LABE ORUN PRESENTER, SEGUN ADISA: “WHY I DRESS LIKE AN OLD MAN & CARRY A LAMP”!

His name, Segun Adisa, rings a bell in many households in Nigeria. This is because of the popular Yoruba programme he presents on TV. Segun Adisa is the presenter of Labe Orun, a programme which reveals a lot of mysterious things happening in the society. So popular has the programme become that a lot of people stay glued to their TV every week to watch each episode of the programme. On set, Segun Adisa usually appears like an old man, dressed in flowing Agbada with a walking stick to aid his walking. But in real life he is not that rickety old man you see on the screen. Many of those who watch the programme regularly often wonder the kind of raw courage Segun Adisa has to enable him anchor a programme that fights injustice and mysterious happenings. Sometime back, Segun Adisa spoke to an online magazine on his career in broadcasting, especially the challenges of presenting his weekly programme, Labe Orun.

How easy has it been presenting Labe Orun, week in, week out?
I will give every glory to God because there is no way you can do anything out of your own personal strength unless you are strengthened by God. I am used to it.

For how long have you been in the media?
I have been a media person from the scratch. I have been standing to talk, to address people from a very long time, since my primary school days. People will gather in the hall and I will be invited to come and talk or give recitation or Ewi. That was when I was age 10, 11, 12, then. I have been part of the media, the media has been part of me all along. I dabbled into Agriculture at some point and I studied the course.

But you are a broadcaster…
I was trained thoroughly. I trained at IMT, Enugu. Later I went to Nsukka. I joined Radio Nigeria and went abroad on the sponsorship of BBC and Thompson Foundation. That was where my actual investigative journalism started. All along I believe in facing the fact. I have always believed that what you don’t want people to know, please don’t tell me.

Why did you come up with the programme, Labe Orun? What was it meant to achieve?
Labe Orun didn’t just come up one day. It is an offshoot of Iriri Aye on Radio Nigeria, Ibadan. Labe Orun is a direct offshoot of Awodi Oke in Ibadan, while Awodi Oke was the offshoot of Iriri Aye on Radio Nigeria, because it was when I left Radio Nigeria that I started my own company, Courage Media which produces Awodi Oke for NTA on BCOS, Galaxy TV. Labe Orun started in Lagos with the permission of God Almighty given to Dr. Ayeni. It was once on Ben TV in London as World of My Stories.

What interests you in the world of mystery knowing that your programme deals with mysteries?
Because mystery abounds everywhere. Mystery is what takes place and it was not fashioned or planned by anybody but you can trace it to God. We are all mysterious. We are all spirits. When you sleep you don’t know where you are. You cannot explain how you came to be or when you are going.

What gives you the courage to confront all these mysteries?
The God that I believe in, God Almighty. My prayer each time is that God, I want this thing, if it pleases you, give it to me and if it doesn’t, please you don’t give me. I believe in total submission to the will of God. And that is demonstrated in my programme. Whenever I want to start I prostrate for my God. It’s for real, it’s not drama. That is what I do every morning even in my room. That is the courage I have. So, I can face anybody and face anything.

Have there been times when you’ve been attacked for doing a story that has exposed anybody?
Of course yes. I have been confronted many times.

Are you not afraid for your life?
Can’t you see the name of our company. It is Courage Media. In Yoruba, it has been translated to mean, Ileise Ani Pon Laya Bi ara. Ajanini ju Ogun Lo.

Do you belong to other cults to be able to achieve what you do?
Whether you believe it or not, I belong to my Creator and nothing else. There will never be any diversion. The day there will be any diversion from my living God, let him take me away. I will not present myself for any prayer in front of any prophet, or Imam or whatever. I will always present myself and my case before my God. God is not as difficult as people think. All he wants from you is to stay faithful to him and that is one of the 10 Commandments he gave, Thou shall not have any other God before me. It is difficult but once you obey him you will reap the positive aspect of it. Till I die, I will serve God and God Almighty only.

Do you have any regrets doing Labe Orun and confronting all these mysterious issues?
No. I just see myself as just starting. I have no cause to regret anything. By the grace of God, I enjoy every bit of my activity on this programme.

How many years did you spend in broadcasting before you resigned?
I started from CSOS, now BCOS in Ibadan. I started off writing out scripts for plays. I will then give my Oga. I wasn’t even being paid then. I enjoyed my plays being scripted, being acted on the screen, little did I know that my Oga then was collecting N250 on each script. I then moved on to Radio Nigeria, I started free-lancing. The believe then is that you must start by free-lancing,. The man that examined and tested my voice then is still in service. He is Uncle Sam. I spent 11 years in service before I retired to set up my own company. With the assistance of God Almighty and Dejumo Lewis, I took off. Lewis gave me the first name for that programme as Oju Aye Re, which we did on NTA for several years.

What is the concept of appearing like an old man in Labe Orun meant to achieve?
You don’t expect a young boy to sit down and start telling them all those revelations. It is not meant for a young boy so I had to reflect what I do. Though I was too young when I started, I knew I had the power of that language. I am good at Yoruba Atenudenu. It is very difficult. It is different from the normal Yoruba. This I got from my father. We used to talk together and listen to old music together. He would translate talking drums to me. He didn’t know that he was grooming me for this kind of job. When I was about to start my instructor then from the UK took me on a practical course in Investigative Journalism. He told me Mr. Adisa, your face is too young for this kind of programme. He said I should dress like an old man according to my culture. He gave me the idea of that appearance to dress like that to match that kind of thing he is training me for.

Where is Mr. Adisa from?
I am from Ibadan. I grew up in Ibadan till education started.

What has been your sustaining power apart form God for a programme like this?
Because I got married to my job before I got married to any woman. Any man that fails to do that will just mess up. My biggest wife is my job. After God, I love my job next. It is on this that every other thing revolves. What has kept me going on is because I have made my job my hobby. People out there see me as working hard, me, I see myself as enjoying myself.

Don’t your wife and family complain?
They all met me on the job so they cant complain. They don’t complain. But my wife prays for me a lot. As I am talking to you now they must just be leaving the church. My only daughter has been very supportive. She equally got an award of the Terrocotta Awards. From age 5, she brought up the idea of carrying the lamp before me. Though other ladies too came up, she is the pioneer carrier of that lamp from age 5.

What does the carrying of the lamp signify?
Because on my programmes like Labe Orun, Iriri Aye and so on, we want people to see and to hear what they think nobody should say out, even though they know it is happening. As far as they are concerned, yes, it is happening, but nobody should say it out whether it is ocultic, fetish. So, the appearance with light, is to first of all catch them. They will believe, oh yes, this man is part of them. I am not part of them. But if I don’t put it forward like that, they will not move near me. And by that, God has changed a lot of people for good. So, in any society, or, occultic world, they believe in this lamp so much. In my own case, I translated the light I carry to portray the programme as a light being put up to expose the dark areas of our society.