The Unstoppable YAW!

The name Steve Onu will definitely not strike a familiar chord to many people especially radio listeners. But that is actually the name of Yaw, arguably one of the most celebrated voices in the nation’s airwaves today. But the Awka, Anambra State born famous voice did not cut his teeth in the area where he is most celebrated today. He started in television. Better still, he could be said to have begun as a theatre practitioner or actor. Many may have forgotten his face in the soap, Flat Mates. A Theatre Arts graduate, he actually started with the practice of his trade. “Though, Flat-Mates is the one that I have been consistent with, I have done some others like, Fuji House of Commotion, Extended Family, Melodies, Dear Mama and others,” he explains. It however did not begin as it now is. Many people including friends and family members wrote him off as a never do well and advised him to seek his livelihood in the world of artisans. But what will be, the saying says, will be. He rose to where he is today through sheer determination and undivided focus. For someone who had been discarded as ‘a useless person” who would not “become anything in future”, the road has actually been tortuous and ardours. He explains further: “It has been tough, I was once told by friends when I was in secondary school, to go and learn auto- mechanic, but I refused. They even told me to become a welder, which I also refused. And I was told point blank that I was a useless person that I did not want to become anything in future. It was so difficult then, but I knew where I was going. Therefore, I remained focused.
I also had a share of it from my parents. When I finished my diploma course and prepared to go for a degree, my mother said no! It was so bad to the extent that she sent my aunt to the school management, in a bid to persuade them not to give me admission to study Theatre Arts.” The proverbial rejected stone of yesterday has now become the corner stone of today. The crest of success eventually rests on Theatre Arts. Yaw, though focus, was however spurred on by some people who acted the part of guide in the wilderness of dilemma. Forever, his eternal gratitude goes to some individuals like the ace actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo (RMD) and Ali Baba, the county’s acclaimed king of stand-up-comedy. “Actually, I wanted to read Business Administration, but I never liked Mathematics; I always liked to dodge it. Then I decided to go for Marketing, but I was also told that I’d still to do Mathematics. I started thinking of a course without Maths, then, I got admission into the Petroleum Institute for a diploma course, I was still told that I needed Maths. That was when I told myself to pull out and do something that won’t involve Maths. And that was how I met Richard Mofe- Damijo (RMD) in 1996, during an audition for a home video.
He advised me to go and study Theatre Arts,” Yaw adds. But how did he achieve the cross-over? From an actor to a radio presenter? He has the answer: “I did a lot of things when I was in school. I did a diploma course in Radio/ TV and Film Production before I proceeded for a degree in Theatre Arts. So, I have knowledge of the radio, TV and film. And I have been doing all that.” Yaw is mostly associated with Wazobia FM, a radio station in Nigeria which many believe to also be his first port of call in the world of broadcasting. While he agrees with this he illuminates further: “Yes! But I once did a radio drama called “Story Story” on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)” Rome, they say, was not built in a day. So it is with the ace broadcaster.
His first day in the studio as a presenter according to him was a hell. He was all thumbs. “It was hell the day I assumed duties, because I had only two weeks to receive training on how to do everything. I made lots of mistakes, sometimes I would be playing music while adverts were still on. There was a particular day, I had this girlfriend then, she got me annoyed from home and she called me on phone when I was on air. I did not know that my microphone was on, and I was just shouting, ‘What the hell is it, won’t you leave me alone, what is your problem, can’t you see that I am working’, and all that. Then my other phone rang, it was a friend of mine and he was like ‘who are you fighting with, don’t you know that your microphone is on’.
That was when shivers ran down my spine and thank God, I have a good boss”, he adds. His audience would definitely be aware of his visibility on air practically all the days of the week. For a young man, this could be rather tasking on his social life. But to Yaw, “It’s been great, because new things keep happening every day. I try as much as possible to read and listen to the news all the time. I’m a lively person, I chat with people and I gather information. I must sincerely thank the listeners, they are so supportive.” Yaw sees his unique point as spontaneity even as he acknowledges the Wazobia FM as a unique radio station. “The good thing is spontaneity. I thank Ali Baba too, for helping me out in most of the things. I always try to be myself and that has been working for me,” he points out.
To the actor turned broadcaster, a good presenter must, “ First, be yourself and be natural, because that was the way I was taught when I got here and that has been Wazobia FM’s style.” Yaw definitely is not one of Onu’s real names. Rather, “It’s a slogan that I normally use on TV and wherever I go people call me that, and it just stuck,” he explains. But what is the meaning, one is wont to ask. ‘It’s actually a slogan as I said, but I now coined it as YawbachuKwu, meaning, “Let’s beg God”, he answers with a laugh. Onu does not see himself as a comedian or funny despite his wittiness on air a trait which draws listeners to his programmes as a swarm of flies is drawn to a sweet syrup. “I don’t know that I am funny but people do say that, I am just trying to be myself,” he replies.
He also explains that his keeping a beard is to shield his identity from fans and foes alike. “There is no secret, but I like it, at times, because it makes people not to know that I am the one. This beard of a thing makes me different from the Yaw that they know on TV,”, he adds. But in spite of his rib cracking and sometimes stinging jibes, he would never forget a day he had it raw in the hands of the hands of some miscreants. “My most embarrassing moment has to do with the ‘Area Boys’, one day one of them stopped me and he was like (speaking Yoruba) “Mo mo bobo yi now, actress (sic) ni bobo yi ke, gbe nkan sile fun wa joo” meaning “I know this guy now, he’s an actress (sic) drop something for us.” And to be frank with you, I had nothing on me that day,” he says. “My lecturer then, Tosan Ugbeye said that”The sky is too close to be your limit, you can aim higher”.
I don’t think there is any other one, forget about, Yaw, I love you, Yaw you are good, God bless you and all that,” Onu says of his best compliment. His worst: “That was few years ago, when we went to shoot Ruggedman’s musical video at Alausa in Ikeja and after we finished recording at night. I was waiting for a taxi, the guy that came to make suya that we ate, saw me and he was like “you no even get a car, and you dey show yourself for TV, you dey fool yourself about, me wey I be ordinary Suya man, I get motor”. He finished me that day; I didn’t even know whether he was drunk or something.”