Ekourba Gyasi Revealed!

The airwaves have been inundated with issues of strike and laying down of tools so much that it is not funny anymore. The most significant one which has seen many people complaining is the one which was embarked on by the nation�s doctors almost two weeks ago. Because of the suffering that many patients have been going through and even some leading to deaths as a result of the strike has led to many accusing the doctors of being heartless, wicked and being careless to the plight of the sick and the dying. Many social commentators and serial callers have had the doctors for breakfast, lunch, supper and others in-between. The fact, as is mostly the case in this country, is that many have jumped against the doctors and their action without first looking at the merit of the case to even know what it is that triggered their action. Some say they have no such right at all to embark on strike. It doesn�t matter what anybody thinks about the doctors� strike as what is most important at this moment is to maintain cool head on both sides and talk till a good result is attained. The doctors have to go back to work and that is the priority at this moment not the right or otherwise of their action, I believe. I have already taken a look at what Adakabre Frimpong Manso has been up to since arriving at Adom FM one year ago and have also done same for Abeiku Santana since stepping into his role as the marquee presenter at the newly established Okay FM. The other person that I did promise you to talk about is Ekourba Gyasi Collins, who completes the triumvirate of who moved from or to Adom FM last year, by way of looking at how he has been able to fit into the new role and attempt to assess his performance over the period. When he was asked to stand aside as the host of Dwaso Nsem on Adom FM in other to make way for Adakabre as the new host of the show, Ekourba Gyasi was palpably disappointed and hence did not take the decision kindly at all. Well, I would be disappointed if I were in his shoes, won�t I? He said to me at the time that he did not know what it was that triggered that decision as he had not been given any particular reason why he was being asked to leave the show. He also said he had not been assigned any new role at the station. Indeed the programmes� director at the time told me that there were opportunities within the Multimedia Group which their former morning show host would be benefitting from in due course. Apparently, the man in question had other ideas. Okay FM had recently started and it would be good to slide in to see what could be done. Meanwhile when Adakabre left to take over his show Maakye, the morning show on Hot FM, was left to be tended by Omanhene Kwabena Asante as the tentative replacement until the regular person to host the show was found. Remember that there had been moves to bring in Kwame Adinkra from Angel FM in Kumasi which had fallen through because both parties had different expectations that negotiations could not address. Ekourba knew then that he had an opportunity to take up the responsibility of hosting the show that his immediate predecessor was hosting. Thus he was faced with two major choices: knock hard on the Okay FM door or respond to the interest shown by CEO Francis Poku Jnr and take up the Hot FM offer. Well the latter came handy and he took it and the reason he has been the one directing affairs on the morning show at the Adabraka based station for about one year now. The question is: how effectively has he been on this show since stepping in as the regular presenter? Since his days as the presenter of the morning show at Happy FM, Ekourba Gyasi Collins has never been on a show without veteran Sekeyere Boateng. He went with him to Adom FM and so the question at the time was if this would happen again at his new employment. It was obvious this would happen and so when Ekourba started the show we begun to hear Boateng�s voice on the new station as well. Every radio presenter I know has his own style of presenting his show and that style doesn�t vary regardless of where they find themselves. Ekourba is no exception and it is something I have observed since he became a morning show presenter within the Accra area. The style is simple, present the issue and let the audience have their say and then bring in the experts (that would be synonym for social commentators) to share their views on the matter and then it is discussed. His style has not changed at Hot FM. Over his various shows at different stations, Ekourba is not the kind who attempts hard questions and strictly no long intro to the question which puts him directly in contrast to his successor and predecessor Adakabre. Neither style is right nor wrong, it is the way each of them likes to go about their show. Ekourba and Boateng have been doing almost the same things as they used to do at Adom FM with regards to how they interact before or after the newspaper review and together with former Adom FM news presenter, Akosua Safoa Kantimpo they have strike a good balance. It must be said that Hot FM maybe holding its own against the major stations in the capital but it is still not there at the top with them, if you believe the diaries. Thus the audience share and reach for this programme is definitely not the same as Ekourba had it at Adom FM. Regardless of this, many who call into his programme seem to like him and what he does and they do not hide their views about it (hiding of views is one thing morning show callers would never do by the way) as they keep talking about it. The fact though is that Ekourba�s body language, at least on the radio, shows that he has reacted positively to what happened at Adom FM and put all behind him. He seems to be enjoying himself on Hot FM in apparent keeping with the adage that if you are asked to go, go somewhere else (or so). It seems the journeyman from Windy Bay Radio, Uniiq FM, Sunshine Radio, Happy FM and Adom FM has found a home at Hot FM. Would this be the last or just the rest stop until he continues the journey?