Mr. Kunle Onime is the owner of wave making Roots FM, Abeokuta that plays strictly reggae music; the station is a year old. And as part of the one year celebration, Onime graciously granted Charles Okogene an interview and said that Roots is different from the rest.
Congratulations on the first anniversary of Roots, how has it been this 365 days?
Many thanks, 365 days has not been easy, but we give thanks.
A station that plays mostly reggae music, what has the reception been like by listeners?
The reception has been awesome, in fact, beyond our expectations.
ALSO READ: Roots FM, another feather on Onime’s cap
With Abeokuta, the reputed home base of apala music as Roots FM operational base, how have you coped and what is the govt and people’s relation with yor u like?.
The government has been very receptive, they have welcomed and accepted us and we don’t have any issue what so ever with government
The government has been very receptive, they have welcomed and accepted us and we dont have any issues what so ever with government
ALSO READ: Reggae music has soul- Onime
People who listen to apala listen to Apala and people who are ardent lovers of reggae are glued to Roots FM, every genre of music has its following and no one disturbs another
Don’t forget that Fela Anikulapo Kuti is from Abeokuta, there are afro beat followers too.
Has the fact that Roots FM is the only station in the South West, if not the entire Nigeria that plays mostly reggae music placed it on a vantage position before advertisers, especially those in product advert?
When we started, the story was that no one would listens to reggae music in Egba, but right now, stations in this city play reggae music, some have increased the time allocated to reggae music, that simply says something is happening in that space.
Again, what inspired you into broadcasting from experiential marketing where you are a pioneer?
I have always been a pathfinder, when I came up with the idea of what today is known as experiential marketing, even custodians of brands said it would not work in Nigeria, I was tagged a mad man, but today, how many mad men are there doing what was said would not work.
I am a positive thinker, a risk taker, a determined mind.
What other challenges, apart from, the usual challenges an average Nigeria investor experiences, have you gone through in the last one year?
Broadcasting is serious business oooo.
Electricity is crazy, its killing, if that can be taken care of, every other challenge can be managed.
The quality of presenters on radio and even news reporters seem to be on the downward trend in Nigeria, how did or do you source for yours considering that your station is strictly different from the rest like the late Ras Kimono once sang?
We operate very differently, we keep training our people on a daily basis, I am personally involved and I am blessed with a great associate, the GM of the station is hands on, he is involved, we are all involved especially because we play one sound with different voices!
onime
Any plan of expansion? And if yes, which state is it likely to be?
Most definitely, we pray to expand , but at the most appropriate time, we believe in the saying…JAH TIME IS THE BEST, we not in a hurry, not forgetting we are just one year old, we are not in a hurry.
Whatever is what doing ….is worth doing well…we like to do our things well, so we wait for the right and most appropriate time.
Apart from more reggae music policy of Roots FM, do you engage in news and personality interview programming?.
We are a full fledged radio station, we do practically everything from news to sports, traffic reports , political programmes, entertainment, personality interviews etc,etc
What sets us apart is that we play strictly REGGAE MUSIC.
One love always
