Josfyn Uba And Christine Onwuachumba
Cordelia Okpei is a rare breed in the electronic media, an amazon in radio broadcasting. For three decades, she mesmerized her audience and held them spell-bound with her unique voice and style of presentation at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria ((FRCN).
Cordelia recently retired as an assistant director, but she is obviously not tired. She spoke to Daily Sun, recently on her odyssey in broadcasting and advised that relevant agencies should vet music before it goes on air.
Can you recall your first day in the studio?
Truth must be told, I really do not remember my first day in the studio because I was quite young. I was going back and forth with my father, since he was a broadcaster.
How did your father influence your choice to become a broadcaster?
He was a producer, so I actually grew up going to the studio with him; but I remember the day when I started doing my own personal programme. That was after I had finished my WAEC. It was no big deal. It was comfortable because I was used to it and it was nice to have my own show. I still remember the title, “From me to you,” and I also used Yvonne Chaka Chaka’s music, titled “Me to You” as my signature tune. It was completely fun.
It seems your growing up days were interesting.
I am Isoko from Delta State. I am from a family of eight. My father has passed on but we are still “eight.” That is, my parents and my six siblings. They used to call us, and even up till now they still call us, the “C Family”
Why is that so?
The reason is because, for everybody in the house, their names all begin with C. We are all Cos.
I have been in the media world for as long as I can remember. I am actually a radio and TV presenter but I was more on radio than TV. I grew up doing TV and radio. When I moved to this zone, talking about Lagos, I think, maybe, I saw the challenges and I needed a new challenge, that is why I have moved to some other spheres to be on my own. I am a presenter, a producer, a coach, which simply means that I train people.
Are you a life coach?
Don’t mind them. When they say “life coach,” I don’t know what they are talking about. I trained in communication, media, presentation and production. I am an MC and I am good at what I do, without sounding immodest.
I think I would do more of it because, in this sphere, we don’t have many female MCs. You now find people going into comedy. I am not a comedian but I know that when I am done with the job, you would definitely laugh.
When people come up to me and ask if I can host an event and make them laugh, I tell them that I am not a comedian. Of course, they would leave happily but I insist that I am a comedian. I may be witty and funny when I want to be but that is not my job. My job is broadcasting.
Are comedians meant to be MCs? Is there no distinction somewhere?
Anybody can be an MC but adding professionalism makes the difference. Again, not all broadcasters can be MCs. Its not everybody that can face a crowd. For comedians who are able to do the work of MCs, it is a gift but, sometimes, there is a thin line between insults and comedy. Sometimes, for corporate events, I find out that some of them are not able to draw the line.
Most of them don’t know their crowd. It is a matter of studying their crowd. The best and professional MCs are people who have broadcasting background. They have the gift. There are people who are not comedians or broadcasters but can host events beautifully. Go to our villages and you would find people who are doing it well. It is actually a gift.
How has broadcasting changed over the years?
A lot of people don’t get trained and they don’t care, but I don’t blame them, sometimes. Some of them would have loved to be trained but their establishments don’t bother. Some people just believe that once they have that accent, whatever accent, be it American accent, or British-American accent, everything put together, you are able to do “wanna ganna” whatever, they just feel it is fine. They feel that they have arrived, especially the females. I have a big problem with that.
A lot of them also feel that when you look sexy for an event, it means you have got your job covered.
Sadly, recently, I saw one lady conducting an interview for TV, and all her boobs were out. That should never have been on TV. No, she was not being professional at all. Some simply think that because she is a beautiful lady and has an accent, they could just put her on air. So, that is why they disappear after a while like flashes in the pan. They can never stand the test of time.
But in core broadcasting, there is a training that goes with it and it stays forever. All you just need to do is to augment wherever you are standing with more training. If you are properly trained and you have the gift, let’s start from there. If you have the talent, it is easy for you to study your environment, check out the changes going on and you also change a lot. I think, for instance, I am able to flow with TV very well because I like TV. I hope now that I have left full-time employment, I am able to have a TV gigs because I love TV. I am able to flow because I have some training.
I watch what people are doing and speak, put everything together. How many of the young people today are able to do that? It’s a pity, if you are not able to do that. So, insist on being trained and on knowing that you have the talent, because, if there is no talent, no amount of training will help you. You would just remain a mediocrity and, if you are not careful, you would just end up sleeping your way to the show you want to host.
Do you think that the Nigerian broadcasting is ready for digitalisation?
That is more of a technical thing. We have a lot of contents because what will be driving the digital platform is content as we have many frequencies, channels and so on.
I am a content provider. I think we are ready. We have enough content and the stations need us. Right now, we pay for them to air our content. I don’t think that is what is happening in other places, but I have not done that business elsewhere.
When that platform comes and we go digital, we have so many frequencies to choose from and competition is stiff. They are ready because people have content but there is no money to push it out.
If you were not a broadcaster, what would you have been?
Maybe I would have been an opera singer or a classical singer because, from my childhood, I have always loved classical music and opera. Once upon a time, my mother had said she wished there was a school where she could send me because she knew that, with the right training, I could do well as a ballet dancer; I liked dance.
What do you make of the type of music played on airwaves today?
A lot of the songs now should ordinarily not be on the air. I love my NBC but sometimes I feel they don’t really take steps fast for some of these songs. They lack timely intervention. I heard one the other day and the guy was saying something like “I love you,” or something like that. “Kiss my banana, come take my cassava,” something like that. That was what he allowed to play on radio. I was almost tempted to call but I restrained myself.
Sadly, now, I avoid listening to radio sometimes because I am tempted to place a call to whoever is in that station. A lot of the songs shouldn’t be there, whether foreign or local ones. Many a time, the foreign ones get away with it. I don’t know if the NBC even listens to the foreign ones and takes actions. Unfortunately, it is after the songs have enjoyed airplay for months before someone remembers to ban them. No! It’s wrong. They should be more proactive,
Have you ever frozen before a camera?
I have never frozen. I have never lost words or anything like that on camera. I have always been comfortable in front of the camera and in front of the microphone. Maybe it’s a gift.
However, before going on stage, I still have butterflies but, once I start, the butterflies disappear.
Would you say that broadcasting is financially rewarding?
I would say no. I worked in the civil service, and you know the salaries. An assistant director was just a title with paltry pay. When I say civil service, I don’t mean places like NNPC and the likes. They are cheating other civil servants. They should all receive the same salary.
Financially, it was not rewarding but I am grateful to God. I had my contents, so I could market. That actually helped me a lot.
How do you feel when wannabe celebrities come to the centre stage and call themselves presenters. Is that not an affront to broadcasting?
It is a personal affront but it is not their fault. It is the platform that gave them the space to do it. Once you are able to stand in front of the camera, you are able to say anything, automatically you are a presenter. The question now is, are you are professional?
You spoke about new challenges, embracing new challenges, and doing new things. Can you give us an insight into it?
I like TV. I think I am comfortable on TV and I used to do TV a lot but when I came to Lagos, I actually did not understand why I stayed with radio. Maybe, I didn’t just want to put my face out there. Where I came from, I I was very popular on TV, so I want do more of TV even though I have not pushed myself. Having your own show in this country can be very expensive but I hope to have a show once I have the funds for it. I want to focus more on TV.
I still do my content development and so on, and I want to pay more attention to hosting events. Now, the challenge is that the economy has not been business-enabling. We have projects and contents that need funding, but I believe that it would get friendlier and better.
What is your advice to radio stations?
They should train their staff. It is not so expensive that they cannot afford it. They can have customized training tailored for them, where they come to do it in their office and its over. There are training institutes that can teach the rudiments. It is only fair, if somebody works with you. Again, the younger ones shouldn’t wave off the tips given by the older generation by saying that it is old school. Old school people know a lot and are experienced.
Then, the broadcasters should endeavor to upgrade so as to meet up with international standards. It is not all about money or fame. Make sure that you can compete favourably with your international counterparts. If you check what you are doing and find out that there is need for you to go for training, you have nothing to lose. You should go and get yourself trained. It is for your own benefit and not for your establishment. It stays with you forever and you can grow up to start impacting your knowledge on others.