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Dokpesi: Requiem for the media mogul

By Omiko Awa
04 June 2023   |   3:11 am
As Nigerians were celebrating the transition from one democratic government to another on May 29, 2023, the news of the passing of Chief Raymond Anthony Aleogho Dokpesi at 71 slipped in.

Raymond Alegho Dokpesi

As Nigerians were celebrating the transition from one democratic government to another on May 29, 2023, the news of the passing of Chief Raymond Anthony Aleogho Dokpesi at 71 slipped in.

The disclosure shocked many Nigerians, particularly the friends and associates of the astute businessman who was then recuperating from stroke he suffered after the Ramadan.

Dokpesi was a business mogul, frontline politician and a trailblazer. He was a man of many parts and firsts.

In 1994, he established Ray Power, the first 24-hour FM radio station that dominated the Nigerian airwaves for a long time. It was the first registered private radio station in the country. Two years later, in 1996, he came up with a television station, the African Independent Television (AIT) as a subsidiary of DAAR Communications. The television station referred to as AIT, operated a free-to-air content on terrestrial level in Nigeria and was available throughout Africa. Through dish network, it could also be watched in the Americas and Europe. AIT later migrated to the satellite network and became the first privately owned satellite television in Africa.

Aside being the first to set up a private radio and TV stations, the late Edo chief set a standard salary structure for the media, which other private media houses, including government-owned stations, adopted. He was, indeed, a pacesetter in the Nigerian broadcast industry.
Known as Nigeria’s Ted Turner in some quarters, the media bigwig, for want of information to get to the grassroots and for the people to contribute their views to state and national issues, in 2012 established Faaji FM radio to broadcast in Pidgin English and Yoruba language.

He was born in Ibadan on October 25, 1951 to Chief Williams Ayaoghena Dokpesi and Mrs. Alice Aishetu Dokpesi of Agenebode in Edo State, but based in Ibadan. The young Dokpesi began his early school at Loyola College, Ibadan from where he moved to the Immaculate Conception College (ICC), Benin City. While in ICC, he became a pioneer member of Ozolua Playhouse, a dance/drama group.

Leaving secondary school with an excellent result, he gained admission into the University of Benin, Edo State, but completed his studies in the University of Gdansk, Poland. He ended his university education with a doctorate degree in Marine Engineering.

While at the University of Gdansk, he was fully involved in various activities, including student unionism, and served in various capacities as President, Nigerian Students Union (1972) and African Students Union (1974). As a result of his brilliant performance in school, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur picked interest in him and sponsored his education from primary school to his doctorate level.

Returning to Nigeria, the late Dokpesi became the personal assistant to his benefactor, Alhaji Bamaga Tukur. He also worked for a while with the Federal Ministry of Transport before leaving to set up his own shipping company, the Africa Ocean Lines in 1984. This became the first indigenous shipping line in Africa. Although the company was short-lived, it contributed to the formulation of the Nigerian Shipping Act Decree of 1986, which spelt out the sharing formula of 40:20:20 for cargoes between developed and developing countries.

Irrespective of his various activities, Dokpesi never forgot his first love, that is showbusiness and entertainment. Bitten by showbiz bug wayback his secondary school days when he was a pioneer member of Ozolua Playhouse, Nigeria’s Ted Turner provided the AIT platform to enable Kehinde Ogungbe (Keke) and Dayo Adeneye (D-One) to promote upcoming local artistes on their famous TV programme, Prime Time Jamz on AIT.

The programme in no time became the darling of the youths and the young at heart. It served as avenue for greenhorns to cut their teeth before the screen, garner experience and showcase themselves to music producers.

Also, leveraging on the showbiz and entertainment platform created, his wife, Dr. Tosin Dokpesi in May 2019, launched the DAAR Global Music in Abuja to attract more talented Nigerians, who are ready to use music to showcase Africa to the rest of the world. The main objective of the platform, aside from music, is to protect the works of old and new artistes and also make them grow in the industry.

Describing Dokpesi’s passing as a blow to the journalism profession, the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) National President, Chris Isiguzo, said despite the difficult terrain in which the media operate in the country and the undue pressure and harassment from state actors, he stood firmly in support of free and independent media. According to him, the late Dokpesi resisted all attempts by politicians and government to increase control of the media and harass journalists.

Isiguzo noted that the late media proprietor used his platforms to promote press freedom and democratic values, and also devoted the greater part of his life to fighting for media development, especially private broadcasting in the country.

“Dokpesi played active roles in Nigerian politics and also provided jobs for thousands of media practitioners. He will forever be remembered for his immense philanthropic gestures and numerous contributions to journalism development. He was one of the recipients of the NUJ National/NUJ Lagos Milestone Recognition of Media Icons in Nigeria in 2022,” Isiguzo said.

The late media mogul built schools for different communities, awarded scholarship to indigent and brilliant students and donated to organisations that are involved in various human development programmes.

For his several philanthropic works, his community conferred on him two chieftaincy titles of Oghieumua and Ezomo of Weppa Wanno in Edo State. He was mentioned during the Dr. Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award ceremony in Accra, and the Foundation for Excellence in Business Practice, Geneva, Switzerland.

Dokpesi died on May 29, 2023.
Adieu!

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