Fiifi Banson ends 15 years at Peace

I remember vividly when Fiifi Banson left Radio Gold to Peace FM. It was circa 2,000 and he had been a sensation at the Latebiokorshie based radio station. He was their main sports presenter supported by who he refers to as his “indefatigable producer, Tony Owusu-Amofah” at the time.

However, he also presented other programmes such as the one he presented on Wednesdays and on which he spoke Fanti and called himself Kofi Djan as well as the hilarious show he and B.B. Menson hosted known as Teachers Classroom.

The main reason for which he was poached to Peace FM was to take charge of the sports department which was then marshalled by Kofi Asare Brako and Charles Osei Asibey, but then when they tried him on the late afternoon show, Ekwanso Brebre and realised he was so good at it, they kept him there.

With time, Fiifi Banson eased out of the sports shows and focused completely on the drive and eventually became the sole presenter as he no more shared the hosting responsibilities with other presenters like Kwasi Aboagye, et al. It was only when he was away that he had others sit-in for him.

He pumped in a lot during that first year of his arrival at Peace FM as his witticism, irreverence, tongue-in-cheek and no-holds-barred style of slapstick comedy on the drive drew in the listeners to the programme and the station.

Indeed, he was so effective at what he did that just after one year of being at Peace FM, Fiifi Banson was named as the Best Radio Presenter in Ghana by the then Arts Critics and Reviewers Association of Ghana (ACRAG). I remember interviewing him in that garden space that Peace FM used to have for visitors for a publication in Graphic Showbiz after he had achieved this feat.

Over the years, Fiifi Banson and I am sure the producers and programmes people at Peace tried a lot of formats that would make his show relevant, popular and most listened to in the capital. Sometimes it was just him in the studio playing music and jesting about, but most of the time it had been him and a team of jesters and opinionated guests. 

Indeed, for a long time, it was the show that many would rather listen to in the mass market regardless of the format they executed.

Well, it is not as if the other stations hadn’t tried to and it’s not as if they did not have their own loyal listeners too, however, if you wanted to count mass audience – critical mass for that matter – all the research conducted at the time would point you in the direction of Peace FM and Banson.

That was before the programmes people at Adom FM led by Daddy Bosco devised the proper coup de grace to unseat Banson’s show as the most listened to in Accra. Enter Abeiku Santana, another comic-style presenter from Fiifi Banson’s hometown of Saltpond.

This young man who had cut his teeth in Koforidua, had gone on to do great deeds in Kumasi on Radio Mercury and Ashh FM was brought down to dethrone Fiifi Banson from the late afternoon show throne he had occupied for so long.

It looked like an uphill task from the beginning, and indeed it was an uphill task, but with time and consistency with his style and support from programmes, Santana knocked off Banson from his perch (just as Sir Alex Ferguson once did to Liverpool) and his show became the most listened to on day time radio and the rest is history.

Banson, however, reviewed his show and they added some spice to it by introducing Odiahinkan and the others and the show stayed on and relevantly so in the scheme of things.

Throughout his stay at Peace FM, Fiifi Banson had been rumoured one time or another as preparing to leave to join a new station that was about to operate. When Kingsley Agyemang of Kingsman set out to establish Happy FM, Banson’s name was prominent on the list of people he was poaching from Peace FM.

These and others did not materialise because it is said that most of the times, the CEO of Despite Group, Osei Kwame or his business partner Ofori (Special Ice) will step in and make sure that Banson stayed on and presented his Ekwanso Brebre and other programmes on the station.

A couple of weeks ago, the rumour mill started grinding the news that Fiifi Banson had signed a deal with Kasapa FM, a station owned by EIB Network, and would therefore be leaving Peace FM soon to join the station. By the way, Kasapa is the station that was previously known as Choice FM and owned by Mr. Fred Oware.

Last week was Fiifi Banson aka Kofi Gyan’s last working week at Peace FM. As we speak now, he is no more the host of the Ekwanso Brebre, a show he has breathed into and hosted for fifteen odd years. A show he made popular and one that increase his popularity as well.

The questions that prick my mind are these: why was there no push back from Despite on Banson’s decision this time? Are they too tired of all that has happened over the years? Or was the deal too good for Banson to say no regardless of what Despite or his business partner would say?

Indeed, those are moot points because no matter what it was, Mr. Banson has jumped ship from Abeka Junction to Adabraka and no answer will get him back to Peace FM and to Ekwanso Brebre any more than Mayweather will ever stand and fight light the great boxers of old (eat your heart).

The rumour has it that Banson was brought in to present the morning show on Kasapa FM. It hasn’t started and so we cannot say for a fact that we know that is the issue. However, if indeed that is what he is coming to do, can he do it in a manner that would ensure that the station gets what it wants from his presence?

The point is that the morning radio thing has changed. On mass radio, you are going to have to deal with many issues happening at the same time. You also have to interact on daily basis with some very angry people who want you to do your show, ask your questions and do everything according to how they see things and I wonder if Banson can stomach that.

The competition is also very tight down there. His old pal, Kwami Sefa Kayi is still in the chair, there is Captain Smart on Adom FM, Kwame Adinkra on Atinka FM, Alhassan Suhuyini and team on Radio Gold, Fiifi Boafo on Oman FM and a host of others to contend with.

So the answer is that he has not been on this road as much as he has on the drive, there is hefty competition on here and a lot of it to boot, but he is an experienced broadcaster who has seen and done a lot in his time, therefore I am sure he will live up to it.

There is, however, the small matter of who takes over from him on the late afternoon show at Peace FM. At the moment, Micky Darling is sitting in. However, I think the shoes are too huge for him to fill in order to take the show to the levels yet to be taken by Banson.

If I were in the shoes of whoever it is who calls the shots at Peace FM this is what I’d have done: move Kwasi Aboagye from Neat FM and make him the host of the late afternoon show.

 He has done it before, he knows the terrain, I am very sure he will kick off the other people Banson used to do the drama/debate with and will drive the show. Still keep him on Entertainment Review though. But I am not even close to the action.

Let’s see how all these play out as Banson sang his swan song after fifteen years on Peace FM.

STOP PRESS: KWASI BRENYA GOES HOME

 I heard the sad news about the demise of Mr. Kwesi Brenya, the long serving General Manager of Despite Group of Companies with a very heavy heart. I, considering that I only heard less than a week earlier that he was seriously ill, that came as a major shock.

The first time I met Mr. Brenya was in 1999 when he addressed the press during the fracas between Peace FM and Radio Peace of Winneba. The latter had dragged the former to court over the use of what they claimed was their name. 

The former was adamant they had not used their name. The courts ruled in Peace FM’s favour and Brenya addressed the media to the effect.

He was an affable man but very astute with business matters. I got to know through the hard way that despite being friends, when it came to business of buying media on any of their stations, it was a different kettle of fish and friendship was not the overriding factor.

For a long time, he had kept an eye on the business of Despite and he came across for me as the one who represented the intellectual side of the business. He is part of the reason the business has been so formidable in the country and I have no doubt at all that his demise last Tuesday means that Despite Group has lost a very significant part of their managerial know-how.

My condolence goes to his family first and the company he dedicated over 20 years of his adult life working for. Fare thee well, Mr. Brenya. Damirifa Due!

@TheGHMediaGuru