Fumigating the sports writing sector in Nigeria

Jose Peseiro

I am threading on dangerous ground. Four young men work as sports journalists in Eagle7 Sports Radio. They all have an uncommon passion for sports and for broadcasting. I am not even sure how many of them have academic qualification to be professional journalists. What I know in engaging them is that they are all brilliant chaps, and eager to conquer the world of sports journalism. One of them is actually an undergraduate student studying Agriculture.

They have the skills we want in the radio station’s sports presenters and reporters – good elocution, good diction and delivery, good knowledge about diverse sports, investigative instincts, and the willingness to improve their skills and become the best sports broadcasters in the land.

I have been following their work by listening to most of their programs. They are building an impressive resume and expanding their listenership around Ogun State and online in the rest of the world.

Their work is well cut out – latest news, great reports, special interviews, sports commentaries, some analysis of matches and sports events, and plenty of Afro-centric music. In 10 months, they have been doing well.

They have become household names in Abeokuta, with a rapidly growing number of followers, and are already enjoying some benefits of exposure in the media. It is an elixir that must be handled with utmost care else that ‘power’ to influence the listener starts to intoxicate like wine.

A few days ago, I heard two of the presenters on radio arguing whilst discussing their take-away from the second-leg match of the Super Eagles in Guinea Bissau. It was going well until they started discussing Jose Paseiro – his competency, his choice of players and team tactics, questions