Hendrix Oliomogbe
A new radio station, Qalam Radio has debuted digital broadcasting in the second largest town in Edo State, Auchi, headquarters of Etsako West Local Area.
Speaking recently in the Northern Edo town of Auchi at the launching ceremony, the pioneer General Manager/Chief Executive Officer, Prince (Dr.) Nasiru Ikharo explained that the target audience of the radio station is the global audience including Afemai land.
Prince Ikharo said that the 24/7 radio station intends to serve Afemai people both at home and in the Diaspora as it will be heard around the world.
Located along Warrake Road, Auchi, Edo state, Nigeria, he said that Qalam (meaning pen in Arabic) Radio will fill the void of digital broadcasting in Edo North where the poor signals of FM analog radio stations in Edo State, which are mostly based in the state capital of Benin City, affect the quality of reception.
The General Manager/CEO said that all a potential listener needs do is to download Qalam Radio application from Google play store on his/her Android phone Apple App store for iOS and click on install. A click on the Qalam Radio icon after installation allows listening to the station, adding that the application does not consume data.
The US trained ICT engineer said that Qalam Radio is set to bring Edo North to the world through music, ICT, entertainment, education, sports, politics, news, religion and many more programmes, adding that the station is poised to be the voice of Afemai land in particular and Edo State in general.
Prince Ikharo noted that the radio station is non-partisan and will not discriminate against any of the two major religions in Afemai: Islam and Christianity as adherents of both religions will be given equal time.
He said: "We are out to promote Afemai and Edo State. Qalam Radio is a platform to promote good governance to ensure transparency and accountability atl the different tiers of government in Nigeria. We'll not be afraid of saying the truth. Qalam Radio is non-partisan. All political viewpoints will be heard.
"As the first digital radio station in Afemai land, we are out to promote the unity of Afemai people and to showcase its rich cultural heritage through our quality programmes. As part of our programme, we'll play old and contemporary Afemai music. We'll bring news from all over Edo North.
"We'll give adherents of the two major religions in Afemai land equal air time. We won't discriminate based on religion. While Fridays will be devoted to Islam, Sundays will be for Christianity."
Parodying famous 19th century United States President Abraham Lincoln, Prince Ikharo said that with state of the art digital equipment, "Qalam Radio is "the voice of the people, by the people and for the people."
The chairman of the occasion, Prince Rilwan Ikharo remarked that as a commercial venture, the only way to keep station running and bringing it right to the people wherever they are is for Afemai people both at home and in the Diaspora to patronize it by way of using it as an avenue of advertisement of their goods and services.
Speaking in the same vein, the manager of Auchi Polytechnic FM Radio, Mr. Braimah Lucky emphasized that patronage through advertisements is one of the ways of keeping the station running, reminding that it is a profit oriented venture, where the investors naturally expects returns on his investments.
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