I just love radio

Tintin chooses to be interviewed in a radio studio despite having worked in radio for about 21 years. "I flow better during my show, the ambience loosens me and I feel you will get better responses from me that way," he explains during his ‘Classic Sunrise with Tintin' on Classic FM, Lagos, where he is also programmes director.

The 2005 returnee from Italy where he worked as a presenter with ‘Radio Centro Suono' and ‘Radio Monte Carlo', and as video jockey for ‘Orbit Satellite Television' snaps his fingers, nods his head, twists and gives a little yelp of delight - he would do that intermittently during the chat - to an old number he is playing on the hi-tech console.

Great homecoming

"I think it's been a great homecoming and I just love radio," he begins on his return. "I'm a people person so I feel that expressing myself this way will enable people to feel good and have some positivity. Europe for me had always been a place where you can only do so much. Life was about acquiring all you can in terms of knowledge and expertise so I was just waiting for the right time. I used to speak to my parents about it but unfortunately in 2004, I lost my mother. She really believed in me coming back home and I had made her a promise that I would come home. I think that was the strongest reason why I came back. I can't complain; I've achieved a lot in the four years I've been back. The Italians live in Italy because that's their country where they can achieve and grow professionally. As a people, we too need to be in our country."

Though he faced no discrimination growing up in Italy, he did when "time came to compete directly with the Italians in jobs that they too aspired for. It was very hard working in a marketing company and experiencing discrimination. Your salary, instead of increasing, will decrease every year because of some reason or the other. So I decided to focus totally on entertainment."

MedSoul

The owner of production company, Mediterranean Soul (MedSoul), Tintin produced a number of artists in Italy before he changed its name to Medicine for the Soul when he relocated to Nigeria. The company, he informs, incorporates another called Emaaj. "It's a sports public relations company and we are working closely with all those sporting interests that are not represented well in Nigeria. We need to give props to the rugby people, cricket, volley ball, basket ball, tennis and athletics; sports outside football that have not been represented properly."

To help realise his dream for the entertainment industry, the presenter with two singles, ‘Baila Cochero' (2001) and ‘Chico Te Amo' (2004), accompanied by a beautiful video shot in a circus in Milan, has also established a record label. The label currently has Young Breeze and rap group, Twisted Minds, on its stable.

No time for instruments

Though he used to play musical instruments including the drums, piano, clarinet and percussions, Tintin confesses, "I think that with all the things I do now, trying to make sure that my three businesses go simultaneously, I don't have time to play instruments anymore except for the piano, the keyboard and produce. [I play] drums from time to time, I go to the studio and lay some tracks which have live drums."

Much potential but...

From what he has seen of the entertainment industry so far, Tintin believes "There is so much potential here. We have a huge population that is young and the youth want to express themselves through sport and entertainment-TV, theatre, film and music. I always try to encourage young people that I come across to stay in education first or to do it simultaneously like I did because one day, anything could happen. Sometimes when you have a degree or a master's degree, it helps you to fall back safely."

He also holds that Nigeria's entertainment industry has a big role to play in Africa and beyond through film and music but only if we get our act together promptly. "We have already started. We started back in the days of Fela, Sunny Ade and Ebenezer Obey, Victor Olaiya and Fatai Rolling Dollar. We have to make our quality better and begin to sing about content that has a message for young people. It's amazing to see how much progress we have made in such a few years. There are so many talents but the film industry has to be repackaged properly so that we can sell it outside. That's the key of being a successful industry. We also need to have a more active involvement of government so that we can protect our artists' copyright. Piracy is one problem we are facing in music and we also need to curb it in the film industry too."

End of music?

Dancing to another Nigerian oldie, Tintin reveals his preference for music of yesteryears. "It is so beautiful to hear music that was created as back then. Today, we are having a bit of problem even though our industry is booming. The music is actually a collection of sounds put together intelligently and not so intelligently with a beat that really moves you. Back then, there was song, beat, musicians then were musicians. Today, artists are not musicians; back then, they were."

No grudges

Though some reporters took him to the cleaners in 2006 for his perceived mechanical handling of the Nigerian Breweries reality TV show, Gulder Ultimate Search III, which he anchored, Tintin has moved on. He nonetheless told his side of the story: "When I saw that there was a lack of wanting to give me freedom of expression to liaise and interact with the contestants in a more active manner... It's a recorded show, it wasn't edited properly.

They edited all the parts they wanted to edit, there are so many hidden footage; amazing footage that never went on TV. I see it as an experience; I got paid very well for the few weeks that I was in the jungle. I must thank Nigerian Breweries for giving me that money to help me to set up in Nigeria. Good things come from negative." He also does not regret coming back to Nigeria except that "I get frustrated with light (power supply). PHCN (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) please do something."

Prior to co-founding Classic FM with his friends, Tintin worked in the corporate communications department of Shell but left after a year "because they were downsizing and they were offering a severance package for people to leave. I thought I can establish myself more in Nigeria with it so I accepted it, took the package and left."