How we built the only 24-hour radio station in Northern Nigeria – Liberty Radio CEO
Alhaji Ahmed Tijjani Ramalan is the chairman, chief executive officer of Liberty TV and Radio in Kaduna. He spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday on his journey so far in the media industry.
When you started, you gave yourself a target of three years within which to break even, but you were able to achieve that before the estimated time. How did you do it?
We started with the FM station, because that was the first on our stable, Liberty Radio 91.7FM. We got the license in 2011 and we started operations in January 2012. We came in and we looked at the situation on ground and based on our feasibility studies, experts told us at that time that it would take a radio station in the North a minimum of three years to break even. They said radio business was a long-term investment. So when we started in 2011, we were prepared for that long-term investment, but as God will have it and due to luck and providence, we started on the very day there was a nationwide shutdown over fuel subsidy removal. The whole country was paralyzed by unions and activists. We found out that we were the only private station in northern Nigeria that was on; all the public and private stations were shut down by their unions. Maybe, at that time, the union did not know that we were on, so we just continued blasting music and giving out public service information. That was what helped 91.7. Every other station was down, we were the only one and we were operating on full power, so our reception was received in many states of the federation, as far as Taraba and Delta. Most governments at that time came down to Liberty radio for public service information and being that we came in with a particular style to run a 24-hour station, we were entertaining people who were frustrated with being at home, because of the curfew. After the shut down period, we hit the road. We went to Lagos, because, any radio station whether public or private needs the patronage of the Lagos media agencies and that is where we went and gave out our profile. In fact, even before we made detailed presentation, they said they had heard about the station because we were on air when other stations where shut. We started getting very huge media orders from Lagos agencies within three months. There is no other private station in the North that runs 24 hours except Liberty and we want to maintain that style of coverage. I am happy to say that we are five years-old but we broke even right on our third year and from the 91.7 stable we ventured into other platforms.
How have you fared so far?
It has been interesting, challenging and I am happy to say that we started our Liberty TV and Liberty Hausa Service that is the Tashan Yanchi 103, within this period. We have changed the landscape of broadcasting in northern Nigeria because, when we came, a lot of them, especially the FM’s, were just into entertainment. We said no, we are not an entertainment station, to the best, we can say we are infotainment, because we give out information alongside entertainment. We are basically a news and current affairs station. We received award for the best radio station in 2013 and 2014 and when the TV station came out, we were also given the best regional station in the north. It may interest you to know that Liberty TV today is on Startimes decoder which is perhaps the number one satellite paid TV in Nigeria. We started with them and they are virtually received in all parts of the country. Also, since we broadcast 70 percent in Hausa and 30 percent in English, our listeners and viewers extend beyond the shores of Northern Nigeria because the Hausa community is a very large one. We receive calls from all parts of the country, especially the Hausa speaking areas. We also get calls from Ghana, Cotonou, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan. People receive us online because we are perhaps the most active radio and TV station online today.
Why the choice of Kaduna for a private radio and TV station when everybody wanted to be in either Kano or Abuja?
Actually, Kaduna was not my first choice because as a businessman I got some very serious organisation to give me a visibility study. In the study, they recommended that we should apply for a radio license in Lagos because Lagos is the most viable town in Nigeria as far as radio broadcasting is concerned followed by Abuja then Port Hacourt. The NBC has these categories of license, and those in Lagos pay higher than those of us in the North. The budget for media broadcast is about N100billion per annum, and 85 percent of that N100billion is spent in Lagos, while 15 percent, is spent on other parts of the country, so, definitely, any businessman, who wants to put on ground a commercial TV station will first of all think of Lagos and Abuja. We applied for Abuja and Lagos licenses, but at that time, the management of the NBC for some reason turned down our application and offered to give us Kaduna license and we accepted it because, as you all know, Kaduna is my home. Also I wanted to put some kind of structure on ground to pay back to Kaduna because Kaduna did everything for me. When we started, some experienced hands came to my rescue because I just came as an investor. I did not know anything about broadcasting. As far as I am concerned, I am a shipping professional; anything that has to do with shipping and the maritime industry, that’s my field. I was able to get some veterans in the industry; of note is the late Alhaji Abdulkarim Albashir, who gave us very good support.
Has the patronage in terms of adverts been encouraging?
On the radio, there is no problem. As I told you; we are number one as per the rating. Most of the decision makers of media buying agencies and clients in Lagos use the rating of radio stations to patronize them. On 103.1, the 100 percent Hausa station is coming up and coming up fast and I believe that by the end of this year it will catch up with 91.7. The TV is just about two years old, but we are trying to ensure that we go into aggressive marketing to be able to get the big accounts of the ministries, departments and agencies at the federal level. We have about 200 staff and that’s the beauty of it. We have employed young Nigerians and we are the only station in the northern part of the country or let’s say in Kaduna, that is paying staff salaries as at when due. We are also investing heavily on staff training.
What are the major challenges you are facing?
There are so many challenges, despite the fact that we are doing very well. Like I told you earlier on, 85% of the media budget in Nigeria is spent in Lagos, and we all know that the people of Northern Nigeria listen to radio, so somehow I get a bit depressed that we don’t get that kind of patronage. Most times we have to go to Lagos to get patronage. Also the foreign exchange is a major challenge because we spend a lot in paying satellite fees, we spend money on upgrading our equipment because all the equipment used in broadcasting are imported. When we started, forex was about N150 to N160 per dollar, now it’s N500 to a dollar. So our appeal to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is to come to the rescue of Nigerian broadcasters. The CBN has an agreement with the aviation sector where they pay a preferential rate. The broadcast industry is critical to the peace and security we are enjoying.
How have you been able to overcome the challenge of paying staff salaries?
It’s not that it is a problem. Let me tell you, I was Chief Executive of a Labour Maritime agency, so I am from a labour background and I was a member of many high level committees on Labour at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and for me, I will not have rest of mind if at the end of the month I cannot pay my staff. There are so many challenges and implications including issues of discipline, how can someone work for you for 30 days, you don’t pay that person and you expect him to come to work and carry out his duties effectively. I would rather pay my staff and deny myself and other less important overhead costs. There are other challenges, but I consider salaries to be number one and of course, the issue of diesel will come number two and forex, number three. Our priority at Liberty is staff welfare, then other things can follow because I want to maintain the spirit of dedication and hard work.