Spotlight  

Sports broadcasting: Bolarinwa ‘Iambolar’ Olajide, the difference among the pack

By Guardian Nigeria

01 August 2022   |   11:55 am

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Just as the lion remains the king of the jungle, and the eagle the ruler of the skies, so is how far Bolarinwa Olajide, fondly called Iambolar, a dynamic breed in sports broadcasting and journalism, stands afar and wide apart from the rest of his colleagues in the profession in Nigeria. The career of Iambolar…

Bolarinwa ‘Iambolar’ Olajide

Just as the lion remains the king of the jungle, and the eagle the ruler of the skies, so is how far Bolarinwa Olajide, fondly called Iambolar, a dynamic breed in sports broadcasting and journalism, stands afar and wide apart from the rest of his colleagues in the profession in Nigeria.

The career of Iambolar has been characterised by many landmark achievements that truly point to why he is quality, and pay credence to the opinion of many that he was born by man and created by God to do no other thing.

The top-level radio presenter received training at the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN)–an incubator for many respected journalists. Iambolar, ruled the airwaves, and mesmerised listeners as a sports presenter on Nigeria Info FM, where he hosted a Formula One show; the only motorsports show on Nigerian radio.

Wherever he goes, Olajide turns his slot on the microphone into primetime. The outstanding presenter is currently the host of Max Sports on Sundays, a show that runs for four unmissable hours from 3 pm. On the show, the guru commands a large listenership–whom he treats to comprehensive and in-depth analysis of local and foreign developing stories.

The stand-out journalist is as popular on radio as he is on social media. He enjoys a large following and his regular posts on the microblogging platform Twitter on his handle @iambolar, engage his followers. His job comes naturally to him and he hosts Twitter Space sessions to facilitate discussion among football lovers, especially fans of the Premier League.

His job has taken him around the world, and he regularly jets out to Europe to bring content home to his fans. Olajide has covered Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League matches. He has also covered the season-ending Abu Dhabi MotoGP in the United Arab Emirates.

Olajide has also interviewed football icons such as Carles Puyol, Hernan Crespo, Rio Ferdinand and AS Roma manager, Jose Mourinho.

He has multiple awards to his name, including Best Sports Journalist of the Year (by Youth of All Nations) and Best Sports Journalist (Electronic) by Nigeria Radio Awards.

In 2018,  Iambolar won the “#FlyLufthansaToRussia” contest with an all-expense paid trip to Russia for the FIFA World Cup, beating the likes of tourism expert, Chiamaka Obuekwe, and Nigerian comedian, Nosa ‘Lasisi Elenu’ Afolabi to win the Lufthansa premium economy ticket and more to Russia. He pulled 1,900 public votes to emerge the winner.