BN On The Radio: Booboo – Cool FM 96.9

Note: Just when you thought that we had only Female EOAPs to bring to you…We pulled a man out of the hat.

May I borrow your imagination?

Yes?

Thank you.

Now, Imagine this…

There’s a class full of the brightest ten year olds. And their teacher, let’s call her Miss Bims, asks them a question we’ve all heard before:

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Tola, a bright eyed, dark and skinny girl with pigtails raises her hand and says, “I want to be a doctor!” Chinedu raises his hand and says, “I want to be a Lawyer!” And then Ezinne, raises her hand and says, “I want to be a Nurse.”

And then the little fair and chubby boy at the back of the class (Let’s call him Booboo) raises his right hand and says,

“I want to be a Radio Presenter!”

Now one of the following three things could happen:

1. The classroom would be blanketed in graveyard silence
2. The whole class would point and laugh at the “brave” young man at the back of the class
3. Another student in the class would ask, “What’s a Radio Presenter?”

Meet our EOAP No. 3

On-Air Name: Booboo (…your boyfriend on the Radio)

Real Name: Augustus Aja-Onu

Radio Station: Cool FM 96.9

Yes, where were we?

Booboo.

What’s the idea behind that nickname anyway, you ask?

His mother is to blame, he says, “My mother went to the US to give birth to my little brother. So for a long bit, she was away and then when she came back, the first thing she said when she saw me was ‘My booboo!’ And then the name stuck, all through Pre-school, High School and even University. It’s so bad that sometimes I forget my real name”.

Now, very much unlike virtually all the other EOAPs that we’ve met (Remember, EOAP = Extraordinary On-Air Personality), Booboo, as he prefers to be called did not ‘accidentally’ end up on the radio. He says, “I’ve always wanted to be on the radio. The radio, for me has always been a life long dream”. He auditioned for a slot at Cool FM for 3 years (yes, you read right). More about that later though.

His story is pretty colorful, he began as a Law student, in the University of Lagos. But dropped out after one year (Stay in school kids!) for a lack of interest. He says, “I wasn’t cut out to do Law even though my parents wanted me to do it. And it would have amounted to wasting 6 – 7 years of my life doing what my parents wanted me to do as opposed to what I wanted. ” After a brief stint, he was back in school again but studying Mass Communication at Olabisi Onabanjo University.

Right there in University, a TV station, MBI (Minaj Broadcast International)snapped him up. This was a start of sorts on the road to his dream. He worked with MBI right through school and after up until 2008 when the station closed down. A young and ambitious was out of a job for a over year. “I was out of work for a year, but even through that I was re-inventing myself and repeatedly coming for auditions at Cool FM”

Why Cool FM? “From the first time I heard Cool FM On the 2nd of October 1998, I knew I just had to work there” And then, many auditions and years later. He walked out of what was to be his last audition. “When I walked out of there, I felt like I had killed it, you know? And then, a day later. They called me in for an interview and that was it.”

With his dream fulfilled, you’d think that would be the end of the road for the ever ambitious booboo. But he says, “It’s a stepping stone to where I’m going to. I want to grow. I want have my own radio station someday very soon.”

With a strong personality and ‘sultry voice’ like he has, he has his own share female attention. He says, “I made the sore mistake a long while back of leaving my Phone number on facebook. And then loads and loads of girls started to call me. It was hell for a bit till we had that sorted out.”

On a parting note, when he’s not on the radio, he’s an Artiste Manager buying into the dreams of many upcoming artistes. People who otherwise would have had little of an opportunity to showcase their unique talents. Being on the radio is a big help towards that end as well.

Enjoy the rest of your week!