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Media personalities, Tolu Oniru (Toolz) and Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi (Gbemi) spoke to BIOLUWATIFE AKINYEMI on their journey in the media industry and the delivery of their popular programme, the OffAir show now on DSTV.
What informed the decision to start the Offairshow?
Gbemi: It started off with us being on the radio. Toolz used to be on the midday show on Beat FM from 11am to 4pm on weekdays. And I would come on after her from 4pm to 9pm. So, before she leaves and before I go on, we would have a quick chat about happenings and as well give our opinions. It was called ‘the Handover’. Basically, she hands over the mic, and people really liked that short segment. It got very popular. Our listeners used to wait for that short segment, because they found it interesting. In fact, brands came to sponsor that segment.
In 2009, people started suggesting that we should have a show together. In 2019, Toolz challenged us to give the suggestion a trial. I was skeptical but we recorded our first episode, sometime in August or September. And when it was time to put it out again, I was skeptical. I was not sure if people liked it because apart from audio, we also did video. And she was like, let’s just put it out and see. We put it out and lots of people really loved it. And since then, we’ve been seen doing this thing for years.
Tell me about your journeys into the media industry
Gbemi: I have two degrees in media and communication. In fact, I wanted to be a newscaster, basically read the news at 10:00 p.m on TV. I actually started with NYSC experience at NTA, but while I was with NTA, I applied to Cool FM, and then I started working at Cool FM at the same time. And then when NYSC ended, I already had a show on air. So while I was interested in broadcasting and all that, I feel like the entertainment part was more interesting. Things just fell into place, because when I joined Cool FM, it wasn’t to be on the radio, it was to edit the news for whoever was going to read it. And things just happened and aligned that way. And radio took off and was there for 12 years. I have spent 16 years on the job in total.
Toolz: I fell into radio before I moved back to Nigeria in 2009. I had worked in the entertainment industry in the UK. I worked at MTV for a few years, so I was very passionate about music. So the job at MTV was fantastic. Somebody had told me about a new radio station opening up in Nigeria. And when I decided to take a step and move to Nigeria, it just happened. I’d never had any presenting experience before. Though I’d worked in entertainment, it was always behind the scenes. But really, I think because I was very passionate about music, working in radio just seemed to be the right thing for me. And that’s about 12 to 13 years ago I started working at Beat FM and here we are now.
How did your fans receive the transition of the show from podcast and YouTube to TV?
Gbemi: When we first announced, we got mixed reactions from our fans. Some were very excited about the move and some were also not so excited, especially those who don’t live in Nigeria or don’t even live in the continent at all because they don’t have access to DSTV or GOTV. But ShowMax is available, a streaming platform owned by Multichoice as well, which will then catch up with us. They loaded up some of the older episodes and this season will be on Show Max according to information that we’ve been given. So you will also be there on some online platform where they can also watch at their own time.
Change is something that a lot of times people will grumble about and then eventually they come around.
Toolz: We started this in 2019, and this is our sixth season, so we’ve been on YouTube for five seasons. And I actually really felt that we needed to do something different, which is being on TV. So obviously we get a lot of comments from our fans that are not in the country, really trying to find out about how they can watch it and everything. And I’m quite confident that once we get an exact date for when it’s going to be on ShowMax, I’m quite confident that a lot of people will want to be a part of it. I believe for us to be going this long, that means we actually have a very good product. I personally think it’s a fantastic show. We don’t have a show like this in Nigeria, I can’t really say for the whole of Africa. But this is something that is a bit different, and I think our fans appreciate that.
What are you doing to make the show excitingly different on TV?
Gbemi: What people really like about the show is how authentic it is, how we speak our minds. They want to know our opinions on different things. We are going to keep doing that. Another thing that we have added is a vox pop session, which we weren’t doing when we’re on YouTube. But it’s just another interesting way to get feedback from people on the streets. We make it quick, interesting, and fun, because you don’t know what people are going to say about whatever topic that you throw at them. We also had one or two of these when we’re on YouTube. We had performances from celebrities as artistes.
So we’re going to also incorporate that, now that we have bigger space, the studio is much bigger than what we used to record. If you do a bit of music, I think our audience would enjoy it very much.
What would you want the show to address in society?
Toolz: One of the biggest compliments that I believe we’ve been paid about the show is that it’s infotainment. So it’s information and entertainment. So there are certain ideologies in our society that really need to be talked about, they need to be changed. And I think that a lot of these ideologies have come about because of a lack of information. One of the topics we’ve done, I think this was last season, we had a fertility doctor come in. So things like that are very important. So as much as our show is supposed to be entertaining, I also am very proud of the fact that we give people a lot of information. So there are a lot of young people out there that are looking for guidance in a certain area or the other. It might be a relationship, it might be a career, it might be anything. So we actually feel like we’re doing a service, we’re doing a massive service to society by making sure that we do infotainment and we do it very well.
Do you disagree on and off air? If yes, how do you manage it?
Toolz: There is mutual respect. So we don’t agree on everything. There are quite a lot of things that we disagree on, but I think what we’ve learned to do is basically hear one another out. So there are certain things, even with this season that Gbemi wanted to do that I didn’t want to do. But we have gotten to the point where we demand explanations on things we don’t agree with.
And sometimes if it’s something that the other person believes in 100 per cent and the other person doesn’t get it, I’ll suggest a trial; because I think there are lots of things that have become successes just because somebody just said, you know what, let’s give it a go. Let’s give it a shot.
How have you been able to maintain your privacy and stay away from scandals?
Gbemi: When it comes to privacy, you decide how much people get to know about you. I personally just want people to know about my work ethic, to know that my name is mentioned, is my work that is being talked about. So I keep my private life or my family life totally separate from my work. So that’s, for me, I think whatever people tag you, whatever label it is, I think the best way to excel is just face your work, try to do the best with whatever your job is. And if you let the tag celebrity get to your head, it’s a quick way to lose it. I don’t think there’s any written rule. There’s no rule book for celebrities or people in the public eye. It’s just you decide what sort of life you want, what details you want about your life out there.
Toolz: I don’t always like thinking of myself as a celebrity. I think of myself more as a public figure. And in terms of privacy, there are certain things that are extremely important to me that I like to keep private. There are other things that I don’t mind, but I don’t believe in sharing everything. I don’t think I owe it to anybody to share my whole life. I’m not Kim Kardashian. I’m not getting paid for that. I don’t have a reality show. So I just share. I just do what I feel like. So sometimes I will be with my kids. They’re doing something very funny. I might share it. Other times, I won’t post my kids for a long time.
How do you manage social media trolling and cyberbullying?
Gbemi: For social media trolling, I just block. Once in a while, I would give one or two replies, which is very rare. Most times, I just block.
Toolz: Every now and then, I do like to ‘da pada’, but then when you realise that more than nine times out of 10, somebody saying something very silly to you really just wants attention. So, I try not to play into that. And I learned to ignore a lot of stuff. Being in the industry for a while definitely made me grow, like, you know, tough skin. Back in the day, I used to get quite upset. I used to get quite upset. But now I have so many things to worry about. Like, I’ve got two children. I cannot be worried that somebody says something bad about me online and let that take over my day. So quite often I’ll see it, and then I’ve developed a magical power to unsee a lot of things. Then I block as well. So if it’s something that annoys or irritates me, I just block.
What is your fashion taste?
Gbemi: I like comfortable and colourful clothes that may not necessarily be expensive, but look so well when you put them together, and would make you think it cost a lot of money.
Toolz: For most of my life, I’ve been trying to define my personal style. I’ve been working with a stylist for a few years and I really enjoy working with her because she’s been able to capture the essence of my style. So it’s a bit quirky, very colorful, a little bit different, and vibrant. In terms of things I like, I tend to shop for classic pieces. I’m always looking at things that I can wear for a while, things that I can use for a while. I don’t like the idea of using something for one season.
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