Tag: FIBAN

IT was, undoubtedly, a glorious moment on Sunday, September 28, when the Freelance and Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (FIBAN) held a three-one event, amidst pomp and circumstance, at the Hall of Grace, Jogor Centre in Ibadan, Oyo State.

On that historic day, the association held its national executive inauguration ceremony, swearing in of states’ executives and N50 million fund-raising for the completion of the national secretariat.  For majority of the members who came from across the country, it was another day with history, as they converged on the beautifully decorated hall, looking so glam and with great enthusiasm in the uniform Ankara dress. The event was chaired by Deacon Olatunde Oladokun.

Although the event, which was ably anchored by the duo of top broadcasters, Bashir Adisa, aka Baba Gboin, and Olasunkanmi Adebayo, aka Joge, kicked off some hours behind schedule, the hall soon came alive immediately His Royal Majesty, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, the Alaafin of Oyo, arrived  in company with two of his adorable wives and a retinue of aides. As a mark of respect, ace Juju musician, King Sunny Ade, who had arrived a few minutes earlier, mounted the stage to welcome the Royal Father with a great performance. It was vintage KSA who sang to the delight of the Alaafia who was supported by his two Olori. They not only danced, but they also ‘sprayed’ the King of World Beat generously with some crisp naira notes before they took their exit in style.

However, even in the midst of the jollity, the incumbent president, Yemi Sonde, took the enthusiastic audience on what he called “The journey so far”. His speech, to put it mildly, centred essentially on the history of the association. Having duly recognised the presence of his predecessors, including Aare Olalomi Amole, Alhaji Fatai Adeniyi Dan Kazeem and Dr. Ambrose Somide respectively, he said:  “On Sunday, January 19, our great association conducted an election that ushered in the new national executives of FIBAN. Our election was a harbinger of good fortunes and pleasant surprises, as one of the friends of the association, Engr. Taiwo Kadri, MD/CEO, Katawa Properties Ltd., donated four plots of land to our association: two plots in Ibadan and two plots in Abeokuta. This, undoubtedly, was a great starting point, which propelled us into action. Thereafter, we held our first national executives meeting, where a roadmap was chattered for the administration and we resolved to work selflessly to move the association forward. At this inaugural meeting, the sum of N51, 000.00( Fifty One Thousand Naira) was raised as individual donations to open the first corporate account for proper accountability.

“With this determination, a re-branding of the association commenced and it started from our logo, colour scheme and to repositioning to reflect our essence.  Conscious efforts have been taken to change the orientation of members in order to move our great association forward. On April 2, 2014, the national executives were sworn in. We, therefore, swung into full action to achieve our goals. I say many thanks to Deacon Olatunde Oladokun, Executive Programmes Director, Self-Reliance Economic Advancement Programme (SEAP), who gave us the first N500,000( Five Hundred Thousand Naira). As if that was not enough, the humble and successful managing director of Chemstar Paints Industry, Mr. Remi Awode, also encouraged us by giving the association its first N1million( One Million Naira). In the same vein, my able immediate past president, Dr. Ambrose Somide, gave the association the sum of N50, 000(Fifty Thousand Naira). These donations gave us the impetus to start the construction of our national secretariat on our two plots in Ibadan. Within four months, the foundation was laid and the building is now at the roofing level. Let me acknowledge another donation of N1million each from Mr. Remi Awode and Deacon Olatunde Oladokun.”

Sonde, who disclosed that he would not re-contest for a second term, further disclosed that the association believes so much in human capacity development. “For the records, we have sent eight of our members from across the country to Radio Nigeria (FRCN) training school in Lagos and they have all graduated.  Another batch of members will be enrolled in January 2015. We have also successfully conducted states elections and so the newly elected states executives will be sworn in today… We all have uniform identity cards across the states. It is also worthy of note that we have embarked on spreading our tentacles to more states across the north and east. This is just the beginning. We still need N50million to complete the ongoing project and many more.”

FIBAN was initiated 14 years ago by the late veteran broadcaster, Prince Gbenga Adeboye.

Yemi Sonde, a renowned broadcaster, film producer and playwright, is the president of the Freelance and Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (FIBAN). The producer of   Kogbodo Kanle and Sikiratu Sindodo, in this interview with BABATUNDE SULAIMAN, talks about a lot of interesting issues, including his efforts to take the association to greater heights. 

CONGRATULATIONS on your election as the President of the Freelance and Independent Broadcasters Association of Nigeria (FIBAN). What does it feel to be the president of this association?

It makes me feel that so many eyes are on me.  I know that a lot of people are expectant of a turnaround, a better FIBAN and good delivery of my campaign promises. So, it cautions me and constantly reminds me that I must not fail my people.

What then were your campaign promises?

One of my campaign promises was to build the FIBAN national secretariat, which would be called FIBAN HOUSE; the second was the training of our members at the Radio Nigeria Training School; the third was transparency and the fourth was accountability. So, I put my campaign on those four cardinal points, which are what we need now. Of course, in each of the points, we have sub-headings.

So, which of these promises have you been able to fulfill?

I will say that on the day of the election, the dream of having a national secretariat came true. One of my clients, on my radio and television productions, donated four plots of land to the association: two plots in Oyo State and two plots in Ogun State. Then, on the day of my swearing-in ceremony about a month ago, I promised that we were going to start the building of the two plots in Ibadan as our national secretariat.

To God’s glory, I have been able to deliver that. Just about two weeks ago, we had the foundation-laying of the secretariat by Oba Lamidi  Adeyemi, the Alaafin of Oyo. This is a milestone in the history of FIBAN. So many people said:  “Yemi, you are from Ogun State, so why didn’t you start from developing the two plots in your state?” But I told them that FIBAN is not a sectional or tribal association. Oyo State is a state of so many firsts, whether you like it or not. Broadcasting is one of the firsts that Oyo State stands for. So, it is not out of place if the first ever home of FIBAN is sited in Oyo State. That is why we had that kind of royal father to lay the foundation of the building for us-it is symbolic. Again, transparency, as it has never been displayed in FIBAN, was one of my campaign promises. Concerning the training, I have sent my publicity secretary, Mr. Sulaiman Adegbenro( Consoligbadun) and other exco members  to Radio Nigeria to liaise with the management and let them know  that FIBAN members will be attending their next training programme.

How many members will be registered for the training?

I have three years on this throne. So, it is not going to be all the members of FIBAN that will undergo training at this point. It is going to be in batches; and at every point, there will be at least 30 or 40 of our members who will be undergoing the training. I am sure you know that Radio Nigeria runs two sessions in a year.  I believe in acquisition of knowledge and being on top of my game at all times. In August, at least 30 members of FIBAN will go for training at Radio Nigeria.

It seems you are trying to fill something like a lacuna in the history of the association. So, I am wondering if you have any issue with the last administration.

No! Let me say I am a privileged member of this association. When this association was formed14 years ago, I was part of the five people that mooted the idea. In fact, I was the youngest among them. The late Gbenga Adegboye was the initiator of this association-though he is dead, you can’t take that away from him.  At the point he was saying that, I was part of the five people who were standing with him.

Initially, it was called the Nigerian Union of Freelance and Independent Broadcasters (NUFIB), but it was later changed to FIBAN due to some legal reasons. That is to tell you that I have been part and parcel of different administrations. I was the first chairman of FIBAN, Oyo State chapter.  That is to tell you that, if you form an association, you cannot get it right all at once. So, I will say that what my administration aims to do is to improve on the past administrations. The past administrations had done their best. I can’t do it all in this administration; so, I will do my own and someone else will continue from wherever I stopped, and even do it better. But the only thing is that I am a privileged person.

What are the challenges you are facing towards actualizing these dreams?

I won’t say there are no challenges, but they are surmountable.

Could you tell me about some of these challenges?

At the time we got the plots of land, the question was: where do we get money to develop them because the association didn’t have a kobo as at that time.

Why was it so?

The past administrations, of course, had their own explanation on why and how they spent some money.

Agreed, but is it not strange that the association’s account was emptied, so to say?

Actually, when the association was formed and a lot of things had to be put in place, we tasked ourselves and spent our own personal money to do some things. For instance, during the burial of the mother of the late Gbenga Adeboye, who was a pioneer and very strong member of FIBAN, we contributed towards it. So, it wasn’t as if there was any money in the account of the association.

We are not beggars and we don’t encourage such. So, it wasn’t that the past administrations were not prudent, but there was no money for them to spend. However, there must be accountability. So, the challenge is how to raise money without looking like beggars or losing our own integrity. As a result, I needed to consult some of my own clients as well. They know my mission and the fact that I mean well for the association, so they started donating to us. I told them to write the cheques in FIBAN’s account and not in my name or anybody’s name.

However, this is not to say that what we have now can be enough to finish the building. But I know that before we exhaust that, God will have done something else. Part of the money is what we are going to spend on the training of our members. Of course, this is not to say that we are not looking at another way of generating money. But I can’t come to you and say, come and build my house for me; I will rather say this is how far we have gone, so how do you assist us?  Even within ourselves, we contributed almost a million naira.

Could you tell me a little about your background?

I hail from Abeokuta in Ogun State. I am a broadcaster and film producer. I was born in Mushin, Lagos. My late dad was a very strong leader of the Cherubim and Seraphim Church; my mum is still alive, hale and hearty. I am the third-born and first son of 13 children of my parents. I have always wanted to be a broadcaster right from my childhood. I have been doing a lot of theatre and poem recitation from my primary school.

When I entered secondary school, I started representing my school in poem recitation, debate and quiz competition. I am a very abstract person; I don’t like going the general way. I reason so deep and you can’t predict what I will do in some circumstance. My father wanted me to be a medical doctor, so we had a clash of interests. I have always wanted to do what I am doing now. I was the best art student in my class in the secondary school.  My chosen subjects were pure art, but my dad changed it to pure sciences because he wanted me to be a doctor. So, I had to beg the principal to allow me add literature to it because we were paying per subject. I wanted to be a poet, a movie producer or broadcaster.

At the end of the day, I came out in flying colours, even with literature. In the end, I did my first degree in Forest Resources Management in the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Ibadan. I was not admitted for Medicine because I couldn’t meet up with the cutoff; it was 272, but I scored 259. Because I knew what I wanted as a career, I had to go to OGBC to meet the late broadcaster, Tope Obaleye, who trained me in broadcasting. So, while I was in school, I was in broadcasting. In fact, before I left school, I was already a known name. Also, in school, I was a politician: I was the PRO of my Faculty, clerk of the House of Assembly and chairman of my hall. So, I am a very restless person, I love challenges and love leading people with example.

I love doing things right.  When things are not right, I like to call people’s attention to the need to do them right.  So, it was understandable why I went back for my Masters in Communication and Language Art, in order to be more relevant. But before then, I had gone to Radio Nigeria for training in Basic Production, even while I was already a known name. I am a film producer too; I have produced Kogbodo Kanle and Sikiratu Sindodo, among others. I am a playwright, a public speaker and a PR consultant. I am happily married to my friend and mother and our marriage is blessed with kids.