See What Pete Edochie Said About Biafra
In this exclusive interview with Sunday Trust, he speaks on how he met his dear wife, Josephine, his role in Radio Biafra, why the epic film “Things Fall Apart” remains a classic, among other interesting things.
Heres the Excerpts:
It was challenging because we would terminate our transmission at 3.00am and then we would begin to walk home. It was lonely. It was risky, in fact. Again, God helped us. Working in Radio Biafra, The Voice of Biafra was a very big challenge. I had people who inspired me a lot; they are almost all dead now. Ikenna Ndaguba, Tony Ibegbuna was not with us in Voice of Biafra. Earnest Okonkwo, a commentator, Lawrence Emeka, who got his MON before me, and Egbuna Obidike, was controller, The Voice of Biafra. Then we had Eno Iwu, a fantastic broadcaster, and we had a very fine crop of broadcasters then and we transmitted in a couple of languages – we transmitted in Hausa, Yoruba, Tiv and they were all being done by Igbos
You clocked 68 years on March 7, 2015. Can you give us an insight into your background, what growing up was like?
I was born at Makurdi in present Benue State and I was also born at Enugu. It may sound a little confusing but I must clarify. My father worked in the Railways. So he was at Makurdi when my mother was due. So she came down to Enugu here, gave birth to me in 1947, on the 7th of March and then went back with me to Makurdi. How am I sure I was born on the 7th of March, 1947? My mother told me that there were three events that took place that year: Number one: there was an eclipse of the sun. Number two: there was salt scarcity. Then number three” there was the first train derailment at Plateau in Northern Nigeria. All these things happened the same year.
So we moved from Makurdi to several towns in the north when we got to Kano and from Kano, we moved over to Zaria. And I started schooling in Zaria – St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Zaria. As I got older, I moved into the senior segment of the school – St. Theresa’s Catholic School in same Zaria. When I finished primary school, I moved into St. John’s College, Kaduna in 1960. That was the biggest school in the north then; everybody wanted his child to be educated there. Having been to St. John’s College, Kaduna, I left in 1964, joined my father in the Railways, and did a course in Journalism and Television, at the School of Journalism and Television, England.
Then when incivility compelled us to migrate from the north, I stopped in Enugu and then joined the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation in February 1967, along with three other people – my wife, Josephine Obiekwe then, Oguguo Okenwa and Veronica Ifulu. And not long after, the Biafra- Nigeria war started and we were compelled again to move to join the Voice of Biafra with my wife. At the end of the war, we came back to Enugu – then it metamorphosed once again into East Central State. Then I belonged to the East Central State Broadcasting Service (ECSBS). Then Anambra came and I became part of Anambra Broadcasting Service or Broadcasting Corporation. Then in 1991, states were created. And I became part of Anambra State Broadcasting Service. I‘ve been part of plenty of metamorphoses.
I trained in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 1980. In 1987, I became the pioneer director of the ABS 3 FM Stereo. I Christened it “Sunrise ‘96” because the sun rises from the east in the morning. At a stage, the Nigerian government under the army became too scary of the word ‘sunrise’. They said it reminded them of Biafra. So, all the emblems that bore the sun and its rays were eliminated from our social life. At one point, I was invited by the then governor, Col. Robert Nnaemeka Akonobi. They were now asking me why I preferred “Sunrise ‘96’’. I said, sir, if you can tell me which other part of the world the sun rises, I will change it. And he said alright, Pete you can continue with that your name “Sunrise ‘96” and it has been there till today.
So we moved from Makurdi to several towns in the north when we got to Kano and from Kano, we moved over to Zaria. And I started schooling in Zaria – St. Patrick’s Catholic School in Zaria. As I got older, I moved into the senior segment of the school – St. Theresa’s Catholic School in same Zaria. When I finished primary school, I moved into St. John’s College, Kaduna in 1960. That was the biggest school in the north then; everybody wanted his child to be educated there. Having been to St. John’s College, Kaduna, I left in 1964, joined my father in the Railways, and did a course in Journalism and Television, at the School of Journalism and Television, England.
Then when incivility compelled us to migrate from the north, I stopped in Enugu and then joined the Eastern Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation in February 1967, along with three other people – my wife, Josephine Obiekwe then, Oguguo Okenwa and Veronica Ifulu. And not long after, the Biafra- Nigeria war started and we were compelled again to move to join the Voice of Biafra with my wife. At the end of the war, we came back to Enugu – then it metamorphosed once again into East Central State. Then I belonged to the East Central State Broadcasting Service (ECSBS). Then Anambra came and I became part of Anambra Broadcasting Service or Broadcasting Corporation. Then in 1991, states were created. And I became part of Anambra State Broadcasting Service. I‘ve been part of plenty of metamorphoses.
I trained in the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 1980. In 1987, I became the pioneer director of the ABS 3 FM Stereo. I Christened it “Sunrise ‘96” because the sun rises from the east in the morning. At a stage, the Nigerian government under the army became too scary of the word ‘sunrise’. They said it reminded them of Biafra. So, all the emblems that bore the sun and its rays were eliminated from our social life. At one point, I was invited by the then governor, Col. Robert Nnaemeka Akonobi. They were now asking me why I preferred “Sunrise ‘96’’. I said, sir, if you can tell me which other part of the world the sun rises, I will change it. And he said alright, Pete you can continue with that your name “Sunrise ‘96” and it has been there till today.
Was it a coincidence that you married a broadcaster?
Well, yes it is a coincidence, alright. She was my contemporary and I fell in love with her and I married her. She used to be one of our best announcers. She is a lawyer today and we are still there. We’ve been married for the past 46 years. And we have everything to be grateful to God.
How was it working with Radio Biafra in the turbulent period of civil war?
It was challenging because we would terminate our transmission at 3.00am and then we would begin to walk home. It was lonely. It was risky, in fact. Again, God helped us. Working in Radio Biafra, The Voice of Biafra was a very big challenge. I had people who inspired me a lot; they are almost all dead now. Ikenna Ndaguba, Tony Ibegbuna was not with us in Voice of Biafra. Earnest Okonkwo, a commentator, Lawrence Emeka, who got his MON before me, and Egbuna Obidike, was controller, The Voice of Biafra. Then we had Eno Iwu, a fantastic broadcaster, and we had a very fine crop of broadcasters then and we transmitted in a couple of languages – we transmitted in Hausa, Yoruba, Tiv and they were all being done by Igbos
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