When we build Kaakaki on AIT people thought that we were crazy -Adewale
news Africa Nigeria
~~Mr. Kunle Adewale is the Head of Presentation for the African Independent Television (AIT). The graduate of English Language from the University of Ife, who is also a member of the Editorial Board of Daar Communication, had not only anchored the station’s popular programme, Kaakaki but was part of the team that started it in 1998. The news producer-cum-newscaster, in this interview, spoke about his experience in journalism, the formative years of Kaakaki , how he got into broadcasting and many more.
~~Mr. Kunle Adewale is the Head of Presentation for the African Independent Television (AIT). The graduate of English Language from the University of Ife, who is also a member of the Editorial Board of Daar Communication, had not only anchored the station’s popular programme, Kaakaki but was part of the team that started it in 1998. The news producer-cum-newscaster, in this interview, spoke about his experience in journalism, the formative years of Kaakaki , how he got into broadcasting and many more.
~~What was the concerpt of Kaakaki on AIT?
Kaakaki is a news magazine progamme that was conceived in 1998 to introduce morning television to Nigeria. Until that time, television stations usually opened around 4pm and closed at midnight. But when African Independent Television (AIT) came, Kaakaki was created as a result of previous experience that we had which started as Good Morning Africa. First, it was Ultimate Morning Show and it transformed into Good Morning Africa and from this we came out with Kaakaki. Fortunately for me, I was part of the team that started the programme, I was part of the productIt was a meeting of the very best minds in Daar Communication at that time. The Chairman, Dokpesi, late former Group Managing Director, Ladi Lawal and others across the board in the company. It started as a four-hour morning show that encompassed news, sports, business, entertainment and virtually everything. It was designed in such a way that once you watch one hour of the programme you are set for the day. You knew what the stock market is saying across the world, you knew the latest news across the world, you knew what is happening in your locality here in Nigeria. If it is information you wanted about sports, it was always there, plus the incisive, very indepth interviews that were set up on the programme. The interviews are still indepth now but quite a lot of the segments are no longer there because we have to keep updating.
We thought we should be able to give to our audience quality television in the morning so as to prepare them for the day and after one hour they could go and face what the day had for them.
Kaakaki is a news magazine progamme that was conceived in 1998 to introduce morning television to Nigeria. Until that time, television stations usually opened around 4pm and closed at midnight. But when African Independent Television (AIT) came, Kaakaki was created as a result of previous experience that we had which started as Good Morning Africa. First, it was Ultimate Morning Show and it transformed into Good Morning Africa and from this we came out with Kaakaki. Fortunately for me, I was part of the team that started the programme, I was part of the productIt was a meeting of the very best minds in Daar Communication at that time. The Chairman, Dokpesi, late former Group Managing Director, Ladi Lawal and others across the board in the company. It started as a four-hour morning show that encompassed news, sports, business, entertainment and virtually everything. It was designed in such a way that once you watch one hour of the programme you are set for the day. You knew what the stock market is saying across the world, you knew the latest news across the world, you knew what is happening in your locality here in Nigeria. If it is information you wanted about sports, it was always there, plus the incisive, very indepth interviews that were set up on the programme. The interviews are still indepth now but quite a lot of the segments are no longer there because we have to keep updating.
We thought we should be able to give to our audience quality television in the morning so as to prepare them for the day and after one hour they could go and face what the day had for them.
How did you consider the personalities that you featured on the programme?
Various things actually. For instance, we could be looking for an expert on a particular issue or field and we would try as much as we could to ensure we get the person.
In those days there were no mobile phones so we had to depend on few analogue mobile phones that we had and the land lines that were available at that time. We also sent letters and used personal contacts to get in touch with people. We were able to bring in quite a number of many eminent Nigerians and, sometimes, eminent foreigners came in to give us their views on the various issues that came up on Kaakaki.
Anyone who is anybody in any field could be on the programme at anytime to give Nigerians their very best especially if there are issues facing the country. It became the platform for experts, for the very best, commentators, for the very best analysts to come and share their views with Nigerians and the rest of the world.
Various things actually. For instance, we could be looking for an expert on a particular issue or field and we would try as much as we could to ensure we get the person.
In those days there were no mobile phones so we had to depend on few analogue mobile phones that we had and the land lines that were available at that time. We also sent letters and used personal contacts to get in touch with people. We were able to bring in quite a number of many eminent Nigerians and, sometimes, eminent foreigners came in to give us their views on the various issues that came up on Kaakaki.
Anyone who is anybody in any field could be on the programme at anytime to give Nigerians their very best especially if there are issues facing the country. It became the platform for experts, for the very best, commentators, for the very best analysts to come and share their views with Nigerians and the rest of the world.
Would you say the vision and mission of the programme are still intact?
Yes, largely so. I say that with every sense of responsibility because the programme has remained relevant across Nigeria and has been the harbinger of several other morning shows on other television stations. Virtually every TV station today in Nigeria has a morning show and that tells you that Kaakaki got on very quickly and it became the darling of the Nigerian television viewers. When we started a lot people said we were crazy because nobody would watch television in the morning but surprisingly, people became addicted to it.
We found that people stay back at home to watch at least one or two hours of Kaakaki before they go out. The programme became opinion molder in Nigeria at that time and it is still an opinion molder even now.
Yes, largely so. I say that with every sense of responsibility because the programme has remained relevant across Nigeria and has been the harbinger of several other morning shows on other television stations. Virtually every TV station today in Nigeria has a morning show and that tells you that Kaakaki got on very quickly and it became the darling of the Nigerian television viewers. When we started a lot people said we were crazy because nobody would watch television in the morning but surprisingly, people became addicted to it.
We found that people stay back at home to watch at least one or two hours of Kaakaki before they go out. The programme became opinion molder in Nigeria at that time and it is still an opinion molder even now.
Your viewers are of the opinion that you have deviated from what used to be the focus of the programme in the past. What is your view on this?
Well, I would react to it this way: What people need to understand right now is that there is a production team for Kaakaki, there is a research team who do the research and do the production work.
The presenters are like the waiters who serve the food that comes from the kitchen of a five star hotel. When the food gets served, you don’t look at the dressing of the waiter alone, it is the totality of the package you look at. If people expect that certain questions need to be asked and they have not been asked it is really a matter of opinion. But by and large, we must also give room for this young ones who have only presented the programme for just about a year and half or close to two years.
For some of them it is their first foray into the art of interviewing. I must say they have grown because they got encouragement from all sides. We critique them, we encourage them and we help them to grow. Where ever they have short comings we point it out so that they can become better and it is all for the good of the station and of Nigeria because Kaakaki is basically about Nigeria first and then about Africa. That is why we called it Kaakaki, the African Voice.
Well, I would react to it this way: What people need to understand right now is that there is a production team for Kaakaki, there is a research team who do the research and do the production work.
The presenters are like the waiters who serve the food that comes from the kitchen of a five star hotel. When the food gets served, you don’t look at the dressing of the waiter alone, it is the totality of the package you look at. If people expect that certain questions need to be asked and they have not been asked it is really a matter of opinion. But by and large, we must also give room for this young ones who have only presented the programme for just about a year and half or close to two years.
For some of them it is their first foray into the art of interviewing. I must say they have grown because they got encouragement from all sides. We critique them, we encourage them and we help them to grow. Where ever they have short comings we point it out so that they can become better and it is all for the good of the station and of Nigeria because Kaakaki is basically about Nigeria first and then about Africa. That is why we called it Kaakaki, the African Voice.
~~You no longer feature the culture of African communities on the programme. What happened?
I can’t tell you exactly why those segments were removed from the programme but I know there are pressures for airtime now. We had to reduce Kaakaki to three hours now instead of the original four hours. We still have to find a way to do the balancing.
To put in the news bulletin, sports, newspaper review, interviews from the various centres. Not just from Abuja, it could be from Lagos, Port Harcourt, sometimes from Kaduna depending on the issues we are discussing and where our resource persons are.
Pressure for time made it necessary to drop some segments but we have also tried to put them into other programmes so that they are not completely missing from the channel. For instance, we now have other segments on Kaakaki that we called People, Event and Places. You will see those cultural things there. Maybe because they are not packaged in that specific way as they were then it looks like they are not there anymore but they are still there if you check properly.
I can’t tell you exactly why those segments were removed from the programme but I know there are pressures for airtime now. We had to reduce Kaakaki to three hours now instead of the original four hours. We still have to find a way to do the balancing.
To put in the news bulletin, sports, newspaper review, interviews from the various centres. Not just from Abuja, it could be from Lagos, Port Harcourt, sometimes from Kaduna depending on the issues we are discussing and where our resource persons are.
Pressure for time made it necessary to drop some segments but we have also tried to put them into other programmes so that they are not completely missing from the channel. For instance, we now have other segments on Kaakaki that we called People, Event and Places. You will see those cultural things there. Maybe because they are not packaged in that specific way as they were then it looks like they are not there anymore but they are still there if you check properly.
What would you say are the high and low of the programme when it was started?
I didn’t start anchoring Kaakaki until about five years after it was started. I was fortunate to be asked to anchor the programme in 2003. When it started in 1998 we had presenters such as Jika, a well respected broadcaster that I learnt a lot from along with Mrs Tosin Dokpesi. We had about two others before me. We had Oloyed, Segun Aderinye and a few others. At the time we started it was really hard work.
Maybe that was the low point, it was really very hard work. For everyone who had anything to do with Kaakaki, you had to work all night, all week and no sleep. On Sunday night we only got break to go home get two to three hours of sleep and we were back at the station.
Some of the time we didn’t get to sleep at all because we had to go out and do a lot of research work, interviews, reports, special packages and other special segments. We all gave everything in us. It was strenuous, I just got married at that time and my wife saw very little of me. It strained our family lives and our physical well-being in terms of health. Because we didn’t get to sleep when we fell sick, we fell sick badly but we managed to keep going.
The high point for us was that we were on air for four hours every day and Nigerians were happy. We knew they were happy from the responses we got. They called us to tell us what they think. When they saw us on the road they say oh, I watched your programme today, you people are trying, it’s a very good programme.
They started to pick special segments they liked. It was beautiful. The low point again is that you have to do much hard work but the high point was the success that has attended the programme. From 1998 to now is 17 years, the programme has come a long way.
I didn’t start anchoring Kaakaki until about five years after it was started. I was fortunate to be asked to anchor the programme in 2003. When it started in 1998 we had presenters such as Jika, a well respected broadcaster that I learnt a lot from along with Mrs Tosin Dokpesi. We had about two others before me. We had Oloyed, Segun Aderinye and a few others. At the time we started it was really hard work.
Maybe that was the low point, it was really very hard work. For everyone who had anything to do with Kaakaki, you had to work all night, all week and no sleep. On Sunday night we only got break to go home get two to three hours of sleep and we were back at the station.
Some of the time we didn’t get to sleep at all because we had to go out and do a lot of research work, interviews, reports, special packages and other special segments. We all gave everything in us. It was strenuous, I just got married at that time and my wife saw very little of me. It strained our family lives and our physical well-being in terms of health. Because we didn’t get to sleep when we fell sick, we fell sick badly but we managed to keep going.
The high point for us was that we were on air for four hours every day and Nigerians were happy. We knew they were happy from the responses we got. They called us to tell us what they think. When they saw us on the road they say oh, I watched your programme today, you people are trying, it’s a very good programme.
They started to pick special segments they liked. It was beautiful. The low point again is that you have to do much hard work but the high point was the success that has attended the programme. From 1998 to now is 17 years, the programme has come a long way.
How did you get into journalism?
I got into journalism by accident. I was in Cross River State for my NYSC in 1989 and was assigned to teach in a secondary school but they didn’t have accommodation for me. It was my first outing from my environment of South West part of the country to Calabar where I knew no one. I asked the principal of the school to please give me a letter of rejection and send me back to NYSC so I could get a place where I would get accommodation.
At that time accommodation in Calabar was very expensive for a young man just coming out of school. The NYSC told me to look around for a place where I could get a place for my primary assignment. I looked around for almost four weeks. I eventually walked into Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, I was accepted and found myself in a newsroom.
That was the first time in my life that I had anything to do with journalism. I studied English at the University of Ife and for me writing is not a problem, I am gifted with the art of writing so scripting wasn’t a problem for me. Within few weeks there I was moved from reportorial to editorial because my managers saw there was something about me from the way I wrote and condense those huge speeches by the military governor then. That was how I got into broadcasting.
You know in those days you had to record news from BBC, VOA and others and transcribe. I was able to do these things than others who were there. At the end of the service year, they couldn’t retain me for obvious reasons, I am not from Cross River State so I had to return to Lagos.
I got into journalism by accident. I was in Cross River State for my NYSC in 1989 and was assigned to teach in a secondary school but they didn’t have accommodation for me. It was my first outing from my environment of South West part of the country to Calabar where I knew no one. I asked the principal of the school to please give me a letter of rejection and send me back to NYSC so I could get a place where I would get accommodation.
At that time accommodation in Calabar was very expensive for a young man just coming out of school. The NYSC told me to look around for a place where I could get a place for my primary assignment. I looked around for almost four weeks. I eventually walked into Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, I was accepted and found myself in a newsroom.
That was the first time in my life that I had anything to do with journalism. I studied English at the University of Ife and for me writing is not a problem, I am gifted with the art of writing so scripting wasn’t a problem for me. Within few weeks there I was moved from reportorial to editorial because my managers saw there was something about me from the way I wrote and condense those huge speeches by the military governor then. That was how I got into broadcasting.
You know in those days you had to record news from BBC, VOA and others and transcribe. I was able to do these things than others who were there. At the end of the service year, they couldn’t retain me for obvious reasons, I am not from Cross River State so I had to return to Lagos.
How did you join AIT?
When I got to Lagos, there was no AIT then. I started writing for a newspaper called Everywoman. It was owned by Orji Uzor Kalu. I was their correspondent in Oyo State.
After a while I left because the finance was not looking good and I needed to keep body and soul together. I picked up a teaching job with Ogun State Teaching Service Commission to teach English Language in the classroom. I did that for one year before I got another job with a financial institution in Lagos where I worked for three years and later moved to a computer company as Administrative Manager for nine months.
Later, I moved around a bit, I sold mobile phones, sold computers, agricultural procurements and all other stuff. I was doing a post graduate course in 1996 when one of my course mates asked if I would be willing to work in a broadcasting outfit. That was how I went to work with Inter vision Sports Ltd, owned by Godwin Dudu Orume. I worked there for close to a year and from there I ended up at AIT in 1997.
When I got to Lagos, there was no AIT then. I started writing for a newspaper called Everywoman. It was owned by Orji Uzor Kalu. I was their correspondent in Oyo State.
After a while I left because the finance was not looking good and I needed to keep body and soul together. I picked up a teaching job with Ogun State Teaching Service Commission to teach English Language in the classroom. I did that for one year before I got another job with a financial institution in Lagos where I worked for three years and later moved to a computer company as Administrative Manager for nine months.
Later, I moved around a bit, I sold mobile phones, sold computers, agricultural procurements and all other stuff. I was doing a post graduate course in 1996 when one of my course mates asked if I would be willing to work in a broadcasting outfit. That was how I went to work with Inter vision Sports Ltd, owned by Godwin Dudu Orume. I worked there for close to a year and from there I ended up at AIT in 1997.
Now that you are no longer anchoring Kaakaki what do you do?
Presently I am the head of presentation for AIT network. I am a member of the Editorial Board, news producer and a news-caster. There are so many other things that I do because sometimes I get to stand in for some of my colleagues when they are either indisposed or they have to travel on official assignments.
Presently I am the head of presentation for AIT network. I am a member of the Editorial Board, news producer and a news-caster. There are so many other things that I do because sometimes I get to stand in for some of my colleagues when they are either indisposed or they have to travel on official assignments.
Do you have any regret doing journalism?
No. After I joined AIT I got a few offers. One of them was rather juicy at that time. In 1999 I got a job offer in Abuja with a car and official residence attached but I turned it down because I found out that when I got into television that was what I was born to do.
Television is easy for me. When I tell some people I have been working for 11 or 12 hours a day they look at me as if I am crazy but these hours isn’t long for me because I am doing what I enjoy. That is why I always tell young people and colleagues to find their passion and pursue it. My passion is television and that is what I am doing
No. After I joined AIT I got a few offers. One of them was rather juicy at that time. In 1999 I got a job offer in Abuja with a car and official residence attached but I turned it down because I found out that when I got into television that was what I was born to do.
Television is easy for me. When I tell some people I have been working for 11 or 12 hours a day they look at me as if I am crazy but these hours isn’t long for me because I am doing what I enjoy. That is why I always tell young people and colleagues to find their passion and pursue it. My passion is television and that is what I am doing
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