Time-Out with the Radio Diva
It was indeed a thrill to be at Splash FM. As the people of Ibadan and its catchment area know, Splash FM is an independent radio station which is one of the movers in the radio media industry in the city of Ibadan.
The saying, ‘The freshest cocktail in the world is fresh ambition blended with a sweet raw talent and a hint of opportunity’, is clearly manifested when observing the life of this young beauty on-air personality, Adenike Adewuyi, a graduate of Ogun State Polytechnic, studied Mass Communication, presently anchors Bully’s Eye (an Interview Programme), also a Newsreader and handles the ‘Entrepreneur of the week segment’ at Splash FM. When she is with the microphone, there is the obvious ambience and radiance of happiest and satisfaction around her. For her, happiness is relative.
You know, when I wake up every morning I always love to talk to people, and the fact that I communicate with people is something that makes me happy but other things make me happy as well; I write, I mentor young people and working at the radio house is a wonderful job. It makes some of us happy. The fact that I talk to people every day is something I look forward to.
Adenike Adewuyi
Listening to presenters on radio and how they speak, they are somehow able to get the stress out and entertain. One would think they are angels but for some presenters, their angelic nature only exists in the studio. This angel in and out of the studio chipped in.
We are just normal people in the entertainment industry and media houses. I disagree with people taking us as role models and expecting us to be perfect in all we do. Some people are hostile. We try as much as possible to be nice when we go outside, but the fact still remains that we are just normal people. Sometimes you go out there and you are not in a good mood. So, unfortunately, that may be the time one of your faithful listeners comes to say hi, to snap out of that mood will be very difficult. For example, while driving someone dents my car, I’m furious, the person begs and I have to move on. I get to a fast food joint reporting the accident to a friend on the phone then someone walks up to me and says, ‘Hey, I have been listening to you on radio, I’m your fan’. You don’t expect me to start cracking jokes because I’m already thinking of paying #80,000 to fix my car and the last thing I want to do is to laugh. But we are just trying to be nice, as much as possible. We are just like everybody, we have mood swings.
Adenike Adewuyi
Most radio houses including Splash FM are known for remarkable programs and unmissable talk shows. Being a great entertainer and presenter, she shares her secret charm.
As a broadcaster, you have to do research very well before you go on air. You don’t just grab the microphone and talk because you feel like it. When you talk on radio, you have to have in mind that there are thousands or millions of people listening; you know a lot of people don’t look forward to Monday mornings, so how do you make them enjoy their morning. You just have to stick with them, talk to them, and give them what they want to hear. It’s a Monday morning, let them look at the positive side of it because lots of people are going to work, you don’t just come on air on a Monday morning and talk about alcohol or how their Friday night was, you don’t want to do that, because the majority of your listeners are on their way to work and some will have kids in their cars, so you have to choose your words carefully. The same thing in the afternoon, you have people listening to you from work, you have people also taking their kids back home from school, so you know who you are talking to, talk right. And as a broadcaster, you have to do research such that your listeners will know you are a professional.
Adenike Adewuyi
It’s a known fact that media houses and their presenters are faced with challenges, but are these challenges similar in private and government owned stations? One wonders.
Well, I started with a government station and then private V stations afterwards. As there are challenges in government radio houses, so there are in privately owned media outlets too. The challenge that is peculiar to government stations is the presenters’ inability to talk about the government, they pay your salary and that’s why I personally don’t like working for or with the government because of the numerous restrictions. You compulsorily have to be pro-government and my kind of person and the program that I handle, I’m a critic, and this makes it difficult for me to work with the government.
In private media houses there is a lot of freedom especially when the owner is not a government contractor. Working in a station where the owner gets some stuffs from the government is just equivalent to working for the government. You cannot go against the government of the day, you know. There are challenges everywhere but I think there are more challenges when you work with government owned media houses.
Adenike Adewuyi
Apart from broadcasting, one wonders what else this beautiful talented presenter is involved in.
I have always loved talking and I tell people that I cannot work in a place where I can’t talk, I could fit into a P.R company, talk on behalf of people, work on people’s images and branding. I don’t do calculations so I can’t work in a bank unless they want to put me in their P.R unit. Anything that just involves me talking and doing publicity. I don’t really have much that I do, my schedule is triangular from home to work, from work to church, back home. So I don’t really have much that I do, I’m a very private person, I don’t go out, a lot of people don’t even know me outside. When I’m home I read books. Broadcasting is my life because when I’m at home, I’m always thinking of what to do at work. So basically there is no much difference. It’s same at home and at work.
Adenike Adewuyi
Change is universal, yet controversially seen by some. Let’s know the broadcasting queen’s view.
Change is constant, allow me to use the cliché. I love change and I can‘t just be with a person who wants to be on point c always. Look at this, civil servants working with the civil service are used to typewriters, let’s say laptops are introduced as a change and not that alone there is an instructor who could put them through, they will still revolt. It’s normal. Changing a habit is difficult and it takes time. But we all have to look at the positive side of the change and embrace it.
Adenike Adewuyi
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