Soni Irabor is 70. And this is authoritative! Many don’t know that this ace broadcaster is 70. We can tell you he clocked 70 last March. On his birthday, 23rd March, his wife, Betty and the children sprang a surprise on him when they invited friends over for a get-together. We hear Betty did this to further encourage her husband of 39 years who was not in an upbeat mood at that time. In March, as he celebrated, City People, eager to get him to talk about his life, went after this veteran broadcaster, advertising Practitioner, Media Manager, Communications Consultant, Speech Trainer, Talk Show Host and Toast Master of international repute. But he was not in a mood to talk. We again renewed our bid a few days ago and he agreed to talk to us. We met him behind the laptop in his spacious office in Lekki.
As we went to catch up with him, what we wondered was what the easy-going Soni Irabor will look like at 70. As usual, he was simply dressed in a lovely shirt over white pants. He loves being casual. He has also fully recovered from the mild stroke he suffered several months back and he has decided to take life easy. He only works for a few hours and keeps to his daily exercise regimen.
Nothing has changed about this Sakpoba, Benin City, Edo State-born veteran Radio Journalist who attended St. Joseph’s Primary School, Benin City in the early 60s and Immaculate Conception College, Benin City, Edo State. He is a UNILAG Mass Communications graduate who over the years has garnered various professional trainings. He attended the Trainers Course in Broadcasting, Broadcast Training Centre, Radio Deutsche Welle, Koln, Germany, 1989, attended Administrative Staff College in Nigeria, Topo Badagry in 1990, and Pan-Atlantic University, School of Media and Communications. Certificate in Leadership and Governance in Media and Communications, 2014.
He was Special Adviser on Information and Orientation to Edo State Government of Nigeria. 2001 & 2002
He served as a member of the Advertising Standards Panel of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) from 1993 to 2000.
He was the Chairman of the Nigeria Arts and Culture Directory Project and the African Regional Summit on Visual Arts (ARESUVA) from 2003 to 2008. He is the Chairman of Ruyi Communications Limited, an Integrated Marketing Communications Company. He is a Director of Sonia Publications Limited, publishers of Genevieve Magazine. He is also the founder and Chairman of Soni Irabor Institute of Media and Communications, which specializes in corporate, media and speech training. Mr Irabor also gives talks to corporate management staff on invitation. He is the Chairman of an International NGO, Community Life Project (CLP)
He also sits on the board of Amazing Inspirations Media Ltd, owners of Inspiration 92.3FM Radio, Lagos, Inspiration 100.5FM, Ibadan, Inspiration 105.9FM, Uyo and Lasgidi FM, Lagos (a pidgin fm radio). Mr Irabor is the host of the award-winning talk show: SONI IRABOR LIVE(SIL). Soni Irabor is happily married to Betty Irabor, a media icon and international motivational speaker and they are blessed with two lovely children.
How did he celebrate his 70th birthday in March? Was there a party? What form did it take? (Laughs). “It was nice. A few of my friends came in to celebrate with me, good friends like Bisi Olatilo, came. Dr. Seyi Roberts came. Prof. Richard Ikiebe, Ruth Benamaisia was here. My elder sister. She is 84. Omar Kalibo, my colleague in Radio Nigeria. Bola Ladipo and his wife. So many of them, infact, if I start mentioning names, I might put myself in trouble. When I say so many, they were not more than maybe 30 or 40, people. Because of my state, we just wanted to make it small.
It was a surprise party because I didn’t know that there was going to be any party but my wife and my kids, put this together and surprised me. They said, “Look, you have to go into a hotel and just relax,” which I did. After sometime, they now said “Can you come down stairs.” I said “No. I just want to sleep.” She came and said “No, dress up, let’s go downstairs? By the way, can you dress like this, in my Bini cultural outfit.” That was how I saw myself dressed up. I became a man, suddenly, 70 years old. I said okay. Life has come.”
How did he feel the morning he turned 70? “I felt normal ooo. I didn’t feel different. It was just like another day. Since my accident, I have been a bit more self-conscious, not really too eager to go out. But, we thank God. I felt normal that morning. We had a family soiree with happy birthday gifts, greetings, phone calls, everywhere. It was nice”.
What are the lessons that life has taught him at 70? “There are many lessons. Lessons of self-management. Lessons of understanding when and where to draw a line. Lessons of knowing that you can’t keep thinking that you are a young man when your body is telling you, “Old boy, you are no longer young ooo.” Apart from that, there was also the hard reality of my current state. I used to walk 11 kilometres, I don’t do that anymore. I work these days just to make sure that I develop my motor neurosis back to normal. I also realised that sometimes, I find myself constantly self-conscious, and family members, especially my wife will say, “Come on, snap out of it now. For goodness sake, it is not the end of the world. You are still okay. You are up and doing. Do you know there are people in worse situations than yourself? So, they made me become aware that self-pity is not the answer. So, I became more resolute that I must defeat this thing called stroke. The Grace of God is on my side. I have become a bit more spiritual then ever before. Luckily, when I say spiritual, these days, I think back to COVID, because it happened in the COVID year, September 2020. COVID drove humanity to a point where we needed to redraw our structure. Some of us who went through this process suddenly realised that we must come to terms with that reality and come to terms with the fact that come what may, life must go on”.
How did he take the shock of suffering a stroke? “The manifestation was September 2020, but I had a bad fall in the last days of August. I hit my chest on the sharp edge of the steps. The fall was as a result of a wet floor, the floor in the kitchen was being washed and I just ran into it, before I knew it, I was gliding and I managed to go through the back door and up in the air and banged on the back of my chest. Sometimes, occasionally, I still feel the pain. I got up as if nothing happened. It was after that, a few days after, that my wife observed that my right shoulder was slumped to the right and my children were like “dad, what is happening to you? I said, “I am not feeling anything. I am okay.”
But I realise that the day before September 1, when I wanted to go to the toilet, I was feeling listless, with some kind of body heat. Betty said I should call the doctor. I said what for?
“Am I not okay? She said, “No, your shoulder is slumped, otherwise nothing else.” I called Dr. Seyi Roberts whose wife was doing her 60th birthday party, low-key. You know how those parties went that year of COVID lockdown.
He asked me a few questions and he reassured me and said maybe I should come. So, we drove to his house. When we got there, he came out, he shook my hands. He gripped me. And I gripped him and he said, “You are okay.” He looked at me very well. He said, “But if this thing continues, go to Me Cure, do an MRI they will send me the result online. And then immediately, we would know what to do.”
The next day, September 1, I went to Me Cure. And Me Cure kept me waiting for 5 hours!
It is not their fault. There were other people waiting for the MRI which was only one. That was when it dawned on all of us, my family and I that my step was not any better. My wife was getting inpatient, my daughter was shouting, “This man is not getting attention,” and my son was like, “don’t worry, maybe we should start going to another hospital.” I said “No, let’s wait.” We waited for about 5 hours and then, I went into this noisy MRI machine. It was very noisy. When I say noisy, it is an understatement. I was getting really scared. If you are claustrophobic, mhen, you will be scared.
This was my 1st ever experience of MRI. By the time I came out, I had gone through a lot. By the way, my hand had started showing signs of weakness.
Betty had an operation before, about a year or 2 before. She now said I should use this crutches she used then, just in case.
All these things I am describing like this is like child’s play.
After the MRI, I had started limping at this stage. I was limping to the car. Everybody was dotting all over me, and then they took me back home. We called Dr. Roberts and he said the MRI would have been e-mailed to him. So, they e-mailed it to him and on the next day, I was on admission. September 2 was when I got admitted to St. Nicholas Hospital. They were very good. They really did the best for me. They took care of me like a baby. By the way, that was my 1st time in the hospital. I was 68 years old, when this thing happened.
I spent about 9 days in the hospital. I was back home and physiotherapy started. I had series of physiotherapies. I had Dr. Roberts take care of me. By the way, he came to my 70th birthday. In fact, I owe them a lot. By that I mean doctors at St. Nicholas, Dr. Seyi Roberts and his lovely wife and my family. They have all been there. There is no end to talking about these things. But my prayer is that we should always check our system.
I suspect that inspite of my fault, not being regular with my blood pressure regulation could have necessitated or led to what happened.”
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