Honour has come the way of Nigeria’s foremost online community radio- Ikorodu Oga Radio at the just concluded 2018 Ikorodu Oga Day celebrations.
Receiving the Best Community Award, on behalf of Ikorodu Oga Radio, Omo’ba Peju Akinyemi, Founder / CEO of the innovative community media outfit expressed joy and happiness for the honour done to him and his organization.
In his words, ‘for the first time in almost three years, we have been recognized and honoured by Ikorodu’s apex community development association, IKODASS. This is definitely a morale booster for me and my team at Ikorodu Oga Radio’, he said.
Omo’ba Akinyemi, in a chat with newsmen traced the inspiration behind the online community radio project to his passion make impact within the community, through his professional calling. He added that the radio has brought Ikorodu into global community media reckoning, as Ikorodu is now one of the few communities in the world with a radio.
He also called on Lagos State government to support the sustenance and expansion of the young community radio, through patronage and other form of supports. This he said was necessary as Ikorodu Oga Radio has contributed immensely towards youth empowerment and training to over 20 youths, through industrial trainings and SIWES placements.
He added that the community radio has become a case-study for two Nigerian Universities- National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) apart from providing employment opportunities to many youths that would have been forced to be on the street, through unemployment.
Giving a catalogue of some of the challenges confronting the online radio, Omo’ba Akinyemi mentioned inadequate funding, lack of world –class hi-tech online radio equipment and lack of patronage by residents and businesses alike.
Omo’ba Akinyemi however reiterated that, with the IKODASS Best Community Award, himself and his team will not relent in their desire to continue to set the pace in online community radio in Nigeria, while giving a voice to the good people of Ikorodu community.
