The Sun News On-line

If talented broadcasters in the country are to be garlanded today, Mrs. Benedicta Ehanire of the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Benin centre, would no doubt be among those to be countered. The lady, who joined the station as a starry-eyed announcer in 1980 has, over the years, through a dint of hardwork, risen to the respected position as principal news editor. Described as a well-rounded and thoroughbred professional, the lady of the tube sees broadcasting as more than a job. As far as she is concerned, it is a special calling in which she cannot afford to fail.

She said: “I am a very religious person. I am driven by the fear of God and love for humanity.”

For her, the decision to be a broadcaster was not only a deliberate one, but was made early in her life.
“As a child, I had always admired a few personalities in broadcasting. I was fascinated by people like Linda Akerele, Kate Okwechime, Benedicta Nwabuoke and some others. I saw these people on television; they stood out and I thought TV was something I wanted to do. In those days, I would sit in front of the mirror, pick a newspaper and read and practice.”

Her break came soon after she left secondary school. “When I finished secondary school, there was an opening in NTA”, she recalls.

She honed her innate skill while on the job by applying to study English Language at the Ambrose Alli University (then Bendel State University) Ekpoma. Apart from a five-year interregnum, she has maintained a dignified presence in the NTA family.

“I came into broadcasting in 1980, left in 1995, for family reason. I got married. I thought I should devote more time to my family. I did that for five years. The work, in a way was stressful. Then, I just started having children. I felt I should devote some time to my growing children and family. I went into fashion designing. I had my shop in the house. It was easy for me to monitor my children’s growing up and look after my family.”

Maintaining the balance
Besides being a strategic officer at the NTA Benin centre, Ehanire is a wife and mother. How does she maintain a balance in the discharge of her various roles? She says she has been able to cope through the grace of God, careful planning and the support from the home front.

“It is just a matter of capturing what you have to do in a day and being able to allot time to each responsibility, knowing what time to allot to each responsibility without subordinating any one to the other. My family is important. I know that I love my job. So, in a way, I try to strike a balance: a little of this and a little of that, not subordinating any for the other. I’d say it’s by the grace of God.

First time out
A principal news editor, she, among other things, produces and reads the news and also undertakes reportorial duties for special assignment. She carries out her assignment with such ease that would easily make many people green with envy. Ask her to flash her mind back to her time out, a thin smile lights up her visage as she tries to play catch up.

“Do I remember now?”, she asks rhetorically. After a moment’s hesitation, she intones: “I know my very first time on air… I was lucky that I had some very experienced people to pair with. I remember the first time I took the news, those were the days we used to have double readers. Usually, they would put a new or greenhorn with an experienced person. I was lucky I was paired with my big ‘boss’, David Orere. Here was I, a little girl, David was a veteran already. That gave me some confidence. But that did not stop the proverbial butterfly from flapping mytummy.

“We were trained that some time when we were fidgety, when you have butterfly in your tummy, to take a deep breathe. Sometimes, breathing in and out help you to stabilise and get on. I wasn’t visibly nervous. I am a naturally confident person. I had trained myself that way over the years.”

Greatest story
All the assignments I have done are memorable, but if you talk about some of the challenging ones, there are a number of them. For instance, you’re asked to go and cover OB assignment (live telecast using the outside broadcast van). Because it is live, the words just have to come. If you’re dull, you’re considered dumb. You have to be spontaneous and creative, so that you can keep pace with the action. Sometimes, you run into some difficulties, but if you’re somebody who has communication skills and can observe your environment and report on it, then it becomes easy.

Embarrassing moment on air
None that I can remember. Usually, you’re also trained to handle emergencies. You’re trained to handle emergencies. There are moments when, maybe you are on the air and emergency occurs. Because of the training you’ve had, you’re able to go round it and handle the situation in a way that you’re not embarrassed and the station is not embarrassed.
It is the training really. Then your self-confidence.

Close shave
Indeed, journalism is one job that exposes its practitioner to great danger, Because of the desire to be at the scene of breaking news or action, a journalist is sometimes caught in the crossfire, in the line of duty? Has she encountered any? She says not exactly.
“I haven’t had any unsavoury experience because I am not a regular reporter. I go for special assignments. Most of the assignments I handle are usually ones I can plan how I want to execute. They are not impromptu. They’re not spontaneous assignments. The most important thing is for me to meet the target that I have been given.

“The nearest encounter I can call close shave happened during the last general election (April 2007). We took the OB van out and there were some scenes that where ugly. You were confronted with allegations of rigging, election malpractice and there you were, being confronted by some of the law enforcement agents who are telling you not to capture whatever illegal things they were doing. But because you know you have a job to do, you just defy them and do your job, without making it obvious that you were putting them on air. But you do your job all the same. I think that is about the closest I came with unsavoury experience.”

Lack of mentoring
There have been a lot of complaints about the sliding standard in the country. Compared with old generation of practitioners, many observers would argue that the standard of today’s broadcasters leaves much to be desired. In as much as Ehanire would not dispute that fact, she believes the blame should be laid on the doorsteps of the senior broadcasters who she accuses of not giving direction their younger colleagues. The only way to maintain quality, she says, is through proper mentoring.
“The fact that the younger ones in the profession are not being driven by any serious passion have been raised a number of times. But again, I also want to blame the older ones because not many of them make themselves available to teach the young ones. I know that the young ones on their part have their own flaws too. The way we had people to mentor us, not many of us are giving ourselves to the younger ones as mentors.

“So, rather than complain about the sliding standard, I think the older ones should go out of their way to give their experience to younger ones, not necessarily waiting for them to ask you to. You on your own can initiate it.”

Beyond fine face
She enjoys working in front of the camera as much as she enjoys working in the background. She is a presenter, producer and reporter. Which of her many roles does she find most fulfilling? In almost a retort, she says it is writing. “I am not blowing my trumpet, but I think I write well. I am particularly lucky that I write and read well. Because of the impression people have, that broadcasters are just fine faces and no brains, I have tried in my own way, to let that other part of me shine more. I have tried to lay less emphasis on my presentation. But because we don’t have many people, I still have to read.

Otherwise, I find writing more rewarding, because that is where I can express myself better than reading what somebody else has written. Very often, when I am given a script to read, I change most of the language to how I want to express the message that I have been giving to read.”
And she tells you that if given a second chance, she would still go for broadcasting all over again.
“I would still pick broadcasting or any other job that has to do with communication. I think that is my main strength-communication.” Next to broadcasting in her scale of preference are teaching and law.
“I am not a science person. I won’t even go near science. Outside broadcasting, I can consider teaching or law”

Ultimate height
After almost two decades in the profession, she believes she still has a lot to offer before she can say she has attained her peak.

“I want to think about attaining a peak where I’d be a reference point. But the positive thing about broadcasting is good communication. I always stress the use of simple language. Communication in the sense that if you have a message, you have to cast it and it has to be understood. I want to see broadcasting after now as a vehicle through which people can be educated and informed, not just transmitting for the sake of it. Broadcasting should change lives of the people in the real sense of the word. Things should get better because people are better informed and sensitised. Broadcasting should stress less on paying for whatever services and be more of services to the people. That is what I want to see. And that is what will give me the ultimate joy.”

Star struck
On air television persons are highly visible. Anywhere they go, fan swoop on them. They literally idolise them.

In a that’s-not-a-big-deal manner, she blurts: “I experience it all the time”. She tells you any good broadcaster must never allow such a thing to get to him/her such that he or she becomes drunk or cocky.

“The fact that people recognise me when I go out humbles me a lot. When people swoon on me, I just try to be nice and pleasant. That’s when you sustain your personality. Otherwise, the moment people are drawn to you because they see you on TV and they notice that you’re snobbish, you’re alienated. But when you humble yourself, even with that kind of recognition, people love you more.”

Good broadcaster are born, not made
I think broadcasting is a talent. If you ask me, I think good broadcasters are born. Anybody can be in broadcasting, but to make success of it, it has to be innate. By training you can, but if it is not something that is inborn or natural with you, not much success can be made. But training is very important.

Where do I go from here?
By the special grace of God, no projection yet. I just want to live my life everyday at a time. In 10 years, there are so many things that one can do. Let say, I would get to the river and decide how to cross it.