Written by Abimbola Lagunju, the book: “Yanju Adegbite: His Story (2022, Berlister),” is the story of the quintessential broadcasting great, whom we love to call Uncle Yanju.
In 221 pages, the book lays out the circumstances of the birth, family history, faith and career of Adeyanju Adegbite.
Our first glimpse of the professional and personal passion of this man is his somewhat unplanned but providential opening of the radio station where he worked as a studio manager on 16th October 1974. Yanju was not the announcer whose job was to open the radio station that morning, but the announcer did not arrive before the 5:30am station opening time. And as the studio manager on duty, Yanju damned the consequences, and opened the station. That was the beginning of almost five decades of microphone mastery and outstanding successes that have greeted the career of Uncle Yanju Adegbite.
In the book, we read the story of Yanju’s entrance into the world of acting and public speaking during his days at Government College, Ibadan. We are introduced to his role in the opera, Sweeny Todd, the Barber, and many other performances which prepared him and built his confidence in spoken English, and made him ready for his first microphone experience at Radio Nigeria, Ibadan. And that was his saving grace on the day he would have been fired for opening the radio station to save the day.
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Afterwards, Yanju Adegbite was trained at the Radio Nigeria Training school in Lagos, where his course mates included Sienne Allwell-Brown, Sola Omole, among others. On his return from the training school, a more confident Yanju was ready to make the airwaves his own. And that was it!
All was exciting and thrilling for him, and he was feeling on top of the world. But his career was threatened by a three-month ultimatum to all staff who had been employed without their proper school certificates to quickly replace their statements of result with O ‘Level certificates. Yanju’s certificate had been withheld by Government College Ibadan, because he owed his form five school fee. His relative, who usually paid his fees on collecting the money from his late father’s friend, had spent the money to bury grandpa! Well, his own father died in 1968, when Yanju was just thirteen years old. But Yanju escaped by a stroke of providence, and this story is told in the book.
In Yanju Adegbite: His Story, we learn about the valuable lessons that our protagonist and his brother learned from their father. Before he died, he was said to have started early morning worship during which he prayed for and blessed his children. Then he would tell them to ‘always remember the children of whom you are.’ (P60) It is reported in the book that Sijuade Olujide was a man of high integrity who lived within his means as a civil servant. These very strong moral values are essentially the guiding philosophy by which Yanju has lived his life even today.
In the book, we read about Yanju’s meteoric rise to fame and acclaim at Radio Nigeria, especially with his Breakfast Fiesta programme and news reading prowess. We also read about his conversion from Radio Nigeria to then newly-established Radio O-Y-O, plus the intrigues surrounding how he was poached from Radio Nigeria. We read the interesting bits and pieces of information, drama and intrigues around his exploits on the radio O-Y-O, his working relationship with the great Alex Conde, his roles in the formation of Radio O-Y-O 2 FM station at Mapo, including being the first voice to herald the new station, all in his early 20s!
Soon, Yanju would resign from Radio O-Y-O. He perceived that his being stuck on Grade Level 7 while the people he auditioned were becoming his superiors was injustice. That was a period when recruitment into the broadcast industry had changed from being about talent and ability, to possession of university degrees. But he didn’t have a university degree, even though his ambition was to study biochemistry.
After leaving Radio O-Y-O, Yanju went back to the Breakfast Fiesta programme as a freelance presenter at Radio Nigeria, Ibadan, and delved into production on the side. But ten months after leaving, Yanju was back at Radio O-Y-O and, soon after that, much talked about combination of Yanju and Adeola was born.
On Easter Monday in 1985, the famous D&Y Connection Show made its debut on the airwaves and stayed there for the next five years until Adeola Alagbe retired. Once again, Yanju left Radio O-Y-O for the second time. That was in 1990. But he was not done.
In 1982, the civilian administration of Governor Bola Ige in Oyo State decided to create a state-owned television station. Yanju was again invited to be the first face and voice on the new Television Service of Oyo State. And with that, Yanju Adegbite made history as the first voice and face “to usher the State’s three stations into the air: Radio O-Y-O with Alex Conde, Radio O-Y-O 2 FM, and the Television Service of Oyo State.” (P141)
A large amount of space in the book is dedicated to Yanju’s cordial relationship with Abiola Ajimobi long before his entry into politics, then their working relationship when Ajimobi became a senator, and later the Oyo State Governor between 2011 and 2019. This book sets before us Mr Yanju Adegbite’s appointment by Ajimobi to spare-head far-reaching reforms at the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State in that period, plus the heavy doses of resistance that he encountered during his early interventions as Chief Executive Officer at the BCOS.
Also in the book is the author’s reportage of Yanju Adegbite’s relationship with other political figures like Chief Bola Ige, Adebayo Alao-Akala, Senator Peter Adeyemo, among others. The book also contains Yanju’s tribute to the vision and acumen of Chief (now Oba) Adebayo Akande for having the courage and business acumen to open the first private radio station in Ibadan, Oyo state. For Yanju Adegbite, Chief Adebayo Akande should be saluted for blazing the trail of private sector radio broadcasting in the state with his founding of Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan, following his success with the cable television business at the time.
In the book, the reader sees that the relentless Yanju Adegbite is always hungry for the microphone. His craving for the microphone thus prods him on even after 48 years. He has now founded his own radio station, Almond FM 94.3, Ibadan.
Ultimately, Yanju Adegbite: His Story is a well-researched work, ably written by Abimbola Lagunju, a writer with a brimming dossier of quality and depth. And with smooth narration and great storytelling prowess, the author lays before us Yanju Adegbite’s art, challenges and victories. It is a book for all seasons.
. Olatunbosun is a broadcast journalist, fact-checker and book reviewer at Splash FM 105.5, Ibadan. He can be reached via [email protected] on X @miketunbosun and +234-802-351-7565 (SMS only).