Time was when the average parent abhorred the prospect of their child getting too involved in any sporting activity, including football, which they considered detrimental to their child’s much vaunted studies. Today however most informed parents would gladly have their children in the school’s soccer team or enlisted in one of the footballing academies out of school. So what changed? It took entrepreneurial vision to retool football as a sport and turn it into the megabucks money spinner it presently has become. The same is the trend in entertainment today. Years earlier, comedians and musicians were regarded as mere entertainers without much else to it. Now it is a major industry with a significant contribution to the GDP of nations.
That is what makes the story of EmmanuelUgolee remarkable as stakeholder in the evolution of Nigerian entrepreneurial entertainment. He is among the pioneers who saw the path and charted a course through his various broadcast and production roles, towards the harvest of opportunities enjoyed by Nigerian artistes today. He also embodies that needed creative capacity for entrepreneurs to discern a future trend and work towards opening new productive horizons either for themselves or fellow stakeholders in a given sector of human endeavour.
Besides his prescience in the Nigerian entertainment industry, Emmanuel Ugoleeis also a writer with keen and original insights into the Nigerian situation, especially with regards to the peculiar circumstances faced by millennials. Just as he was able to look at artistes back then in the nineties and discern a trend that was the incubation of today’s peculiarly Nigerian afro hip pop revolution, he also shares insights into the dilemma, challenges and options available to not just millennials but to everyone who must make right decisions in life. We have below excerpts from our interview with him:
Q: You were born in Jos, Nigeria. Which schools did you attend and what did you major in?
A: Yes. On October the 4th of 1975. I attended the University of Jos Nursery and Primary school. Then moved on Saint Murrumba’s College Jos. Then back to the University of Jos, where I bagged a diploma in Banking & Finance before going on to get a BSc in Economics from the Enugu state university.
Q: Was it common to choose a career in the broadcast media then when you started and what informed your choice?
A: My romance with the media was totally accidental. I was on my way to being an economist. In my final year, I and a few friends were on a TV station in Obosi (Anambra state) trying to publicize anaward event we had in our school.The TV station was called Minaj Broadcast International [MBI]. It turned out that the owner of the station itself; Senator Mike Ajegbo was watching the talk show that hosted us on this Saturday morning.
He asked to speak to me after the show and without playing with his words told me clearly that I was meant to be a broadcaster. He said I had all it took to be one and that I would be wasting my time being anything else. That conversation changed everything. Weeks later I had replaced the host of the same show we were on and with time,I was serving as an NYSC member in the Lagos head office of Minaj broadcast international. The rest is history.
Q: Most people didn’t think there was much potential in entertainment, especially the music industry then. What did you see that captured your interest?
A: It started with a song called “Don’t You Know” by Plantashunboiz. This brand of R&B was amazing. The words, the production, the voices on this track. Wow. I was blown away. This wasn’t like all the stuff many of us were hooked on back then which was strictly either American (r&b and hip-hop) or Jamaican roots reggae or dance hall)
I just knew, that properly packaged, the uniqueness of the sound I heard, would start a revolution of music. And boy! Was I right.
The Charley Boy’s, Tina Onwudiwe’s, Mike Okri’s and OnyekaOnwenu’s were stepping aside for a new kind of melody, writing and pop culture that was totally new. Influenced a little by American hip-hop culture but 100% Nigerian with the feel and content. That revolution began on 1999 with Remedies, PlantashunBoiz, Def O clan, Oxygen, Wierd MC and Trybes Men. These were the ones I heard and I knew we were onto something that would catch on fast with a new generation.
Q: What other roles or career path did you follow as a publicist apart from broadcasting?
A: In the broadcast world I was some sort of an all rounder. I presented, produced and visually edited my shows. But the industry barely paid my bill’s. I hear that it still does not, which is sad news. So in 2004 I moved on to work for a telecoms company. I found easy footing in the entertainment unit which I headed. This unit was a branch of the Marketing Communications Department. For 12 straight years I practiced Marketing Communications from every angle possible from advertising to events and planning, tv show production to media buying etc. That came to an end in 2015.
Q: Who are the known brands or names you worked with in the entertainment and broadcast media industry today?
A: Because I was doing an entertainment talk show called “Just Gisting” Ihad 360° contact with the entertainment industry. I knew the Models like Linda Ikeji. The designers like ZiziCardow, The Label executives like the Kennis and Dove record labels, The artistes like The plantashunBoiz and Remedies. The Video directors like UzodinmaOkpechi. The journalists like Azuh Arinze, The actors like Ramsey Noah and Omotola. Basically, the entire growing entertainment Industry, I had an inter phase with.
Q: As a writer you seem more interested in non fiction. Why the book a 100 Random Light Bulbs?
A: It’s a collection of Musings that I have been writing for a while. I have always had a thing for dissecting topics for intellectual gain. So social media was a vehicle for transporting my thoughts to the public. Feedback in comments & likes was overly encouraging. So the thought came to assemble those random thoughts I had collected over time in a book. I took my time and picked my favourite one hundred out of them and that’s how my 1st book was published.
Q: What developments would you like to see put in place in the Nigerian entertainment industry.
A: Deserved remuneration. Let people earn successfully from their talent. Same roles overseas are making entertainers millionaires while doing nothing for those with the same skills here. Animators, Voice over acts, Music producers, Rappers …just to mention a few.
Secondly I wish hype didn’t so ruthlessly override substance. The industry has lost interest in quality. Buzz is everything. The indispensable role of money in projecting art is quite sad . No cash… no buzz, no buzz… no shows, no shows…no career.
Q: What advice would you give to our young and aspiring musicians and artists who want to pursue a career in entertainment.
A: The longest lasting acts today are the most level headed. Jimmy Jatt, Sunny Ade, RMD, AY. etc. Pride is the fastest route to a truncated career.
Q: Any current projects?
A: Working on a new show called ” Something to write home about”. That seeks to celebrate Nigerians who have been outstanding in various careers overseas. Lawyers, Baseball ballers, Musicians, Doctors, Actors etc. Changing the narrative as told by a fraudulent few.