Why I left NTA for OGTV –Ayinde Soaga

Ayinde Soaga is one face that many viewers of the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) must have missed since he left the station to become the General Manager of Ogun State Television in 2011. In this interview with SAKIBU OLOKOJOBI, the broadcaster speaks on his achievement in office so far and what leaving NTA for OGTV means to him, among other things. For how long have you been at the helm of affairs at the Ogun State Television (OGTV) and how did it come about? I joined OGTV on appointment by Senator Ibikunle Amosun when he was elected governor of Ogun State. He asked me to join in rebuilding Ogun State, particularly, in the area of television broadcasting. OGTV was the leader in broadcasting in Nigeria; many of those who are in broadcasting – modern day television – started from OGTV. Even right from the days of WNTV, OGTV was the leader. Many Nigerians recall the exploits of OGTV and he felt that OGTV was not occupying its rightful place, so, he felt bringing me in would enable him make impact and make some difference in television broadcasting in Nigeria. So, he asked me to join him. In fact, mine was one of the first appointments announced by the governor on 1st of June, 2011. I resumed here actually on the 6th of June. I left from NTA as Assistant Director, Training and Capacity Building. How would you describe leaving Nigerian Televsion Authority (NTA) for OGTV? Leaving NTA for OGTV was … let me use the popular phrase – “e get as e be.” I didn’t want to leave NTA, but the lure is the passion of Governor Amosun. His passion for rebuilding Ogun is very strong and I felt I should join him. I seriously didn’t want to leave NTA because there, as an Assistant Director, I was at a General Manager’s status; I could have been the General Manager of any NTA station at that time. I saw myself becoming the DG of NTA, sometime. In fact, I told Governor Amosun that I’m a career person, that I had gone through the ranks and I wanted to be the DG of NTA. So, I said, if I left, it would reduce my chances of becoming the DG. I know that if you leave NTA and you return, you cannot meet the hierarchy again. Now, I have been proven right because many of my colleagues with whom we went for the interview of Assistant Director are now Executive Director. Sola Atere and Eugenia Abu, for instance are Executive Directors. My other colleagues are directors or deputy directors now. I was Acting Assistant Director for two years because of the quota system. If I go to NTA now, I will be struggling with my Assistant Director position whereas my colleagues are Deputy Directors and Executive Directors. However, I have no regret honestly because of my achievements in office so far. What are the major achievements you have recorded in office? I thank God for the opportunity of having to come back home. There is nothing like coming back home; Abuja was a different thing entirely. I enjoyed the national spotlight; everywhere I go, everybody knows me and all of that, but coming back home makes me glad. The first month of my coming back to OGTV we began broadcasting 24 hours. OGTV, despite its popularity, had never gone 24 hours; the farthest it had gone before then was weekend broadcasting where it went 24 hours. I began 24 hours broadcasting here in OGTV the first month. On the 7th of July, 2011, we began broadcasting 24 hours and till today we have maintained that; we have been consistent. Secondly, about the third month, I began streaming OGTV; that is, OGTV can be seen anywhere in the world. So, that’s another achievement. Also, although OGTV had had its website before, when I came in I changed the website to ogtv.com.ng. This is because of the change in name immediately Governor Amosun took over. You will recall that the previous government changed it to Gateway Television, and following the return to OGTV, I had to change the website. Immediately we changed to the new website, I started to stream our signals on that website. That way, people all over the world, who have internet can watch OGTV. I think about a year or two after, I now began the OGTV aps. Now, you can see OGTV on all mobile platforms – android, blackberry, etc. We are now IT compliant. We can be seen on different satellite platforms too. Simply put, I have made it possible to see OGTV on very many platforms. Has there been any improvement on the equipment? Very well. OGTV had never had it this good. For instance, we never had what we call fantastic equipment until now. The first fly away kit was bought by Governor Ibikunle Amosun. A fly away kit is a system whereby you can do live broadcast from anywhere by linking through the satellite and sending signals back to your station anywhere you may be. It was installed in 2013 and this has made it possible for us to transmit events live from different parts of the state or anywhere in the world. We have also installed two streaming servers; televisions and cameras among others. State broadcasting stations are often ready tools in the hands of the government of the day. How has this affected the quality of your work? That is true. State stations are supposed to project the state; they are supposed to give you a feel of what is happening in the state and to be the ultimate vehicles in which we reflect the state, the people, the culture and the activities in the state and those are mainly government activities. You know, government drives many things in Nigeria. So, we are focusing on government. Here in OGTV, we have been able to reflect Ogun State government very appropriately and adequately. We have, however, not run away from the fact that our focus is the people of Ogun State. We reflect on their culture, their lives; their festivals; things that concern them. That is where our niche is. Our focus is the people; but at the same time, we uplift the government. Governments of the day have the tendency to oppress the opposition. Were you able to avoid that in your station? Yes, government may have had the reputation or tendency to stifle others and make sure that only those in government are seen on the station. For me, that is not right and I stopped that. I have been inclusive. By being inclusive, I mean OGTV belongs to everybody, not only those ruling us now. Everybody in the state has OGTV to use or reflect his views. That was why, deliberately, we went out of our ways to bring some on OGTV. Of course, some don’t like it, but I feel that is the right thing to do. Many were giving the governor so much hassle as he was inundated with complaints by some bootlickers. It was so much that some of the time, he would remark it. I told him that we had to be inclusive and in any case, what you are doing will sell itself. That, in fact, helped the governor and it helped to reduce tension in the environment. When you bottle others and you don’t give them space, they become aggressive. Everybody had a space in OGTV. But largely, the governor left us to do what is right and I am grateful for that. What is your view about the standard of broadcasting in Nigeria today? We are rising. It has improved tremendously. So many stations have shown that example of improvement and OGTV is one example among others. In our programming, in our news and technology, we have improved. I told you how we report live from different parts of the state, the country and the world. So, many things have improved. One thing that was not good was the hate campaigns being perpetrated on some of the leading stations like the NTA and AIT during the last electioneering campaign period. It was not good enough. In fact, I felt bad, myself. In OGTV, we rejected a campaign sponsored by the APC. It was not exactly a hate campaign, but it tended towards hate because it was deriding the Jonathan administration. It was brought by one advert agency, and because it had no pay line; no sign of who was the sponsor. I told my director of marketing to go and get the name of the sponsors on it or else, we would not use it. It was my complaint that made them to stop the campaign across Nigeria. Incidentally, that was the position of my director of marketing too. I acted professionally. With digitalisation, we expect that the competition will be fiercer and there will be better improvement; we will see better use of technology which will enhance creativity and output. What would you want to be remembered for when you leave your present position? I want to be remembered as that GM who allowed a free reign in OGTV; who enabled OGTV to reflect all sides; who was professional. I want to be remembered as one who is not myopic or focused on the guys in government alone, but was available to everybody. I want to be remembered as a man who helped to raise the bar of professionalism in OGTV; I want to be remembered for being fair and balanced. If they remember me for that I will be very glad.