By Atilade Atoyebi
The place of my new posting from Lagos was Ibadan, capital city of Oyo State. That was in 2006. The establishment was Radio Nigeria, Ibadan.
There was no doubt that challenges in all manners were waiting for me and there was no time to waste. I had just a little over two more years to retire from service at the mandatory age of 60.
My first priority was to create a conducive environment for work. So upgrading of physical structures of our offices was tackled head on. At the same time, a gradual process of introduction of Information and Communication Technology, ICT began. Within one year, Radio Nigeria Ibadan became the second ICT hub after Lagos National Station which was renamed Lagos Operations.
Radio Nigeria Ibadan had in abundance good programmes. Nevertheless, I decided that management must weed out fledgling and poorly produced ones that just filled airtime. We then held a programme planning conference to brainstorm over existing programmes and introduction of new ones.
With my experience in Lagos I introduced new and vibrant station identifications on Premier FM, Ibadan; Paramount FM, Abeokuta; Positive FM, Akure; Gold FM, Iloko Road, Ilesha and Progressive FM, Ado-Ekiti. Choice FM, Ikeja, Lagos came on fresh later as a new Station under Radio Nigeria, Ibadan. It is however defunct now, consumed by some reorganization that took place after I retired from service.
The aim in 2006 was to reposition all the Channels in the stable of Radio Nigeria Ibadan National Station to reflect the times, draw attention of listeners to the ongoing efforts to rejuvenate the channels and set the pace for the future.
If I omitted Ore Aralu on medium wave spectrum, the reason is that the Channel was not only epileptic, in sorrowful state of disrepair, it was on the verge of total collapse. The medium wave transmitter at Orita Bashorun in Ibadan too was virtually lifeless.
However, luck was on our side. I initiated the idea of setting up a fresh radio channel that should be an all Yoruba programmes channel. It was to be on FM spectrum as medium and shortwave spectrums were fading out at that time. With the support of the incumbent Director General of Radio Nigeria at that time, Ben Egbuna, we realized that ambition. Amuludun FM as the replacement of Ore Aralu was named commenced transmission at Moniya, Ibadan in 2007 on a brand new 10 kw transmitter. A studio of manageable size was squeezed into the scarce space in the transmission building that contained the medium wave transmitter of Ore Aralu and transmitters of Premier FM.
Today it is heart warming that Amuludun FM, a full fledged Yoruba Channel is waxing stronger in Moniya with additional studio and office facilities. In 2017, nine years after I retired from the services of Radio Nigerian, I was invited to participate in the event marking the 10th Anniversary of the establishment of Amuludun FM. For me, it was a dream come true and a momentous occasion of joy. This brief summary of my stewardship in Ibadan is placed here for posterity. More will follow.
