Kimberly Ijeoma ‘Tolani Nwachukwu, OAP Nigeria Info, Abuja:
The Voice That Launch’d A Thousand Calls…On Radio
By Osigbesan Sultan Luqman
In Christopher Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus (1604), Faust conjures the shade of Helen of Troy, belle of the classics and daughter of Zeus in Greek Mythology whose abduction by the Prince of Troy, Paris, triggered the Trojan War. Upon seeing Helen, Faustus speaks the famous line: “Was this the face that launch’d a thousand ships,/ And burnt the topless towers of Ilium.” (Act V, Scene I.)
Pardon our own Faustian fillip when we first met Miss. Kimberly Ijeoma Omotolani Nwachukwu: “Is this face that launch’d a thousand call/On radio, day, night, summer or fall,” The Dream rhapsodised.
Flipping through an earlier edition of this newspaper in measured skip at her station’s reception area, Kim, as callers and colleagues at the popular Abuja-based “Talk, News, Sports” radio station, 95.1 Nigeria Info fondly call her, enthused in her bubbly voice: “Oh, I don’t know this one o.”
Her short, vocalised amazement struck The Dream Daily as being same as her rich, energised voice on radio. “Oh that’s her natural voice. Good then,” The Dream Daily soliloquised, somewhat relieved that Kim’s off-air conversation is done in the same natural, authentic, unaffected on-air voice, as some Nigerian OAPs annoyingly do on radio these days, faking American or British accents.
The conversation was breezy and short, lasting long enough though to exchange numbers with her, as The Dream Daily resolved, in the sub-conscious, to hold a conversation with Kim for this page.
That maiden, fortuitous encounter was not quite hard. The harder one – pinning Kim down for a conversation – was to follow over the next two weeks. While she was quite up for it, Kim is a busy young woman juggling her day job of preparing and presenting “Hard Facts With Kimberly” on the tough afternoon/evening broadcast belt Monday through Friday, her Saturday’s neo-cameo co-hosting of the addictive “Morning Crossfire” show between 5am and 10am with other official, filial and personal calls of duty.
That our conversation eventually held in a quiet corner of Abuja late in the evening and well into the night of a long, busy weekend for Kim is testament to her commitment to her pledge.
A flurry of phone calls between Kim and The Dream Daily was initiated at both end on the Saturday we eventually spoke with her. At some minutes to six in the evening, she called with more apologies and assurances that she would make it down to our appointed place for the conversation, after dropping off some personal effects at home. Some minutes past 7pm. Kim put a final call to The Dream Daily, announcing her arrival. The subtle lights at the expansive premises of our meeting place made it near impossible for this reporter to see Kim’s face clearly again but the voice was unmistakeable.
“Good evening and it is nice to meet you again. I’m so sorry this is coming up late but I even have only about 20, 30 minutes to do this because I’m expected at an award ceremony somewhere in town…” Kim tells The Dream Daily in that familiar gusty voice that keeps many listeners glued to Nigeria Info, Abuja whenever she is on the radio, as she stretches a well-manicured right hand to The Dream Daily for a nimble handshake.
What is it like to share the same name with the most famous – or infamous if their reality television show, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, annoys you – member of the Kardashian Clan?, The Dream Daily shot at Kim as we sat down poolside of an upscale hotel and resort centre in town.
Kim erupted into that crystal clear laughter she serenades listeners with as she answered: “I get that a lot from people. You may not like the Kardashians for what they do, reality TV and all that but it is amazing how they have created such a brand and big business from a sex tape made by Kim! I think they are a classic case of the American Dream and they are indeed living the American Dream. Yeah, but then I need to build the Nwachukwu though,”
Given her lithe stature, one would have thought that Kim would have been well bullied in school. “Oh no,” she quipped. “I was not. I think I have a strong assertive persona, you know the Napoleon Syndrome, so I wasn’t easy to bully in school. I also worked against that by the small antics of showing off my grammatical prowess in informal spelling duels with other students, you know, and then there were people who looked out for me in school, so I did not suffer any bullying,” the graduate of Biochemistry of the University of Jos added.
Kim veered off into broadcasting in 2007 after graduating and a stint as a marketer in a publishing house, among other short-lived jobs. “I took the cue from what one of my teachers in secondary school, Mr Uja, used to tell me. He observed that I was more given to entertainment. So after graduating and doing other things, I join RayPower FM in Jos as a freelancer. While doing this, I went for training at the Radio Nigeria Training School in Shogunle, Lagos. I was also trained at the TV College in Jos,” she stated.
Born into the Nwachuckwu family from Imo State and of a Yoruba mother from Omu Aran, Kwara State, Kim has a dual ethnic background with the associated cross-cultural upbringing. While our country’s tribal tensions might loom large on Nigeria every now and then, Kim felt none of these growing up in Kaduna and other cities in the North.
“I still have my friends from those days. I didn’t know of any ethnic tension growing up in the north and I had friend from everywhere and everyone was welcomed into our home. I only began to sense the ethnic tensions and tribal fault lines at the university,” Kim stated.
Kim and her fellow presenters on Nigeria Info have had to handle with professional dexterity a lot of pro-secessionist callers on air. “I’m not ruffled by all of that. I believe that only a handful of Nigerians emphasises our ethnic differences and they do this for political reasons. I’ve read books about the civil war. Any part of the country can say they want out but I do not subscribe to violence to achieve this. Recently, Scotland held a referendum on their union with the UK, there are others like them too. To me that is how to approach this matter.
“I think that given a referendum to decide today, majority of Nigerians would stick with Nigeria. I will stay with Nigeria. I hope they resolve the agitation quickly. Currently, I don’t think that the government is managing it well. Government should not allow the situation to escalate; they should manage it well,” Kim submitted.
If a highly impressionable kid walks up to her and says, ‘Aunty Kim, why should I be an on-air personality, how would Kim answer? That luscious laughter boomed out again: “I will say ‘yea go for it if you have passion for the job! The job is also a joy because we help to shape public opinion. And of course an OAP educates people with information, which is a good thing to do. As a radio presenter, you are a force for good in society, so any young person out there who wants to become an OAP should go for it, Kim enthused.
As a famous person, will Kim encourage others, especially youths, to pursue fame: “It is not bad to be famous but the question these young people seeking fame must ask themselves is: what do you want to use it for? If you are seeking fame for fame sake or for ego trips, you have missed the point Young people should know that fame has its own price. As a famous person people feel they own you. That could be hard to deal with and you may lose your privacy. If you want to be famous in order to put your fame in the service of society, that’s fine by me but if you are seeking fame for fame sake, hmmn, you have to be careful what you wish for,” Kim stated with measured seriousness.
An avid reader, Kim counts Battlefield of the Mind by Joyce Myer and Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren as some of the books that have had the most impact on shaping her mind, apart from the Bible.
Music is indispensable to Kim’s job as an OAP and she doffed her hat for the achievements of Nigerian artistes. Her words: “The Nigerian music scene has really evolved and exploded on both the home front and the international stage. Not only are Nigerians artistes increasingly achieving commercial success, they are getting global recognition. The industry has become a powerful tool for many ends, including creating direct and indirect jobs. The music industry has created jobs for young people who are into music fashion designing, make up artistry, video vixens, etc. It is simply amazing. While some complain about the depth of some of the music and indecency in music videos, twerking and all what not, I think with time all these would be addressed and the Nigerian music scene will be better.
If Kim is to be marooned on an island, she would keep herself company with these top five songs: “Here I am To Worship” by Michael Smith, “Ancient of days” by Ron Kenoly, “You are great” by Steve Crown “Oghene Doh” by Frank Edward and “Osinachi” by Humble Smith.
The man of Kim’s dream must be devoted to God, have a clear vision of his goals in life and be on track to achieving them, even as he must be kind-hearted and handsome.
Has she ever played a song on radio for her boyfriend? “Yea. ‘Thinking Out Loud’ by Ed Sheeran,” she said, her eyes lighting up knowingly with that gusty laughter again.
While Kim loves her job and can still see herself in broadcasting in the next five years, albeit at a higher level, the objectivity expected of the OAP on air sometimes gets under her skin when, for instance, a caller on her show expresses an opinion she would ordinarily have put down with deprecating logic.
Regular listeners to Kim on Nigeria Info must have picked up the hint of where she stands in the eternal battle of the sexes. And The Dream Daily pointedly asked the confident Kim: “Would you regard yourself as a feminist and what is your opinion about feminism as a movement?
“Yes. I want the fundamental rights of women to be respected everywhere in the world,” Kim answered charmingly but firmly.
By this time, it was well past the one hour mark since our conversation started, and well into the night! This reporter lost track of time and the gentleman agreement to let Kim off in time for her last social engagement for the day. Such was the quality of Kim as a conversationalist! One could carry on and on with her…eternally!
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