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| Idonije |
Renowned Broadcaster and Music Critic,
Benson Idonije, has been honoured with a fellowship of the Adam Fiberesima
School of Music and Conservatory (AFSM) of the University of Port Harcourt. The
award for the septuagenarian broadcaster, media trainer and avid commentator on
Music, was contained in a February 19 letter signed by Joseph Ajienka of the
School.
The letter stated that the recognition was
based on Idonije’s “commitment to the development of classical and indigenous
music not only in Nigeria but throughout the West African region”. The honour, according to the letter, entitles
Idonije to “use the insignia FAFSM (or Fellow, AFSM).
Born in 1936 in Otuo near Auchi in Edo
State, where he also started elementary school, Benson Idonije studied
communication engineering at Yaba College of Technology, Lagos. He joined the
service of the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (later Federal Radio
Corporation of Nigeria, FRCN) in 1957 as Engineering Assistant but moved to
mainstream broadcasting in 1960, when he became a producer and presenter of
such famous programmes as the The Big Beat and Stereo Jazz Club.
After retirement from the FRCN in 1992,
Benjay as he is fondly called, began contributing critiques, opinions and
commentaries to many major Arts-related journals in Nigeria and abroad. In1996
he was formally invited by The Guardian (Nigeria) to write for the newspaper;
and he maintained three columns every week – “Evergreen” (Wednesdays), “Sound
and Screen” (Fridays), and “All that Jazz” (Sundays). He is perhaps the
only columnist in any Nigerian newspaper with such frequency and
resourcefulness.
The well-researched columns are
individually widely acclaimed, attracting feedbacks — mostly commendations --
from all over the world. The thousands of articles are currently being collated
into volumes that will be published soon. In past two years, Benjay has however
concentrated his weekly writing only on his most-favoured subject “Jazz”, still
under the title “All That Jazz” every Sunday for The Guardian.
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