Raymond Ayuba is the popular Hot 99.5 Fm Owerri presenter that takes the popular morning birthday show as well as the Newspaper review and People’s Assembly. His love for entertainment has made him very popular amongst the people of Imo State as well as musicians around the town.
Chinedu Hardy Nwadike spoke with him after the Hot 99. 5 Fm Easter Rave which took place at the Valentino Night Club of Rapour Hotels Owerri, Imo State, on April 6, 2012, there he talked about the show, his passion, the artistes and the numerous plans of Hot 99.5 Fm Owerri for artistes and the people as well.
Excerpts:
Rating of the show
It has a high rating. From all indication Owerri is growing and I’m impressed with the response tonight. I never knew Owerri has this number of good artistes who are not just being artistes, but still talented.
With events like this happening regularly on the social circle, we’ll grow up to the level of our neighbours like Port Harcourt. O’town is growing and the speed is great. So, with the few months I’ve spent here, I’ll say that O’town is really happening.
Your promise at Dukes Show Party
Yeah, I promised to help the industry and I’ve been doing that. I’ve always been against someone running to Lagos to get artistes for a show in Owerri. We bring Terry G, Tuface, and others, forgetting our home grown. How do we expect them to grow? Because these artistes also provide contents for the radio stations around town, so they need to be promoted.
What do we gain when we play songs by Lagos state artistes every day, just nothing! These guys are making good music here in Owerri and need to be encouraged. Formally they pay money for their songs to be played on air but I said no, and now look at where we are.
Everywhere I go, I try as much as I can to promote people from that area.
Because they are from there, they should be felt by their own people and some other people around. People like Tuface Idibia started from somewhere and that was there home, most of us think they just appeared on top from nowhere, it’s wrong to think like that.
I never expected the kind of performance artistes like Harmony put up tonight, she was really amazing. We have good vocalists and dancers here, so basically we have everything.
The next thing
It will be an O’town party anyone coming from outside will pay to perform, let’s just show them we’ve got something down here. This is part of my promise to promote the homegrown artistes anywhere I find myself, see that they get to a certain level different from where they used to be.
Performances
I’ve been to a number of shows and I’ve seen things, this one was so much fun, maybe because we handled the microphone very well. I’ll give it a 70% score. I’ll pass the performances because I’ve been on a large stage, from my experience, it’s a pass.
I’m known for big concerts, and I can’t leave O’town without staging one. I’m known for it, and I want O’town to remember me for this.
Areas to improve
These guys just need a bigger stage. Put them on a bigger stage and see what will happen. When they do their thing on a bigger stage, get paid at the end, they’ll surely be encouraged to do more. That’s what I want to do next.
To those that missed the show
They’ll see the rest online, there will be lots of pictures on Hot FM’s website www.hotfmnigeria.com. Pictures don’t lie, don’t miss the next one.
