Broadcasters should always renew their talents – Baba Alayo

Baba Alayo

Lagos-based broadcaster, Ayodele Oloye, has urged his colleagues and younger folk in the industry to always strive to renew their talents.

The Owo, Ondo State-born broadcaster, who presents Akitiyan wa  a political magazine on Radio Lagos  and Omo Owo e ma Gbagbe Ile (Owo sons and daughters, do not forget home) on Bond FM, noted that failure to update oneself amounted to taking listeners for granted.

Fondly called Baba Alayo (Ayo Game Veteran), based on a programme he used to anchor on Lagos Television, Oloye said that anyone who would endure in the radio/television business should be able to think ahead of the audience.

He said, “In the olden days, broadcasting job thrived on talent – as in raw talent. But education is very important. As a broadcaster, you have to make education a priority. When you make people laugh, you must improve on the job by creating new jokes and conceiving new ideas.”

Recalling that he started out as a trainee presenter at the Ondo State Radio/TV establishment, he migrated to Lagos in 1982,  when he started promoting culture and the grassroots  on air.  Interestingly, his new project is taking him back to the ayo game which he used to promote on air.

Oloye said,  “I thank God for the progress we have made on the job. It has been a story of success and fulfilment.  When I was first presenting programmes in Lagos, I was being paid N80,000 per programme. I would go from one location to another, and from one village to another.  Now I thank God that we have surmounted the challenges that came our way.  Now, I want to return Ere ayo to TV. I want to make the game a competition among the 57 local government areas in Lagos State.”

Some of the ‘fringe benefits’ that come with the popularity that many (male) broadcasters reap from the job are women who naturally move closer to them. But Oloye said he had been able to remain loyal to his wife.

“There is no job without challenges ,’ he notes. “Especially when you are becoming a public figure, many people – male and female – will come around you.  But you have to be extremely careful. You must move away from things that can stain your name. Don’t get distracted. Instead, focus on ideas and principles that will enrich your programme.  I am very conscious of my matrimonial status. That is why I salute myself on my programmes as ‘ Oko Cecilia, alaya ma wo ta: The only presenter without a lover.”