June 11, 2012
Livi or Doc, as he was fondly called by all who knew him closely, had come to have a hair cut, manicure and pedicure and then give his care a thorough wash all of which DO-It-All provided.
Clutching the bag containing his clipper and other instruments to be used for the manicure and pedicure, he had walked into the polls bar section of the club to say ‘hello’ to Mr. Nsonwu when he ran into yours sincerely who was playing Snooker with a colleague, Mr. Jude Nwuzor, now a brand executive with Entreprise Bank. Wearing his usual trade mark smile broadly, he walked straight to the board and grabbed one of the balls. And as we made to challenge whoever it was that did that, lo and behold, it was Livi. And instantly, Jude and I let out a loud ‘good evening sir’ in unison like pupils to their teacher. And he in turn responded by asking ‘what are you people doing here? Instead of you people going out there to look for earth-shaking stories, two of you are here playing snooker and drinking brandy.”
And in his usual element, especially to those of us who usually congregate at Do-It-All most evenings before Nsowu decided to move the club to his home state in response to the clarion call by the former Governor of Imo State, Sir Ikedi Ohakim on Imolites to come home and invest, Livi instructed the barman to pass the bill (both the one we had incurred before he came and the one we were going to incur on his order) to him.
That was the last I saw of Livi whom I had known way back in 1991 as a young reporter with Evening Times, one of the many titles on the stable of the defunct media conglomerate, Daily Times of Nigeria Plc. Back then, Livi was a regular face in the Daily Times Agidingbi premises where he frequents every Friday to see Mr. Ndu Ughanmadu who was then the editor of one of the most influential business weeklies in Africa, Business Times. Mr. Ughanmadu whose record of covering OPEC (Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries) meetings around the globe is second to none among Nigerian journalists, was the presenter of business news/analysis segment of The Sunday Show, the Nigerian Television Authority Sunday afternoon programme that made Livi a household name in Nigeria and beyond. Incidentally, as fate destined it, it was the same Ughanmadu that Livi took over from as the group general manager, corporate affairs, Nigerian National Petrtoleum Corporation (NNPC) with the help of Dr. Ngozi Anyaegbunem, also an ex-Daily Champion and Daily Times newspapers’ editorial board top shot in the days of Funso Kupoluku as the group managing director (GMD) of NNPC.
Though much may have been written and said about Livi especially on how he became a regular face in the living room of TV viewers in those good old days when there was no satellite TV stations and when NTA was truly broadcasting to over 30 million Nigerians due to the absence of state and privately owned TV stations, story has it that Livi had his first baptism of fire as a presenter on a national TV in 1990 when he stood in for Danladi Bako who was the pioneer presenter and producer of ‘The Morning Ride’. Bako who later became the director general of Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC) had gone to cover Fifa World Cup, Italia ’90.
A holder of a doctorate and perhaps, the first holder of such academic qualification in Nigeria to ‘stoop’ so low to become a presenter of TV variety show, he did not disappoint those who suggested him as the right person to hold fort while Bako was away. However, the experience did not last long as he was ‘yanked’ off the programme when Bako returned after covering the Mundial.
But months after, he returned to the screen again; this time with his own programmme, ‘The Sunday Show’.
Aside ‘The Sunday Show,’ which made him an instant celebrity, Livi did not limit his presentation to TV or topical issues on politics and economy; he was also on radio where he presented a programme that promoted music and musicians.
Known as ‘Open House Party’ (OHP), the programme was on Raypower 100.5 FM, which was not only the pioneer private radio station in Nigeria but was the darling station of frequency modulation (FM) radio listeners.
Sponsored by Nigerian Breweries’ Gulder lager beer, the programme became a rendezvous for musicians that worth the name as they took their turn to be featured on it. And just like ‘The Sunday Show’ that had segments that were handled by time tested journalists, Livi gathered young talented musicians and comedians to help him out with the presentation.
The likes of Junior and Pretty, who were the musical rave of that time with their ‘Fufu Flavour’ album that contained the then popular song, Bolanle, and Akin Akindele, who is known in the comedy circle today as Bashorun of Alagbado, were the fresh talents that spiced up OHP. Though, Akindele and Livi parted ways on a sour note, due to allegations of non-payment of his salary by Livi, same grudge Junior and Pretty held against the late NNPC spokesman, OHP became the springboard on which Akindele sprang to limelight in Nigeria’s show business industry.
OHP also became a programme where both established and up and coming entertainers rushed to, to connect with their fans. And in no time, it became one of the most listened-to programmes on Raypower, which at that time, was equally the numero uno FM station in Lagos and the surrounding states. The programme which comes on air every Saturday night also earned Livi the title of ‘consummate entertain promoter’. A title which he carried with a lot of poise and which he used in attracting the sponsorship of other top brands in Nigeria for his other entertainment programmes like ‘Showtime, Nation Today Live.’ And it will not be out of place to say that Livi was among the few that convinced managers of top brands in the country that entertainment, especially music, is the easiest and best platform use in connecting with the consumers of their goods. This was evident in the way not only Gulder, but all the brands on Nigerian Breweries Plc bought into all his programmes.
His chummy business relationship with the alcoholic drinks brewer was so popular that it led to a disagreement between him and his pastor (names withheld). The pastor had reportedly told him to stop using his programmes to promote alcoholic drinks if truly he is a born-again Christian as he claimed. But rather than heed his pastor’s counsel, Livi who was smiling to the bank on account of the sponsorship deal from Gulder turned his back on the church and the pastor. A classic case of ‘belle first’.
Livi whose journey into broadcasting started in 1977 as an announcer/newscaster with Imo Broadcasting Service Owerri before leaving for America for further studies was also an avid art collector.
Adieu Livi, a consummate entertainment promoter.
No comments:
Post a Comment