The Birth of a Podcast
Crystal Starr with a MicrophoneGIF: Giphy February 7, 2013. Time, 5:25pm. I was in the ‘corpers’ lodge thinking of what I was going to have for dinner. I was low on cash and had been pretending I was on a fruit diet. That day however, I knew I couldn’t eat one more piece of fruit without going stark raving mad. As I pondered on whether to get Indomie or go to another corps member’s room to stylishly ‘beg’ for food, my phone rang. ‘What are you doing?’ Frama Ambrose. My boss in church. Or in plain terms, the head of our protocol unit. ‘Nothing much.’ ‘Get ready. I am coming to pick you in ten minutes. You are going to be on radio.’ I was shocked! Where was this man coming from? Who told him I could talk on radio? What was I going to talk about in the first place? The only coherent excuse I could come up with was, ‘I don’t have what to wear’. After a minute of laughter, he responded by saying, ‘It is radio. Nobody is going to see you.’ And that was how it began. That day, I was a guest on Campus 360, a show designed for students in tertiary institutions and the coolest show (at that time) on FM Gotel, 91.1. It was anchored by Stanley Innocent (another boss of mine). I can’t remember what we talked about that day but Stanley must have liked what he heard. He invited me for the next episode. I was so enamored of the show that I got my homie – Shade Opeyemi – to join in. We became regular features on the show. Like most things I love, I began to treat it like it was my project. I was doing research for the shows, talking to people about it and developing myself as I went. Stanley told me to understudy Toolz of The Beat FM and I fell in love with her style. She was sharp, witty, intelligent, fun and awesome. I wanted to be like her! It didn’t take me long to realize that I couldn’t but…I will get to that soon. A little over a month after my debut on Campus 360, the supervisor of the FM unit – Madam Chika Ngalome – asked that Shade and I come in for a meeting. She said she liked how we sounded and wanted to know if we would be willing to host a lifestyle program called StandOut. Shade and I said yes quickly. We were excited! Who would have thought we would have our own show on radio?! We were just two corps members who studied the sciences and we (probably) never imagined a life behind the microphone! And so we started. The show didn’t take off with the listeners because it was a bit abstract. We were talking fashion and lifestyle on radio and quite frankly, those two genres are better translated visually. Some topics hit more than others but it wasn’t so much. We got Azeezat Usman and Ololade Abdulkareem (my love) to join us on the show. We introduced new segments and tried to make it as relatable as possible. Honestly, I think it was a hard sell because I didn’t believe in the things I was talking about. Makeup? Didn’t wear them. Hair? Barely did mine. Clothes? I wore whatever was on the top of my box. I was just the wrong person for the show. But I loved it! I loved it so much that even though listeners weren’t connecting to the show, I kept at it. Then Rinji Kwarkas, one of the co-anchors on Campus 360 said to me, ‘Girlfriend. If you want to be taken seriously in this station, you need to be on one the flagship shows.’ These shows were Morning Splash (that handled topical issues) and Gotel Lunchbox, the station’s prime time entertainment show. I need to explain why Rinji made that statement. Everyone working on the shows I was on were all freelance presenters; we weren’t getting paid. We were basically doing it because we loved what we did. We wanted a platform and one was given to us. I was nearing the end of my service year with no prospects of what I was going to be doing afterwards. By this point, I knew I was going to stay on in Yola and run my blog but I needed something for money. So I knew I couldn’t do freelance anymore. I had to get paid! As the universe would have it, Madam Chika needed more Duty Continuity Announcers and asked if I would be interested. And Peter Cheman Koti, the person who produced and presented the flagship shows, had previously asked if I wanted to be on his show; to which I said no. I thought it was too much for me but as my monthly source of income started to dry out, I knew I needed to listen to Rinji. So I spoke to Peter and got on Lunchbox. He gave me a day to host the show and Carte Blanche to design it as I wanted. He shouldn’t have done that. (LOL) I completely switched his style and created my own thing. I only played songs off the billboard hot 100 charts, created some segments like How Smart Are You and Northern Flavor – the only instance I played Nigerian songs on my show – and music star profiling. My show was fun! I connected to a new audience that loved global pop culture, hip hop, R’n’B and celebrity gist. So Mondays and Wednesdays were for Nigerian sound, Tuesday (my day) was for international sound and Thursdays was a mixed of both worlds, anchored by Abdullahi Ahmed. Speaking of Abdul (as he was called by everyone), we hosted a couple of shows together and had good chemistry on air. It was a no brainer that when I finally decided to do the breakfast show – Morning Splash –
Goodbye Yola! Thanks for the Hard Knocks
The first time I visited Yola, Adamawa state, was when I went for my National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in October, 2012. It was the first time in my life that I went far from home…and for me, it was my final escape from all I knew. I was crowned the #MissNYSC for my batch even though I protested my involvement in the beauty pageant. In camp, I met my homie of life, Dr. Hameed Olawale, who is such a good man and an awesome friend! Yola is a simple town in comparison to towns like Kaduna, Kano and Abuja; the only other towns I had been to at that time. Though simple, I fell in love with the town. I had so many activities that defined my stay; I was teaching at Government Girls Secondary School, Yola, I attended almost every House of Refuge church activity and I spent time playing basketball. Don’t hate! I know I suck at it. On the 7th day of February, 2013, my Head of Department in church, Frama Ambrose, told me to get dressed as he was coming to pick me up. He told me I was to be on radio and though I was nervous, I hurriedly dressed up. That was the day I started #Campus360 (airing on FM GOTEL, 91.1). I met the man behind the #Campus360 idea – Stanley Innocent – and I grew to respect him and jump on many other projects with him. Few weeks later, the state coordinator of NYSC sent word to me that I would be crowning the Batch ‘A’ #MissNYSC. I went to the NYSC variety night and that was where I met my bestie and darling, Oluwashadeayo Opeyemi. As fate would have it, she was posted to the same school where I served and our friendship stuck! Shade is the reason I learned to bake cakes and till tomorrow, she is one of my best friends! Soon enough, we were both hosting #Campus360. In March of 2013, Frama married his heartthrob, Aesha Yanuti and he couldn’t have married a better woman! She became our mama and she loved us like we were her family; which we are! Together, they showed us that marriage can be awesome and beautiful and fulfilling; in spite of its many challenges. In May, the supervisor of the FM unit, Madam Chika Ngalome, called me and Shade and asked us to start a program on fashion and lifestyle. We started #Standout in the third week of May. From that moment, Madam Chika fought for me like I was her daughter. Many people thought I was; her daughter. And just as she would fight for me, she would chastise me from here to England if I did wrong. She is a true definition of a mother! By September, Peter Cheman Koti or the #RadioCaptain as he is fondly referred to, asked me to join the #Lunchbox team. He gave me a day and I made it fun! LOL! After some time again, Peter asked me to join the #MorningSplash team and I jumped at the opportunity. Madam Chika got us to do something centered on women and children and YOU KNOW I WILL LITERALLY GIVE MYSELF FOR THAT! That was how the ladies edition of #MorningSplash was born. I met Charles Emuze or as many call him, DaVinci. We actually became friends after Charles gave me an IQ test and the result was above average. LOL! Many would think that is condescending but for me, it was thrilling! I loved that he was confident enough to surround himself with people who shared his intelligence and while many men walked on egg shells around me, he was cocky and confident! If you still feel some type of way, I am sure you wouldn’t understand why I love Sheldon Cooper. And if you don’t know who Sheldon is, then I cannot help you. Charles was the one who urged me to start my blog and aspire for more with my writing. Now to my darling Abdullahi Ahmed! What started out as us being colleagues became the creation of a friendship that will stand the test of time! We were a dynamic team because we truly enjoyed each other’s company and listened to each other about improving our craft. Stanley told me once that I was beginning to sound like Abdul and I laughed! Of course! Abdul is one of the finest presenters I know! He is witty, intelligent, well-spoken and a master of his craft! If you know me, you know that I am sapiosexual and a person’s IQ is my biggest attraction! Abdul would force me to read articles out loud to help with my breathing and news presentation skills and for that, I would always remain grateful. Plus, I saw a side to him most people didn’t know! LOL. I got to meet other really great people like my baby Ololade Hassanat Abdul Kareem who had been my partner on #Lunchbox and #Standout for almost two years, the most elegantly dressed lawyer North of the Niger, Barrister Tochukwu Eziukwu, who is about to launch his book, Ibrahim Gwalem who is my ever pragmatic friend and Kaliat Innocent, my darling of life! By February 2015, I was invited by the Head of Programmes, TV GOTEL, Mr. Victor, to a meeting. In that meeting, Yetunde Oshunbiyi (Aunty Yetty) and Aaron Isaac (Uncle Aaron) were in attendance and the agenda? They wanted me on #Safiya #BreakfastShow. I was flattered but worried as hell! I knew I had the talent but I get VERY worried when people look at me. Abdul convinced me to do it and I did! I guess I was good at it, if the viewers’ comments were anything to go by. And because I ain’t no backside kisser, one particular episode got the Governor of Adamawa state so mad, I got kicked off the show. LOL! That is a story for another day! I ran a cake business and
