Jideonwo applauds builders of Nigerian media

Chude Jideonwo, co-founder Red Media, has expressed gratitude to the builders of the Nigerian media for their roles in his formation and that of his firm.

Speaking at the The Red Summit Gala on Friday, Jideonwo in his speech “we stand on the shoulders of giants”, applauded the excellence of those who have gone ahead, who took the “path less travelled”.

He also paid tribute to Nigerians who excelled in culture in the past, who are being ignored by the current generation.

He said: “One of those cultural anoles is the arrogant dismissal of the past. It has never ceased to amaze how every time someone wants to do something new in Nigeria, they start by dismissing what everyone else there has done before they. You hear ‘Oh, TV was rubbish! Oh radio was bad! Gosh, what have our advertisers been doing?”

“There is also the epidemic of people – especially younger people – declaring that ‘XYZ has never been done before’, or ‘this is the first time this is being done in Nigeria’ or ‘I am finally going to do this right’.

“Surely the same gaps in knowledge that make young musicians feel that they are first to reach massive international audiences, and deal massive global collaborations in a country where everyone from King Sunny Ade to Majek Fashek to, of course Fela Anikulapo-Kuti have been there, done that, have the t-shirt, threw it away, bought a new one and then rocked it for years. We have a history so rich by success, by victory, by massive accomplishment in the media and creative industries.”

Meanwhile, former governor of Rivers state, Rotimi Amaechi, has revealed how he engaged Adebola Williams and Chude Jideonwo, co-founders of Red Media, in the last presidential campaign which led to the election of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “I thank Adebola Williams & Chude Jideonwo for taking that responsibility of handling the presidential campaign. They sold our candidate to Nigerians against popular opinion. They got President Muhammadu Buhari to wear a suit, something he hadn’t done for over thirty years and that was one of the biggest highlights of the campaign. Those images broke barriers and sold the man.

“We always say God won the election but their role can’t be overemphasized. They created an impression that we had money, made the other people afraid and think we could match them money for money but we really couldn’t. It was their creativity. I thank them and wish them the very best.”