‘Road accident I had in 1997 was my turning point’

An Ibadan-based gospel musician and broadcaster, Mr Yinka Ayefele has disclosed that the road accident he had in 1997 was the turning point in his life.

Ayefele spoke at a press conference heralding the 10th anniversary of Fresh 105.9 FM held at Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Secretariat, Iyaganku, Ibadan on Wednesday.

The event was attended by Dr Sulaimon Olanrewaju, the Special Adviser on Media to the State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, NUJ Chairman in Oyo State, Comrade Ademola Babalola and a representative of National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, Alhaja Sherifat Mohammed-Koro.

The gospel musician who is the owner of the radio station, noted that his journey to stardom started when he bought a car, leading to his involvement in a road accident in 1997.

Explaining that he started the radio station from live streaming on Facebook, Ayefele said he has not sacked any of his staff in the last 10 years.

He said, “I worked at Radio Nigeria Ibadan, I was into jingle production, I bought a beetle car from the money I realised. I had a road accident on my way to Abeokuta in Ogun State in 1997 with the car. It was in the road accident I had in 1997, I know that many people know about the story, so, that was my turning point.

“It was on Facebook that I started live streaming. I started it, I started streaming and I realised that my fans outside Nigeria appreciate it. After that, I thought that I can have a radio station and that I can change the narrative and at the same time change the system of broadcasting.

“I started transmitting, then a time came that the NBC came, they bombarded my office with DSS and they said Mr Ayefele, where is your licence and I said do I need a license. They said yes. It took me seven years before I was given the licence.

“Ranti Akerele started the journey. If they investigate owners of radio stations the same way I was investigated for seven years, I don’t think that most of these radio stations will exist today. I want to change the face of broadcasting.

“I have never sacked anyone in the last 10 years. The only one I did was that I advised the person to resign. Ajimobi was the first person to expose Fresh FM to the whole world. The day it happened, it was painful. BBC called me, CNN invited me. So, it was a blessing in disguise. Ajimobi also rebuilt the station. It was when I went to the Presidential Villa to meet former President, Goodluck Jonathan and his wife asked me what I want. I said I want a license and I want to thank them.”

Mohammed-Koro, in her address, advised radio stations to adhere to the rules and regulations guiding their operations.

“We know that broadcast stations cannot do without violating the rules. But, we encourage you to adhere to the rules. We encourage you to adhere to the rules.”