I grew up in an age when all those things taken for granted by the youth of today were relatively new inventions.
Take the radio for instance, it first came as a box which would always talk from five a.m. till twelve midnight if my memory serves me right. Trust the Yoruba for their beauty of language, they promptly named it, asoromagbesi, which is something that will talk and fail to receive a response.
It was the rediffusion. It used to hang on the fanlight where I lived. It brought the news from far and near. Then we had the privilege of listening to the BBC from that box.
It was a great companion for news and current affairs. I was used to the talking drum which heralded the news. The sound was interpreted as, ‘B’oni ‘Badan ba ku tani o j’oye?’ which means if the Olu of Ibadan dies, who’ll be king? Although I did not check the veracity, I believe our elder brothers were just spinning a yarn.
We enjoyed football commentaries run by the likes of the doyen, Earnest Okonkwo as if we were watching live matches.
We also enjoyed traditional stories on Saturdays from Omo Obokun. By so doing we learnt the culture and mores of our people apart from what we were taught at home and school.
I believe the NBC also had various educational programmes which we listened to in schools.
I particularly enjoyed listening to the rich baritone of Christopher Oyesiku. He was the one who actually introduced me to jazz music. I later learnt he was the head of programmes at the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation.
I was to later learn that rediffusion services were paid for at Alagomeji, Yaba.
I believe it was when workers got the Udoji allowances that rediffusion became irrelevant. It was the days of the stereo players. I believe the ‘decks’ came around the same time.
We did not fail to examine what was ‘playing inside the radio’. When we saw the rediffusion was no longer relevant, we did not fail to use screwdrivers in turning the implement into pieces.
You’ll be surprised at what we found! Just a lone speaker!!
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