Encomium
ON Sunday, September 21, 2014, all roads will lead to R & A City Hotel, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos, as media guru and entertainment giant, Gbenga Adewusi, famously known as Bayowa, will be launching his Yoruba Swaga magazine (Magasinni Yoruba Swaga) as well as unveiling his television station, Yoruba Swaga TV.
According to the Oyo born entertainment and media practitioner extraordinaire, the two projects are aimed at projecting Yoruba culture across the globe.
The Odada 1, as Bayowa is also known, spoke to ENCOMIUM Weekly on these twin projects and much more on Saturday, September 6, 2014, at his base in Oregun, Lagos.
It’s quite a while we had a chat with you, what’s going on right now in your life and career?
Thanks so much. I am enjoying positive development in my life and career at the moment. I am grateful to God about that. All along, in the entertainment industry, I thank God for the privilege given me to start at a tender age. And come to think of it, the word Odada means pathfinder, which also translates into someone who first came up with something uncommon. A lot of my friends and colleagues call me odada, especially K1 de Ultimate because I happen to be the first presenter and producer of a movie and music television review programme called Bayowa Half Hour, solely sponsored by my company. It became a household name after about four episodes. You would see everybody leaving whatever they might be doing for their homes on Sundays to watch the programme so that they could know what’s new in the movie and music circuits. The programme gave the people the opportunity to see new artistes mixed with the then stars. That almost has been on and on, and almost every viewer got addicted to the programme.
My first radio/television programme will be 30 years by January next year. I remember I started at Radio Nigeria, Obalende. So, come January 2015, I will clock 30 in the industry. And by the special grace of God, I am going to celebrate that in a big way next year.
About seven years ago, we started having problems with pirates. When the problem was getting worse, I personally went to Alaba to fight the pirates. I went there with three mobile police officers. The fight almost shut Alaba market down. They beat me and tore my clothes. I never minded, I fought them tooth and nail. It attracted the attention of the media generally, both print and non-print. And Charly Boy had to join me alongside other members of the Performing Musicians Association of Nigeria (PMAN), including King Sunny Ade and a host of others. But the theatre practitioners then failed to realize we needed to fight the battle together for the benefit of all. That’s exactly what led to the problem we have now in the industry. For over three years, Nigerian movie industry has not been the same again. And it deteriorates on a daily basis. So, to cut the long story short, that’s why about two years ago, I stopped releasing movies and then thought of what else I could venture into that could sustain me in the industry because I can’t continue working for others to profit from. Some people chose to continue but sad enough, most of them are running the business at a loss. For now, movie marketing is nothing to write home about unless you want to put yourself in debt which I can’t do. I think it was like a year ago we held a rally and went to Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola and other places, including Abuja, but come to think of it, the problems on the table of President Goodluck Jonathan are more than what he can handle right now. Imagine if about 230 school girls could be kidnapped by Boko Haram and nothing has been done to get them out all this while, you should understand that there is real fire on the mountain. If these girls could be in the custody of Boko Haram insurgents for about 150 days and no solution is in sight yet, so, what are we talking about? We will now be talking about piracy, when a more important issue has not been attended to the way it should.
So, that’s why I had to rack my brain for what next as a pathfinder and one of the strong pillars of the industry. That’s the number one reason I have not marketed or released any movie in the last two years. Second, I have my family abroad, and one way or the other I had to plan with them and perfect everything concerning their citizenship over there. I thank God that has been approved by the Republic of Ireland. Now, they are full citizens of Republic of Ireland. I now thought it is time to come back home and face what I have been working on for the past two years and continue to make my impact in the entertainment industry.
The last time we had a chat with you, you said you’re planning to float an indigenous television. How far have you gone about that?
To God be the glory, I have been working towards that for the past 12 years. Now, it’s not going to be television alone but we are also having an indigenous Yoruba magazine that will be in form of Ovation. It’s also a magazine that will uplift and enhance Yoruba culture and also promote indigenous artistes. I thank God for giving me the idea. It’s an all colour, glossy and attractive package that will be featuring the entertainers and other celebrities but in Yoruba attires only. But we’re working on making it a kind of bi-lingual magazine, that’s the Yoruba text will also be summarized in English because of the fact that we’re selling our culture to the people abroad. So, we want them to quickly understand the concept and read meaning to it. That’s our number one project, the magazine is called Magasinni Yoruba Swaga (Yoruba Swaga Magazine).
What of the other project, we mean the indigenous television?
Yes, the second project is our indigenous television which involves a lot of money. We have been trying to source money for it, with the launching of this magazine, and we have also been talking to some well meaning Nigerians to come to our aid concerning our aim of global promotion of Yoruba cultural heritage via Yoruba Swaga TV, which we’re also unveiling alongside the launch of the magazine. We have been doing test transmission at concerts. We believe after the test transmission, Yoruba Swaga TV will be one of the 24 hour channels in Nigeria. Also, I have finished about three scripts for television series because a lot of my fans complained they don’t see me anymore on TV drama again and all that. But very soon, we will be on location for the shoot. By the special grace of God, viewers will have the opportunity to enjoy the series on all the satellite television stations. Equally, I have written two movies, just as people know already, my movies are usually among the best in the industry. I believe people couldn’t have forgotten my movies then, including Ebi Olokada, Larinloodu, Lepa Shandy, Pink Lady, Itunu (Consolation), which happens to be my first and only optical film shot about 27 years ago. It was shot in Nigeria and processed abroad. I believe the film still lingers in the memory of the people, especially my fans. So, I have two good stories ready now. But I won’t produce them on home video immediately because it will involve a lot of money. With all I have mentioned, it’s going to be a period of hard work for me.
How prepared are you now for all these, especially running Yoruba Swaga TV?
I am fully prepared and reloaded. You also can see how fresh I am now, warming up for the new task. And by the special grace of God, Magasinni Yoruba Swaga will be launched on Sunday, September 21, 2014. The event will hold at R & A City Hotel, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. We have sent out invites to friends, colleagues and who is who in the society, including the politicians and those in government at various levels. It’s not going to be an avenue for any electioneering campaign by any political party. We are inviting people from different political parties, including All Progressives Congress (APC), People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and others. They are all welcome. It’s our thing, we should all work towards projecting Yoruba cultural heritage beyond the shores of Nigeria, irrespective of our political or religious affiliations. No chance for political campaign now. Everybody is equally invited to be part of the event. I want everybody, Yoruba or non-Yoruba, home and abroad to understand that we Yoruba are rich and deep in culture. We are worthy of being emulated in all aspects of culture.
What’s going to separate Yoruba Swaga TV from other Yoruba TV stations that have been existing before now?
As everybody is aware of the fact that I, Baba Itunu, the Odada will always embark on anything unique. Not only in the movie or music industry but in all aspects of life. I love doing my things differently and that’s what makes me special in the public eye.
Can you reveal some of the programmes to be expected from the station?
People should be expecting a mixture of entertainment and celebrity interviews. The entertainment aspect covers movie, music and comedy. So, it’s not going to be only entertainment as it is in some other stations. Our special interview segment will feature celebrities from all spheres of life. We will also be featuring people from the grassroots. We also have special packages for other television stations.
How much has the project gulped?
A lot of money and right now, to continue with the project, we still need about N200m for digital equipment and a lot of other things. So, it’s not a project one can execute alone. That’s’ why we desire the support of all well meaning Nigerians home and abroad.
Where is the base of Yoruba Swaga TV for now?
I don’t want to disclose that now. When everything is set, I will inform the public where we will be transmitting from. But as I said, I have other packages for other cable channels that we’re working on. When Swaga TV is steady, we will negotiate with DSTV on how to be operating.
– TADE ASIFAT
