I Was Almost Raped

Veteran broadcaster, Julie Coker, was at the just concluded Afro Hollywood Awards in London. After the event, she took time off to speak with P.M.Entertainment about her days at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), the broadcast industry and other issues

What has been happening after your NTA days?
That has been a long time, about 20 years now. I’ve been in and out of Nigeria and I’m running a foundation in memory of my late son here in England.

What’s the name of the foundation?
Richard Coker Enahoro foundation which is helping people who have sickle cell. It is also aimed at promoting the film industry because Richard was a film producer when he was alive, even during his funeral, one of his films was shown in Milan, a short film, of course, but we’re praying that it will be made into a big movie soon.

Why did you decide to set up a foundation in honour of your own son?
I didn’t set this up, it was set up by his friend, Babatunde Epeba and his older brother, Meshack. They wanted to keep the name alive and so I found myself being the coordinator, sometimes they leave it entirely to me but they attend meetings with us. However, that is not all we do, we are also into the arts, I perform as master of ceremony here and there, while I do a lot of cultural programmes here in England, but I live more in Nigeria. When I first retired, I was here for about seven years and went back home in 1999. Since then, I’ve been coming and going and it’s been very good, God has been faithful. I’ve set up my magazine, Daily’s World, which was launched by a lot of my colleagues when I was celebrating my 50 years in the media because I’ve been in the media since 1957, when I was young and not just when I joined the television in 1959. I was already a model and appearing in the press and doing one or two adverts for Lux. So, that was what I was celebrating, but many people didn’t understand, they said television didn’t come till 1959, but don’t forget I was crowned at Obisesan Hall, Ibadan, as a beauty queen in Nigeria by Chief Anthony Enahoro in 1967.

How do you see television nowadays compared to those days?
I was a programmes coordinator at NTA headquarters for many years and under the direction of people like Vincent Maduka, Segun Olusola and the late Adamu Audu, a lot of television stations (NTA) were established across Nigeria, so we have the largest television network in the whole of Africa and there is no other country in Africa that has the number of stations that NTA had.

But there are lots of stations now?
A lot of proliferation. State governments were trying to set up their own side by side and there was a lot of competition and when things got out of hand in Nigeria, people decided to leave the country and left everything in the hands of one or two people.

You left too?
No, I didn’t leave because of that. When I retired, I wanted to establish something here because my son was already working on his own production, Hyena Productions and he was doing one or two things, so he made me chairman and I had to come and join him here. So I took charge of most of the work and was doing it but he was not paying me.

During your days and now, how do you feel about broadcasters?
There is a lot that is happening now, look at John Momoh’s station, when we were celebrating 50 years of TV in Africa, John called some of us to come and read the news to showcase the kind of standard that we had at that time and I will tell you that I finished my own bulletin, there was an applause from the control room because they said that what they were trying to achieve was what we had already achieved 50 years before and why we have not been able to maintain that is beyond me, I cannot even explain.

What’s the standard now?
Well, we were brought up by the BBC and the standard was like theirs.

Is the standard falling or rising?
Well, we need a lot of money and good equipment to set up TV stations. The equipment are there, the personalities are there, but the standard of presentation seems to have fallen. We’ve not been able to pass on the knowledge we had then or probably they are not listening to us, but somehow, I’m sure the centre will soon hold because we cannot go on like this forever, after a while, things will come back again to normal. I believe that very strongly.

When you were at the NTA, were you really making money?
Well, I think we were not living in a fool’s paradise because when I joined WNTV in 1969, people who left school at the same time with me were earning about £10 or so, but we were earning about £20 and by the time I was in senior service, I was just 21 or 22 years old and I had a car, so you wouldn’t say we were not being well paid. All of us had our own cars like Segun Olusola, Kunle Olasope, Anike Agbaje-Williams and others and we continued to live on that level for many years.

What are the ups and downs working for government?
Working for government, of course, can never be a problem because people in the BBC had to struggle very hard when HITV and other channels came on board and they started paying broadcasters N1 million here, but they still see the light at the end of the tunnel. Ikenna Ndakuba, who was buried recently, had set that standard as he established for a presenter to be able to earn N1 million for presentation and he did that for me when the president’s daughter got married. I was able to go up there in Aso Rock and put up a good performance during SOGOM. He did the same thing for us.

What of government establishments?
When I became Assistant Director, Commercial, I tried to made sure we get commercials and that people were given the commissions they deserved and things like that and that made up for the short falls.

Do you have any regrets?
A lot of satisfaction. When I see people like you, it gives me satisfaction.

Monetarily?
Money is not everything, in Nigeria, people put so much premium on money, it is good because you look up to people in Nollywood, but in Nigeria, it’s an entirely different burden and we have to sit down and ask ourselves what do we intend to attain. I owe that to Ikenna Ndakuba and Ralph Opara, my friends who have gone to the beyond. To their memory, that standard must be maintained, people should be paid salaries commensurable to the amount of work they do. In fact, I will like you to carry a message that myself and my former husband, Mike Enahoro, came together to send a tribute to our fellow broadcasters. They’re like brothers to us. We lived with them, shared the same block of flats and were always at the dinner table, in fact, we were sharing everything, it’s a pity he has left us and gone.

Were you at the burial?
I was unable to be there but what I’m saying is that I want you to help me to send a tribute from Mike Enahoro and Julie Coker because Mike and I were husband and wife. He was in the next flat to us, so we are mourning him right now and that’s why I’m not wearing any heavy make-up to this event. We miss him and pray that his soul keeps marching on and to lead others to higher heights and for journalists, the sky will be your limit.

How were you coping with that glamour then?
It was not easy, it was a God-given talent. Nobody forced me to go on TV, I went for the interview and got the job and I have the photographic memory even when we didn’t have teleprompters, I was able to deliver the news without looking at my script once I had looked at it.

What really helped you then?
It was my talent and photographic memory which was God-given. You can’t buy it with money and you cannot explain how.

As a pretty broadcaster although you are 70 years old now, how were you coping with the opposite sex?
It was difficult then, it was very tough.

A lot of men were running after you?
A lot of men were running after me and the same happens to all our women in the media, it happens anywhere in the world.

So how did you cope?
Well, I was very lucky that I had a good upbringing. I attended two convent schools, that is Holy Child College and St. Mary’s Convent School, Lagos. We had English tutors and they made sure that they brought us through the light and the fear of God. In fact, everything was there for us. This was the guiding principle, they told us not to sell ourselves cheap to men, so for many years when people were saying now she’s on TV this and that.

Is that why you were married to Chief Enahoro then?
Before Mike, my first husband was a diplomat, Mr. Ediyan Dakolo, who trained me. He worked with Vanguard in those days and I had a very solid background before I entered the job and that put me in a very good position.

But how did you cope with those who were pressing hard?
Of course, people will see you on TV and sometimes cars are packed waiting for you outside. I’ve been kidnapped before if you read my book, 30 Years In Television. There is a portion there where a top civil servant came and actually kidnapped me from outside the station because I rejected his advances and he didn’t like it and he thought he owned everything. It happens all the time.

So, how were you able to get out of that kidnap?
Like I said, it was not difficult, it was very hard but if you bring yourself down, people will be trampling upon you and won’t want to see you.

Where did he take you to?
Well, I told him that there was no way I was going to sell myself very cheap to him and at the end of the day, I won and God was on my side.

Did he rough-handle you?
He did, I got a good beating and if it were to be in this country, he would have gone to jail because he tried to rape me.

Who is the person that kidnapped you?
Well, he was a director of Broadcasting in the old Western Region. So people of that region at that time thought they had the whole power because they got independence before other states. It’s in my book.

What advice will you give to the younger ones?
I’ve done that so many times, at seminars and other events, that they should keep the flag flying, get the best education because when we started, we were sent everywhere. I was sent to several places, but now, we have enough experience at home as other people come to learn from us. My book was made a text book in East Africa.

What about Nigeria?
I don’t know anything about Nigerian authorities, but I was teaching at the TV College and was able to discover many talented people in other parts of Nigeria, that’s why I love Nigeria, I mean NTA, because we had a very wide spread any time we went for management conferences. They invite people from different places who will learn from us in the states. In the South, people do things in wishy-washy manner, but in the North, they have a standard.

Are you fulfilled?
I feel very fulfilled, but I feel sad when I see people who are not supposed to be on TV, but because they know one person or the other, they are put there, but you can’t help that as favoritism is everywhere.

What do we expect from Madam Julie Coker?
From here, as I said, there is still a lot one can do.

Like TV business?
I have a column in Vanguard, I don’t know if you have time to read that column. Do you read it every Sunday? I answer questions for people and that is enough for someone to live on for the rest of life.

If you have your way, will you want to go back to television?
Not at this stage, if I had money I would have set up my own TV channel although I’m helping running a channel here. I help to run the Oduduwa Television, where I read the news and when I was celebrating my birthday, they brought people who had been on the news in Nigeria to read the news with me and we had our own production company called Amazing Productions. We transmit once in two weeks and that is enough for me for now.