How African Independent Television (AIT) Was Formed

African Independent Television (AIT) was recently hailed as the great defender of freedom and justice by Comrade Adams Oshiomole. No be small thing o. I wish Adams was on the molue to hear the gist as to how AIT started.

Chief Dokpesi we all know is the brain behind AIT. Well some years ago, the man was a business partner of Chief MKO and the Late Yar’ Adua when they owned African Ocean Lines (AOL). Raymond was the person running things on a day to day basis. Because of his profligacy and skirt chasing, it was no surprise when the business soon pafuka, this lead to quarrel between the 3 men. Raymond took sides with Yar’ Adua against MKO and this marked the beginning of serious bad belle between both men.

Raymond cranked things up when he staged managed an attempted assassination against himself and blamed it on MKO. He went to the extent of forging a death threat letter and had somebody fire a gun at his house. MKO expectedly was furious at Raymond's blackmail and character assassination. He called Raymond to tell him that for having the audacity to to rubbish his name in a bogus assassination attempt, he MKO was actually going to do it and this time it was going to be real.

Raymond hoped for support from Yar’Adua and when that was not forthcoming, he started panicking, he tried to apologise to MKO but he was rebuffed. He eventually went to MD Yusuf who was friends with MKO and begged him to intercede as he feared that MKO was truly going to have him killed. To cut a long story short, MD Yusuf was able to cool MKO and as a pre condition for “forgiveness” Raymond had to take out advertorials in National Newspapers retracting the assassination story. With alacrity Raymond took out the advertorials and he was let off by MKO who told him at the meeting “…you are a very lucky man. If not for MD, I would have shown you pepper...”

Years on, Raymond came upon the idea of starting a cable TV station like DISC Engineering, but because DISC was already strong in Lagos, he decided to site his own cable station at Ibadan, all equipments were purchased and he was ready to take off, but then he suddenly realised that it was not going to be a viable business, he now told close friends that he wanted to start a Radio / TV station. But by now June 12 wahala has started, IBB has stepped aside, Shonekan had been INGed aside and the mad dog Abacha was in power. How to get the mad dog to grant him a TV License?

Enter Barmanga Tukur a one time business associate of Raymond. Bamanga took Raymond to Abacha and introduced him as “ Your Excellency, this is the man that has been fighting Abiola for years..he will like to start a radio and TV stations to continue the fight”. That was enough for the mad dog who was looking for all means to contain the June 12 forces in the Lagos area. Without much ado, a license was given to Raymond and all stops pulled out to start Raypower / AIT with the express mandate of checkmating the June 12 people in the media.
End of story, remember you heard it first on the Molue :))