Goge Africa is a life time project (interview)

Isaac Moses: I live in Lagos. I?m from Anambra State, but I went to school in the North. I went to LEA Primary School, Zaria, and Boys High School Nibo and then attended Ahmadu Bello Univrsity, Zaria. From there I went back to Lagos and worked a little bit with an insurance company. It was in the course of working for the company that I was told I had a good voice and that I should go into broadcasting. But I did not want to go into anything that is kind of stereotyped, so I decided to go into freelance broadcasting. You know, I started doing radio programmes. But there my producer wouldn?t let me play the kind of music that would dignify Africa. He wanted western music, funky stuff from America and all that. I started out in 1993 managing artists like Segun Arinze and the late Tina Anwodi. But due to my producer?s preferences, I couldn?t play these artists that I managed. So I decided to do something that I would be in control of without being charged up. And that was when my wife now suggested I do my shows on TV. I told her TV was expensive, I didn?t have that kind of money. But she insisted I should just start. She was doing African costumes, so she wanted me to wear the costumes and present the programme. Then I said if I have to do it for TV then she had to co-present it with me. She declined, saying she hadn?t done it before. I said she could do it since it is not a live programme; mistakes could be edited, and you could do it repeatedly until you get it right. Reluctantly she agreed and suggested that Kate Henshaw, the actress, should present with me. I said no, I wanted her to present it with me. She eventually agreed and from there Goge Africa started growing. When we started initially some people were saying we could not sustain the programme; it is capital intensive. Even the TV houses said the quality is too high we could not find the sponsors to sustain it. They said they would not take the proposal because there was no need wetting the appetite of the viewers only to go off the air after a few episodes. But eventually our proposal was accepted and on 1st October, 1999, we went on air on AIT, DBN, NTA channel 10 and MITV. And from then there have been no going back.

I read insurance while my wife read English.

We chose that name partly because I grew up in the North. I speak Hausa. I know Goge as a Hausa name for a musical instrument. I see Dan Maraya Jos and other musicians use it. Goge as a verb in Hausa also stands for cleaning. When you clean something you make it pure. Likewise, when you play goge it brings out pure music. So it is an embodiment of Africa. Goge Africa is embodiment of Africa; it comprises African music, African fashion and the African ways of life generally.

I read a lot. I read Walter Rodney and I know how Europe underdeveloped Africa. From this and other books I?ve read I realized there is neo-colonialism going on in Africa. The African mentality has been affected by the western media which give the impression that whatever comes from Africa is inferior. Africans begin to imagine that one who hasn?t been to America or Europe has not arrived. By virtue of their position the whites came to Africa and took away very strong Africans on free labour for hundreds of years. And that?s why they are jumps ahead of Africa. They still go ahead to make Africans feel that they have to come to them for everything, for advice. And they give advice that does not benefit the people. When African leaders take money they go and put it in western banks, enriching countries that are already richer. So things are tough in Africa. People are not getting the full benefits of their potentials.

But I see a lot of beautiful things in Africa; I see African fashion designers who make good clothes. All they need is just the promotion. They don?t have the promotion to get the kind of patronage they need. International stars wear clothes by the western designers that costs millions of dollars. If they put that kind of money or patronage to African designers, they will be able to employ a lot of people. And that will be creating jobs, creating wealth. So I felt if I did something that would throw light on the potentials of Africa, Africans will begin to see themselves differently. And already the impression is changing. People are beginning to appreciation African fashion, music etc.

It is determination and the belief in what we do that have kept the show on air for the past years. I have a passion for this job. Thank God my wife has the same passion. So teaming our resources together, we?ve been able to come this far. It is not as if there were no challenges. Because, being a Nigerian, people are suspicious of you when you visit other countries. People don?t easily trust that you have come just to explore their heritage or whatever cultural potential they have. They feel you are just coming in that guise to dupe them. But with time when they see these things on TV they begin to respect what we do. Some actually sent us emails telling us how they did not believe us initially. Now some of these people invite us and take care of logistics like hotels, flights etc. And it makes it easy for us to go and be part of the festivities in Africa and other countries. Over the years, the western media have not done justice to Africa. A lot of things about Africa, the vibrant nature of Africa, the hospitable and colourful nature of Africa, were not being explored at all in the western media. So I think that we have to do it by ourselves, because if we don?t do it nobody will do it for us.

It is in response to a popular demand by our viewers. This is a programme that is viewed by over 40 million people around the world. I get emails everyday, demanding that they are doing a research on Africa and they would like to have a document they could use. The request became too often, so we decided to go into publishing the magazine. It is produced in Nigeria but circulated worldwide.

By the grace of God, we are not doing badly. I?m happy that it is changing people?s lives. Yes, the money is coming in... at least, I?m not staving. But, the thing is, if I do what I do basically for the money then I probably won?t be doing this thing, because I put in a lot of my own money to see it grow.

To get the programme on as many TV stations as possible. Right now it shows on about thirty-something TV stations. The more the number of TV stations that acquire the programme, the more people are informed about Africa. That is our vision. And by God?s grace, in the next few years it will be a household name.

Nneka Isaac Moses: I was born and brought up in Lagos. I attended the University of Lagos in the 90s and read English. When I graduated I started with making clothes. I have a shop where I make fabrics, design African wears and sell them here and abroad. And along the way I met Isaac while I was helping out in home videos, costuming them. I still costume TV commercials. I do this as part time job now, but I was fully into it before I met Isaac.

I met him in 1996. We met on the set of a movie. I was costuming the movie and also playing a small part in the movie as Isaac?s girlfriend. And that was in Lagos. Then we became friends in real life. And one thing led to the other and it became an intimate relationship and he proposed and we got married in 1997.

After we got married, the following year we lost our baby and we then took a break and went into the production of his radio programmes. Then later I asked him to do a TV programme instead so that I could costume him as a way of selling my costumes. Initially, he felt that would be too expensive. But after a while he agreed to do it if I would co-present with him. But I told him it wasn?t my line and he said he would groom me. And that?s what happened. I now co-present and co-produce with him and write the script. And now we are having other people helping out in certain areas of production.

He has very nice smile and he is very friendly not only to me but to everybody. And because he is easy-going and I like his smile, it was easy for me to listen to him talk. His nice voice was also a factor. And he is a handsome guy.

After that child, we?ve been busy really and we actually made efforts not to go into having babies yet, because it was a traumatic experience. I nearly lost my life in that experience. So for four years we both didn?t want to talk about babies. But later I wanted to have babies. Of course, my people were saying I should stop travelling and have babies. And after a while Isaac came round too and he is on the page with me now, and we are working towards it. But at the end of the day, it is God that will actually give us the baby when he is ready.

It is hard to say because the truth is that, it is like asking you, of all parts of your body which one is more useful. The truth is that everywhere we?ve been to has something about it that one would always cherish. And Africa is a place that has too many things in terms of whatever you think of; people, culture, topography and what have you. There is something about Ethiopians that endears me to them. There is the warmth of the Nigerian people; full of energy and very positive minded people, hard-working. And South Africa has great landscape. Gambia is a place where anybody of any colour can walk at 3 am without the fear of being molested. The crime wave is really low. In fact, when we were talking to the Inspector General of police he said the crimes they have there is usually traffic offence. We?ve been to Egypt, the country with a great history. There is history in every nook and cranny of Africa, but they are not exposed. In Nigeria for instance, there is so much cultural heritage that is not known even to some Nigerians. There is so much everywhere. I think everybody should know about his environment. Before you talk about promoting something you have to know it first. Nigerians should learn to travel within Nigeria, and discover ourselves. That?s the only way we will be able to let people know who we are and get them interested in finding out about what we have told them. Everybody likes to go to places like London and New York to spend their holidays. But if you take time and go to places like Jos, you will have a good time.

Just know it today that Goge Africa is a life time project. If you catch me again when I?m 95, I will still be talking Goge Africa.

Well, there is a rhythm in the way babies that can?t walk dance; they stay on the bed and they do it like that. When they can crawl there is a different way they do it. And when you become a young lady and into an old age, there are ways old people dance, maybe with five legs; the four climbs and one stick. And I will still be enjoying it. So Goge Africa is a life time project.

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