Efio-Ita Nyok|9 October 2016
Obudu, Cross River-born Simon Utsu, a seminal social commentator decided to take his fans down memory lane in a social media thread he titled CRBC (I must confess that as I read his recent Facebook comments, there was this dejavu of an experience reminiscent of those lovely childhood days when I glued myself to the radio set to listen to Petertex Etim, a famed music presenter).
In commentator Utsu's recall of what may be alternatively termed as a chronicle of the Who Was Who in CRBC, the writer intelligently brings to memory the professionalism of such names as Joseph Ekpang, Vicky Johnson née Eteng, Ita Ukorebi, Erim Egah, Etoma Edu,
Ugorji Nwabueze, Felix Ibiang, Fada Kane, Alabai, Mr Soul, Cornel Ellah, Oqua Etim, Wole Otayemi, Ike Frankmoore, Tony Idimude, Philip Obaji, Gloria Young, Philomena Egbe (of blessed memory), Kanny Ekanem, George Ayendi and the list continues.
The writer confessed that part of what made his childhood days interesting in Calabar was the radio and television particularly CRBC Radio and Tv. He narrated how CRBC was a cache of infallible news presenters, skillful music and sports On Air Personalities, broadcasters etc.
Utsu opens his 'bipartite eulogy' with this opening line of confession:
'Part of what made my growing up in Calabar interesting was radio and television. Back in the 90's, most Calabar dwellers had few choices to make from; CRBC Radio and TV and AKBC Radio and TV. The former was owned by the Cross River state government whilst the latter by the Akwa Ibom State government. The TV stations transmitted on the UHF spectrum; the Radio stations were also Frequency modulated and we often tuned in to them on the FM band.
This write-up focuses on CRBC's OAPs(on air personalities) of yesteryears'.
'In the news segment, we had Joseph Ekpang and Vicky Johnson née Eteng. Joseph Ekpang was the Jim Clancy of his time; he was a perfect gentleman who delivered on the job with the highest level of professionalism and hardly made mistakes whilst reading the news. He's now an associate Professor in the University of Calabar. I liked Vicky Eteng a lot because she always appeared calm and warm. She left CRBC to a TV station in Lagos – MBI I think. I remember bumping into her somewhere in Lagos Island about ten years ago. In the news department, another favourite of mine was Ita Ukorebi who wrote wonderful news editorials. I was in Junior secondary in the mid 90's or thereabouts when I first heard his name on radio. We also had ace boradcaster, Erim Egah who had a silky voice. It got to a point where I thought Erim co-owned CRBC radio; his voice being synonymous with the radio station. I met Erim for the first time at a wedding a couple of years back- he was the MC.
'They was also Mr Soul (surname was Adie, can't recollect his first name). Mr Soul was versatile. He was also feisty on a bad day. Mr Soul did the news was a sports anchor at some point but was most comfortable hosting the music rendezvous. I remember winning a live phone in competition which hosted in 2001. The listeners were asked to spell two words, "Gmelina" and another which I can't recollect now. I and another lady called in with the correct answers. I went over to the studio and met with him and my co-winner. I later followed him to Tip-top entertainment in Etim Edem park where I got my prize- a DMX "Great depression" audio CD.
'We also had Etoma Edu who very lively OAP. He was also a bit controversial. Controversial in the sense that he liked to say things as they were. It was rumoured that his transfer to CRBC Ikom circa 2002 was 'instigated' by the incumbent Governor back then, Donald Duke for unnomplimentary comments he made during his radio show. Last I remember, Etoma was an OAP/News anchor with Silverbird Rhythm in Lagos, that was a few years back.
'Talking about an OAP who fell into trouble with a sitting governor, I just remembered Ugorji Nwabueze. I can't recollect if he worked with CRBC radio or the now defunct Cross River radio 2 but I enjoyed listening to his "Sunday special" radio comedy show. Ugorji was a very funny man. He often used his platform to lament about societal ills. He went over the board one Sunday during the military era when he brashly criticised a sitting Military administrator, Gregory Agboneni- an Airforce officer. As young as I was, I knew he was getting himself into trouble.
My 'fears' were confirmed when he used the next Sunday's edition to apologise profusely to the military governor for his 'wrongs' of the previous Sunday. He dedicated that day's show to him.
'Another comic OAP who was my favourite even as a primary school pupil in the early 90's was Felix Ibiang who hosted the pidgin English program, "country show". It was my favourite radio show as a kid. Felix left the services of CRBC suddenly (mysteriously?) and never really came back to radio or even TV. When I was much older, I frequently bumped into him in the state housing axis of Calabar whenever I went visiting friends who lived there.
CRBC Radio also had wonderful music show anchors. The legendary Fada Kane and his able deputy, Alabai. Fada Kane hosted the late night music programs and I must confess, his shows made my love for music grow. At some point I thought Fada Kane was black American, at some other point, I thought he was an Efik guy. I later found out he was an Igbo guy, from Abia state or so I heard. Father Kane released a classic around 2003 titled "Na Naija". Fada Kane remains a legend and a godfather in the Calabar music scene to this day. His street cred is top notch. You mess up with father Kane? Then get ready to face the wrath of the common man in Cally town! He's that loved.
'If Fada Kane was Yin, Alabai was his Yang. Alabai or "Alabai the black butterfly" as he often called himself was more regular during the afternoon shifts. Alabai later relocated to Lagos and joined the music industry that was just experiencing a Kennis music inspired renaissance. His first big hit was his collabo with Blackface, "Hard life" which he co-wrote and also featured in. He moved on to work with Paul "Play" Dairo in his(Paul's) debut classic album, Angel of my life . He drifted into oblivion afterwards and only resurfaced a couple of years back with another catchy tune- Ogbanje.
'On to sports anchors, CRBC in addition to the variety of anchors in other spheres I just talked about, didn't lack the best of sports anchors. From the always-in-control Cornel Ellah to the ever calm Oqua Etim to the sports encyclopedia himself, Ike post Frankmoore. These anchors iced my cake – listening to them made my 'entertainment day' complete.
At some point, they also had Wole Otayemi who stuttered slightly but covered up for that speech defect with his boisterousness. If my memory serves me correctly, I think Wole and Ike came in as youth corpers. Wole moved on to Minaj TV Lagos as a sports correspondent whilst Ike stayed back in Calabar and became a Cally town (nickname for Calabar) favourite. CRBC later had younger sports anchors like Tony Idimude who was my good friend and Philip Obaji Jnr. By the time they were coming up, I was relocating from Calabar so I never got to 'enjoy them'.
In addition to all those I've mentioned in this write-up, CRBC had great presenters like Gloria Young, Philomena Egbe(of blessed memory), Kanny Ekanem, George Ayendi and so many others I can't remember now.
'These wonderful broadcasters made my childhood fantastic. They're responsible for the strong sense of nostalgia that crept on the inside of me this evening and inspired this bipartite eulogy', Utsu concluded.
What has CRBC turned into today? Your guess may be as good as mine.
Efio-Ita Nyok
Is a Blogger & the Editor of NegroidHaven.org
