It has been over a year since Mr Sulaiman Aledeh became the managing director of the state-owned Edo Broadcasting Service (EBS), Benin.
He met the outfit in moribund mode. However, with the support of Governor Monday Okpebholo, including funds, moral stimulus, and freedom to operate, Aledeh has been able to transform EBS into a desired, competitive global brand.
Before the coming of Aledeh, the EBS of the Obaseki era was a mere government propaganda machine and a vicious Alsatian attack dog of opponents. Now, a new sheriff, Aledeh, is at the helm of EBS.
The old unprofessionalism of staff is gone for good. Therefore, today, you hardly know that EBS is owned by the government because the broadcast station criticises it whenever it errs. No more hiding place for the government’s inanities.
EBS is not yet on par with the BBCs of the world, but it is steadily working hard to catch up with them. As at press time, the station requires a transmitter èach for its Ihevbe and Ivue substations for enhanced coverage.
One of these transmitters arrived from China recently and is being installed without delay.
This suggests that a visible effort is being made to establish the necessary broadcast infrastructure for improved performance.
Additionally, EBS has repackaged its programmes, providing people-friendly content with deep insights, enhanced analytical conversations, quality delivery, and an expanded time scope, thanks to the efforts of Aledeh, who has a proven record of being well-versed in a wide range of topics. This aligns with the principles of mass communication practice worldwide.
One of the new iconic programmes of EBS is the Morning Drive, powered by a crack team of Aledeh himself, St. Patrick, Chris Enabulele, Desmond, AJ, Belema, Uju, Ofure and Mathew Ajakaiye. Unknown to critics, the team is not a crowd but a whole house of intelligent men and women intentionally assembled for quality conversations that incorporate different perspectives.
Another key point in constituting the team is to promote the Governor Monday Okpebholo’s policy of inclusivity in governance at the micro EBS level.
For instance, with Belema, Ofure, and Uju in Morning Drive, there is female gender representation. Additionally, by having Desmond on the programme, a person with a visible physical challenge is brought on board in Morning Drive.
So, let us stop focusing on the programme’s population and instead concentrate on the cumulative conversational value of each team member, which has been top-notch so far.
Indeed, what we have in Morning Drive is not a case of ‘too many cooks spoil the broth ‘. Instead, it is a case of a plurality of good heads being better than two or three equally good ones.
At this juncture, I must not fail to say that the deliberate inclusion of Desmond, Chris Enabulele and Mathew Ajakaiye in Morning Drive is very revealing.
See, although physically challenged, Desmond is never found wanting in the knowledge content of the ideas he speaks on self-assuredly and fearlessly.
Chris Enabulele!! Spinning good music is his ‘bad’ habit. But hold it. Just listen to his contributions in Morning, Drive, and you will marvel at his expansive grasp of past and current world events. Never think he is just a music machine.
Additionally, it was exciting to meet Mathew Ajakaiye on Morning Drive. He not only anchors the sports segment of the programme with an array of scintillating information and analysis, but he also stays on to provide valuable insights into any discussion on the table. He is a genuinely global person. All this narrative about Desmond, Chris Enabulele and Mathew Ajakaiye is proof positive that it is a logical fallacy to judge a book by its cover without reading it.
However, I need to point out here that the programme should avoid teasing personal jokes targeted at members, as they often end up exposing confidential biographies to the public in these days of a digital lifestyle. No one has the statutory right to openly discuss false or accurate information about a person with a veneer of a sarcastic joke.
There is a plethora of jokes out there in the limitless universe that can add comfort, richness, and organic entertainment value to Morning Drive, currently the leading programme in the South-South of Nigeria, alongside Drive O’Clock, another superlative baby of EBS.
Drive O’Clock, conceptualised by innovative Aledeh and operationalised by a triangular intelligent crew of Seriki, Englishman, as well as Soji Abok, is today a pioneer in Africa in impact journalism, delivered with a local Nigerian energetic flavour.
It is achieving its mandate of liberating the populace from the capitalist cruelty of human rights abusers.
All said, my counsel is that the crew should realise that listeners and viewers of the programme have the right to criticise the presenters, even with malice.
Therefore, they should not return the abuse in kind, but instead deploy hard facts, information, and education to counter the mischief of wicked critics.
With Aledeh in charge at EBS, the Tuesday night reggae programme of Kingsley Ogbebor, as well as the Sunday afternoon programme of Agbakpan, and the late Sunday evening highlife programme of Omoaka, have become more robust in terms of content, texture, and presentation style.
As of now, I consider the Saturday programme, Una Good Morning Show, as a weak link in the success story of EBS. The programme is not well presented by Rev Orukpe Otubor. It is unacceptable for him to rely on Idele’s deficiencies in conversations about the programme when it is clear that Idele habitually injects personal trivialities into serious discussions on which he lacks relevant information and analytical prowess.
More disappointing is that Idele often loses his attention span and struggles to stick to discussion topics, a characteristic trait that leads him to speak out of turn. He is incorrigible, never submitting to cognitive reconditioning by Otubor, the presenter, to enable him to align with the high standards that Aledeh is setting for the new EBS.
So, it is time Idele is weeded out with Aledeh’s winnowing fork so that he doesn’t do more damage to the UNA GOOD MORNING programme started long ago in 1980 by enigmatic Pa Felix Ogie.
The producer of the programme needs to ensure that people like Robert Aiyanyi, Gladys Ighalo, Hope Bazuaye, and other talented individuals are recast into the programme after receiving proper education on the editorial policy of the new EBS under Aledeh.
EBS today is on the move. It is not only proper infrastructure that is needed to excel. Additionally, the broadcast station requires high-quality programmes, producers, and presenters to achieve and sustain success.