Reminiscences on Nigerian TV programming and our indigenous stories
If you grew up in the 1980s and 1990s, you would remember what watching Nigerian TV was like. TV stations came on at 4 pm with children’s programmes, which ran all the way till 7 pm when the local news came on. The soap operas would air after the news till 9 pm, and then the national news would come on. From 10 pm, various local and foreign TV programmes would air till midnight when the stations closed. We had just eight hours of TV programming during the week, and on the weekends, TV stations opened at 7 am! It is hard to believe now as TV content is on-demand and available 24/7.
In those days, everyone watched the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). Each state had a flagship NTA station, and there were various other NTA stations to appeal to different types of people. NTA Channel 10 was Lagos’ flagship station. I remember thinking many of their offerings were boring. NTA 2 Channel 5 was for the hip, sophisticated, and trendy people. Their programmes appealed to the younger demographic, and they showed a lot of foreign content. I remember Saturday mornings started with children’s cartoons until 9 am when their weekend lifestyle programme “Morning Ride” came on the air. NTA Channel 7 was for the indigenous community. Many of the programmes were in the Yoruba language to cater to the demographic. I also remember there was Lagos State Television (LTV 8), and they gave NTA a run for their money.
As a child, watching TV was a great pastime. Once we got back from school and the clock struck 4 pm, we would find ourselves sitting in front of the TV, waiting for the first programme to air. If NEPA took light, my brother and I would go to my aunt and uncle’s place. They had a generator and would be sure to switch it on. Besides, they also had a coloured TV set while we had a black and white one, so we spent more time watching TV in their house than in ours.
The NTA hosted numerous indigenous TV programmes which they syndicated across all of the various NTA stations nationwide. In the 1980s, there was “Tales by Moonlight”, a children’s storytelling programme which taught morals and character using diverse folktales from around the country. There were also many family-themed programmes such as “The New Masquerade”, “Basi and Company”, “The Village Headmaster”, “Magana Jari Ce” and “Samanja” (both in the Hausa language with subtitles), and “Icheokwu” (in the Igbo language with subtitles). Many of these programmes were produced by the NTA; it was a rich production house in those days.
By the 1990s, we had begun to have many more independent producers who made programmes for the NTA (being the major TV network at the time). Some of these programmes were “Ripples”, “Checkmate”, and “Mind-bending”. We were hooked on many of these programmes. The acting was stellar, the storylines were engaging, and the dialogue was riveting. The programmes had actors we could identify with, and they told stories we understood. These stories also helped us better understand our diversity.
The NTA also provided foreign TV content, so we were not limited to watching only indigenous programmes. Children’s programmes such as “Sesame Street”, “Voltron”, “Thunder Sub”, and “Terrahawks”. Family-oriented programming featured shows like “Some Mothers Do Have ‘Em” and “Mind Your Language”, and late-night shows such as “Dempsey and Makepeace”, “Matlock”, and “Moonlighting”. Independent TV stations like DBN, Clapperboard, and Channels TV subsequently came on air and raised the bar, providing viewers with higher-quality programming.
At the time, our exposure to foreign content was largely limited to British and American TV programmes which meant that this influenced us in many ways. The 1990s saw an influx of South American TV programming (“Telenovelas”). I remember hearing they were cheap to acquire, so that explains why they got on Nigerian TV. We watched shows like “The Rich Also Cry”, “Secrets of the Sand”, and “Passions”. They were dubbed over in English, making it easier for viewers to follow the storylines. So many people were addicted to these shows back then.
We have come a long way from those days. Now, thanks to cable TV, one can watch an unlimited amount of TV programmes from all over the world. DSTV especially has brought international content much closer to home, and their Indian channels, Zee World especially, are a hot favourite amongst many people. The way people talk about some of these Indian TV shows reminds me of how addicted people were to the Telenovelas.
Thanks to DSTV, we have gotten our stories across to the rest of the world, or should I say, Africa, seeing as it is an African media platform. Their dedicated African Magic channels provide full access to solely Nigerian content which helps to provide information about our diverse cultures to the rest of the continent.
Nollywood has also played a great role across the years in scripting and producing indigenous movies and TV programmes that tell various parts of our story. Some of the earliest movies from the 90s I remember are “Living In Bondage” and “Rattlesnake” which have received remakes in recent years. I also remember “When the Sun Sets”, “Glamour Girls”, and “Witch Doctor of the Living Dead”, supposedly a horror movie that I found purely comedic.
Thankfully we are no longer limited to watching programmes off just TV screens as internet access has extended our viewing options. With YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Apple TV amongst many other internet streaming sites, access to TV programmes is just a click away. Many of these platforms don’t even serialise episodes of TV programmes the way it’s done on cable TV. This means you can binge-watch a whole series at once if you so wish: video on demand at its finest. But how many of our stories are on these platforms? How many foreigners consistently follow our stories the way we follow theirs?
As I reflect on how our exposure to TV programming has evolved over the years, I wonder about the NTA. They provided really good content back in the day. These days, only people who choose to watch NTA programmes or cannot afford either cable or internet patronise their stations. They probably still have the widest national reach though considering that their signals are free-to-air, and they are thus able to reach remote communities.
Over and above, I would love to see more dedicated content geared towards not just an international audience, but also our local audience. TV programming of old helped us understand our diverse cultures, promoted tolerance, and encouraged peaceful coexistence. We need more of that now. We can tell so many stories that could inspire change across our world: this is the way I see things today.