Many YFM listeners woke up on Tuesday morning to hear Big Brother Africa host, IK Osakioduwa hosting YFM’s breakfast show with Babiee Dapaah as part of a special arrangement between Rhythm 93.7 in Lagos and the Accra-based youth radio station as it celebrates its 5th anniversary.
Describing the collaboration, IK explained that Global Media Alliance group in Ghana has been partnering with the Silverbird Group in Nigeria on various levels in the past and this time decided to partner their two radio stations in this unique way. He said, “GMA and Silverbird have been collaborating on a number of things so we decided to get the affiliation to extend into the other arms of the business which would be YFM and Rhythm FM. Both are West African and the music is not that different; you will find a lot of Nigerian music on YFM and you will find a lot of Ghanaian music on Rhythm FM also. So why don’t we have the radio presenters also come and influence the radio programs in different areas so that we learn from what you guys are doing here in Ghana. I am here learning and also to see what you guys do here differently from what we do”.
Well, since he talked about Ghanaian music being played on Nigerian radio, an issue that many Ghanaians have complained about (that Ghanaian radios play too many Nigerian music while Nigerian radio station play far too little of Ghanaian music), I had to point it out to him. Well, he was quite diplomatic in his answer and I wonder if Ghanaians will agree.
“Are you joking? Let me tell you the truth. Ghana has taken over Nigeria on the music scene, and what is selling now is Ghana. So every Nigerian has one song that sounds Ghanaian. Many people have started making Ghanaian accents on their songs. So whether it is Olamide or K-9 incorporating Ghanaian mannerisms on their songs or whether it’s just putting Ghanaian songs like Atumpan or Sarkodie on air. Maybe it’s the big names that are selling and not so much for the younger ones. But that is why we are doing such and exchange,” he answered.
IK also shared his experience of co-hosting the breakfast show on YFM, highlighting some key differences in operations between Nigerian radio and Ghanaian radio. He said, “The operations are slightly different from ours, it seems like a finer blend of talk radio and music here. So they have their concept – the things they’re are talking about or promoting; there is a healthy amount of talk and music. But we have more of a music orientation so we generally don’t encourage people to talk as much. So if you talk over music for instance, you will have an issue with management. We have a different orientation but both styles are beautiful. I’m certainly learning how Ghanaians like their radio.”
Ik Osakioduwa is one of Silverbird’s Rhythm 93.7’s leading presenters having been with the station for about 12 years now. He is the host of the Dance Party on Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 7:30pm. He also hosts the Morning Drive on Wednesdays from 6am to 10am. As part of the exchange program, YFM’s Jay Foley will be heading to Lagos for a similar exercise on Rhythm FM.
Listen to my interview with IK below
