Today marks exactly three days since we lost our senior colleague, the astute broadcaster and journalist par excellence, Malam Ahmad Isa Koko, former head of the Hausa Service at BOND FM, one of the three FM stations owned by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) in Lagos.
To ardent Hausa radio listeners, Koko was a household name in the ’80s and ’90s when he held sway at Voice of Nigeria, then an arm of FRCN that focused on international broadcasting before it later stood on its own as a station.
Koko’s style of presentation was unique and endeared him to thousands of listeners across African countries.
Those were the days when I had my first encounter with him, listening to his popular program called ‘Katibanmu,’ which focused on reading Hausa literature to his audience. That unique presentation, as I mentioned before, made him sway many listeners, as people created time to follow his programs.
The deceased later transferred the program to FRCN Lagos, where he continued his presentation at BOND FM Ikoyi. Because of its growing influence and additional followership, the program attracted a number of sponsors and was also syndicated across several FM stations in various cities in Nigeria.
My first contact with the revered journalist was in January 2007 when I assumed duties as Editor-in-Chief at Radio France Internationale.
Incidentally, both Voice of Nigeria and Radio Nigeria (FRCN) shared the same premises in Lagos, and VON was the agency that midwifed the birth of RFI Hausa, providing the offices for its takeoff.
That was when we built a relationship with Koko, the late Ladan Ibrahim Ayawa of the Voice of America (VOA), Ahazia Suleiman, who rose to head VON as Acting DG, Umar Usman Toungo, their current Director of Programs at VON, the late Garba Aliyu Zaria of RFI Hausa, who was then serving as Radio Kaduna correspondent in Lagos, Umar Shehu Elleman of the BBC, Mansur Bala Bello of DW Radio, and many other distinguished journalists, mostly from the northern part of Nigeria, working in Lagos.
For those who know what Lagos used to be in terms of traffic congestion, Koko’s office became a rallying point for us, where we gathered in the evenings after closing from our various offices to while away time before crossing back to our residences on the mainland.
While this was going on, RFI Hausa introduced a new weekly discussion program that provided a platform for journalists to discuss current topical issues in Nigeria, Africa, and the world. I made Koko, Mohammed Abdullahi Umar of the News Agency of Nigeria Lagos, Umar Usman Toungo of VON, and my colleague Abdulkarim Ibrahim permanent features on the program.
That solidified our professional relationship with the deceased, who guided us throughout due to his wealth of experience as a journalist.
In addition, Malam Koko proposed a collaboration between RFI Hausa and BOND FM, whereby BOND FM would replay some of our magazine programs, while we, on our part, would train some of their journalists.
The management of RFI accepted the proposal, which is currently ongoing, and almost all the BOND FM Hausa journalists and technicians were trained by RFI Hausa. Some of the staff currently serve as supporting staff to us. All thanks to Malam Ahmad Isa Koko for this initiative.
To solidify the relationship, RFI Hausa donated transmission and office equipment to FRCN Lagos last year, which was duly acknowledged by the management when we installed new digital equipment in our new office studios.
The demise of Malam Koko due to health challenges would no doubt leave a huge gap for many of us who have built long-standing professional and personal relationships with the amiable broadcaster.
May Allah, in His infinite mercy, forgive his shortcomings and grant him Aljannah Firdaus.