Light FM online radio is here to lighten up our world of Darkness…..Dr. Tobi Oyekanmi

By Ayo Ademokoya (Part 1)

(Kindly  log on to www.lightradio.com.ng to listen to Light FM online Radio)

Looking at his petite’s posture a far off, one is bound to be deceived at the seemingly unassuming nature of the young man but after spending few minutes with him one will discover a real man saddled with the responsibilities of reaching out to as many souls as possible.

He is someone that is burden with how to empower our youth and what to do to make life a better place to live in.

These and many more reasons are the motives behind our approaching this erudite Doctor of Theology, Founder and CEO, Light FM online radio station few weeks ago at his Odo Ona- Elewe office inside the church premises of the Light of Christ church, (Aladura), Ibadan .

Though it could be a bit difficult to meet with this man who I believe twenty four hours is not enough for him to attend to many who throng his office daily either for counselling or business purposes yet took time out of his busy schedule to  reach out to many who crave for his attention as well as concentrate on the business of growing his  online radio station,  Light FM which he hope will lighten up the darkness in our social, spiritual, economic and emotional world.

As scheduled www.harohkah.blogspot.com.ng on ground, as soon as the gentle man knows we are around rushed out from the cubicle where the studio is and in his usual soft spoken manner he said

‘Egbon e jo e fun mi ni few minutes more …’

I sat quietly waiting for him to finish up whatever he was doing after all this is the day the lord has made for both of us to share few experiences which I believe would be beneficial to millions out there. Here is a guy who started something from nothing and I believe his story would go a long way in encouraging readers out there to do something right away instead of complaining about the harsh economic situation of the country.

The question is who is this person and why would harohkah take his time to meet this young determined man?

‘I am Dr Tobi Oyekanmi,’ he began after clearing his throat

 ‘I am clergy with the Light of Christ Church here in Ibadan, founder and the CEO Light FM radio station. I went Bishop Akinyele Primary school at NTC road, Ibadan for my elementary education before proceeding to Command Secondary School, Odogbo, Ibadan all in Oyo state. I later left the country for greener pasture in Europe and had to come back to contribute my own development to the growth of the nation.’

He was precise with his introduction but I was more interested in why he had to leave the country for greener pastures and why he had to come back instead of staying put abroad..

‘Abi pasture no come green again?’ I retorted

‘Like every young man’ he sighed

‘We all had a dream which we think we can fulfil when we go abroad. I’m of no exception but after spending some time in the UK, I felt the urge to come back home and develop something, it seems a weird phenomenon really, but I think going abroad does not translate to going to paradise!

‘It’s good to go out there for a while, get the necessary exposure and education and better come back to help our society. Staying put abroad could be tantamount to self-imprisonment or slavery. I felt the urge to come back home and establish something that would contribute to the growth of the nation. It’s not been easy though, but I thank God so far.

 So how have you been contributing so far?

As I said, I am a clergy man with the Light of Christ Church and God has been so faithful, as you know, I’ve been into music for over 20 years now with couple of records released on my label, but I have always fancy the media though I studied computer Science, I found out that I have a natural inclination towards the media though I have couples of friends and uncles as a media practitioner.

So why ruminating over other business I can do I had to establish this online radio which was second or third in Ibadan after my big brother and mentor, Dr. Yinka Ayefele began his Fresh FM which is now a terrestrial radio.

How did you do that’ I inquired the more

'Well as I said, I had few messages for the world and bro Yinka Ayefele gave the platform to get messages to the world. He gave me airtime on his online radio and I was producing my program from home, a thirty minutes programme titled ‘My vision time’ after which I will later send to his radio station transmission.

This went on for a while and when he got his licence to go terrestrial, I said waooow! just like that so I began to have the idea to establish ours too and with no big fund today here in Ibadan with not too big a fund and I can boldly say that we are probably the second online radio in Ibadan and perhaps rated between numbers one to three!

‘So how old is The Light FM and what are the Philosophies behind the establishment of the online radio station?’

‘We are now two years officially even though we have been around since 2015 or so but officially we took off in 2016.

‘Our main aims and objectives at the light FM are to provide employment and empower some of our youths through the provision of a strong platform like the Light FM to showcase their God given talents. You see when Jesus was preaching somewhere in the book of Mathew Chapter 14 verse 19 and also  Mark 16 verse 41 where he made sure he attended to their physical needs too when they were hungry. It’s of no use to just preach to people and not fulfill some of their needs too. And I am glad in our own little way we have people working with us directly and indirectly.

‘The second reason is to educate and entertain people. This is a secular station though but we teach morals. So many things go on air these days that are appalling. One may not blame the radio station now because everything is about money and not the content but we are objective enough to focus on positive value that would develop the minds of our listeners and not to destroy them even when we are not making money. We are trying to change the orientation of our people through quality programming for now and we are still with our drawing board working hard on what and what to do to really make the difference, which we are doing’.

To be continued

(Watch out for the struggles and challenges, the successes recorded and future plans of the light FM in the concluding interview)