain routine. My day starts at 5am, it ends around 10,11pm. So, if I had married now, whoever she is, even if it was Mother Theresa, she should have left me by now.
Does that mean that you are not going to get married because of your work routine?
I will do eventually! But I just have to find a way to structure it and to make sure that I have a personal and private life as well.
NB: First published May 2014