... He reveals more about himself, his Foundation for ‘buruli ulcer’, his Radio Show and Gadangme Region.
His listeners and friends call him, ‘Bishop T’ and he is a famous Host of a weekend Gadangme (natives from the Greater Accra Region in Ghana) programme called ‘Bo Oba Show’. The programme is broadcast on Sundays (6 p.m.) from London on Hot Digital Radio (at Sky Channel 0212 and on the internet at www.hotdigitalradio.com). His Foundation, ‘Bishop T Foundation’, is involve in the prevention and treatment of ‘buruli ulcer’ (a life deforming and deadly disease) in Ghana. He accepted an invitation to talk to Ghanaweb correspondent, Reggie Tagoe. Below is the full test of that interview.
Reggie Tagoe (R.T.): Let me first thank you for accepting my invitation for this interview. I appreciate that.
Bishop T (B.T.): Don’t mention.
R.T: ‘Bishop T’ is the name your listeners and fans call you. I’m sure that is not your real name. What does the T stands for and what is your real name. Also take me through how that name, ‘Bishop T’ originated?
B.T: ‘Bishop T’ is my nickname. I took the ‘T’ from my real name, Titus Evans. ‘Bishop’ came out of my mind as I was thinking of getting a nickname. What happened was, when I started as a Radio Presenter, I was with others and we all came out with an idea to use our nicknames instead of our real names and ‘Bishop T’ was the name I chose for myself. People asked me about my native ‘Ga’ name. To take you back, my great grandfather came from Wales and is called Evans. He was a timber merchant who came to Ghana and settled in Accra. He married a ‘Ga’ native woman who gave birth to my grandfather who also married a ‘Ga’ native and gave birth to my father. Likewise, he also got married to a ‘Ga’ native woman and so the surname Evans continued. All of them stayed at ‘Otublohum’, a part in the suburb of Accra. My mother’s name was Lankai and she comes from James Town in Accra. My father didn’t give a ‘Ga‘native name to his children but we, the children, shifted from that culture and decided to give the native name to our children as their middle name, borrowing names from our mother’s family. I have other half sisters and brothers who all took names from their mother’s family, all of them being ‘Gas’.
R.T: Tell me in brief about yourself before you came to be a Radio Presenter.
B.T: I attended St. John’s Secondary School in Accra. I lost my father after finishing the O’Levels. My mother’s financial situation could not enable me continue my education. We were six in all, four males and two females. I am the fourth born and my elder brothers and sister had by then finished school and were working, one was in the U.K. Not being able to continue with my education, I went to teach together with one of my elder brothers to help our mother take care of our junior siblings who were less that 10 years old then. Three years after teaching I left Ghana and came to England. It was a difficult experience in the beginning but I managed do some courses which eventually opened up a good job opportunity for me to work at Ford Motor Company. I developed interest in photography and did a 2-year course on that which earned me an extra income taking photographs at weddings and other ceremonies. But somewhere along the line, I found it boring and decided to do a video shooting and production course, again which generated additional income for me. Let me say here that both courses were sponsored by my employer, Ford Motor Company, and I owe them a lot of gratitude. After some time the video part-time job also became boring and decided to go into music. I had that interest when in Ghana but it didn’t work out well for me in London and went on to become a D.J. I bought some sounds equipment and was playing at functions which again gave me an extra income. It was in the course of this that two Ghanaians Radio Stations started transmission in London. But I noticed that on both stations they were using only the ‘Akan’ language. I told a colleague I was working with if I get an opportunity to go on air I will speak my local native language called ‘Ga’ to draw people’s attention to my language. My friend informed me about a Radio Station called ‘GFM Radio’ saying he is a close associate to the man who runs it and asked if I will be interested. When I expressed interest and how eager I am to get that chance he quickly rang the man(called by his nickname‘Tiger’) and I fixed an appointment to meet him. From there things kicked off and since then I have been into it as a Radio Presenter. It has been 15 years now and in between these periods I have moved between different Radio Stations – Hot FM, Voice of Africa, G.B.C. FM – and presently with Hot Digital Radio.
R.T: Let’s talk about your Foundation, the ‘BISHOP T FOUNDATION’ of which you are involve in the prevention and treatment of ‘buruli ulcer’. For the benefit of people who do not know what it is, how will you describe it and how did you get to know about it?
B.T: The word ‘buruli’ comes form a Ugandan language. It’s a disease that was said to have surfaced in Africa, first in Uganda, but It’s reported to have originated from Australia. It normally occurs at mining areas or villages and certain unidentified bacteria are said to be responsible for it. The stones from these mines harbour these bacteria which find their way into outlying rivers. It appears to affect children more than adults. I had no idea about it before but was surfing through the internet when I came across victims of the disease and what I saw scared me. I understood, on the infected person it starts as a boil on the body that swells and becomes a sore gradually opening up and eating the flesh as it spreads. I felt the need to help and my further research led me to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana where there is a centre for treatment of the disease. I managed to get in touch with the doctor in charge, one Dr. Edwin Ampadu, and since then ‘Bishop T Foundation’ has been involved.
R.T: Tell me about the inauguration of the Foundation which took place in Accra recently.
B.T: It went very. Many doctors were present. We invited Nii Tackie Tawiah II(‘Ga Mantse’-Head Chief of the Greater Accra Region), the Head of Ghana International Airlines, the Press and many prominent individuals. My sincere thanks to all who were present. We have made a video presentation of the disease which will be out soon for all those who want to help the Foundation towards its course on the disease.
R.T: How long has your Foundation been in existence and where do you get support from?
B.T: It’s about a year old. We got two people, Endora Naa Adawah Mann and Sarah Solomon-Ayeh, who gave us financial support when we started. The two gave us 4,000 Ghana New Cedis (about $2,800).We have also generated some amount of money during the launching and have opened an account for the Foundation. Anyone who wants to help us financially can pay into these accounts: Barclays Bank – 035/1131446 or UBA Bank – 013 094 756 015 03. Let me aslo add that during the launching there was one English lady who was present. She accompanied one Ghanaian, Gifty Annan, to the event. The two resides in England and were in Ghana for a different purpose and the lady was touched by what we have started. Back in England she informed her father who runs an NGO and the two have promised to help. I have established contact with them and will be meeting them soon.
R.T: Can the disease be cured?
B.T: Yes, but in some unfortunate cases the victim faces a life long damaging effects where the leg, arm or finger is amputated or deformed. In some cases the person becomes crippled. We managed to see some of the victims whilst in Ghana. They will need assistance in the form of providing them with wheelchairs, clutches and materials to aid them. We have compiled a documentary on all these and will be raising funds in London towards helping them.
R.T:Let me shift your attention to the people of Gadangme, both at home (in Ghana) and abroad. We met in London, France and in Italy of which the course was intended to helping the Greater Accra Region. Some of the issues and problems that have been raised are: the dwindling image of the native language, ‘Ga’, chieftancy disputes, concern over sanitation and the natives lands being sold indiscrimantely. You were in Ghana recently and how serious are these concerns?
B.T: I went to Accra on a mission of launching the ‘Bishop T Foundation’ and to be honest with you didn’t go into all the issues you mentioned. But let me say that, the sanitation problem in Accra is a worrying factor. However, in my previous visits together with two friends we have bought an air time for a programme on the local Radio Station, ‘Obonu’ FM. The programme is called ‘Ga nonn ne’, which can be translated as meaning ‘Is that the Accra? or Is that the Accra we know?. They discuss all the issues and problems that confronts the Region and we are happy to be raising awareness towards the welfare of the Region.
R.T. Coming to your special programme on Hot Digital Radio - the ‘Bo Oba Show’. You attract a lot of listeners, especially Gadangme native, across the world. What gave birth to the idea of this programme, where you open a Forum for discussion on matters of the Region?
B.T. As I stated earlier, when they started with Ghanaians Radio Station in London, only the Ghanaian language, ‘Akan’, was being spoken. I am proud to say I am the first person who brought the local language, ‘Ga’ into the scene and we have carried on to this stage. I like challenges, always looking for oppotunity to do things which has not been done before and that’s how I started. The program needed a name and I called it ‘Bo Oba’ literally meaning ‘You have come’. The simple explanation is that, we are in a Forum discussing issues concerning the Greater Accra Region, and if you as a native or one who can speak our language, ‘Ga’ has taken a chair and chosen to join us, that’s your choice – ‘You, have come’. On a more serious note we are all on a learning curve and before we finish with the programme people have learnt something. The feed back we get about the programme tells us people learn a lot in the areas of grammatical expressions of the ‘Ga’ language, names of objects, our traditions and many more. We owe our listeners many thanks for their contributions, without them the programme would not have reached where it is today. Each time we are unable to come on air it appears to be a ‘bad’ Sunday for our listeners. That shows our contribution towards the welfare of the Greater Accra Region.
R.T. Are you bothered about some of the listeners who put in some controversial questions or sometimes takes an uncompromising stance. That raises a heated debate. How do you deal with all that?
B.T. My role model when I started as a Radio Presenter is Adjei Klu – a Radio journalist wtih ‘Obonu’ FM. Things that I cannot solve I contact him for help. Most of the issues he gives me as answers I ask him again on the programme to emphasis and with that listeners also learn from it. I’ve learnt a lot from him, I’ve also learnt from some callers to the programme. I don’t think any person has the keys to knowledge or learning, we are all learning at one time or the other and the callers also teach me through the programme.
R.T. Are you surprised about the interest shown in the programme by many people, especially natives of Gadangme living abroad?
B.T. Yes and No. I am not too surprised because one who is doing a good job knows about it and if you are not doing it well you are aware of it. Our call-in lines are most of the time jammed and that tells us the great interest we are getting from our listeners.
R.T. Let me again get back to the Gadangme issues. The natives of Gadangme abroad are so much concerned about the future of the Region. Some few months ago, the Italy Union in Emilia Romagna Region, sent a delegation to ascertain the nature of some of the problems confronting the Region. They met with the traditional chiefs and also managed to stop the dumping of refuse at unauthourised places. The Union in Germany has also sent equipment to some hospitals in the Region. Why do you think people in the Region (in Ghana) sit down, appearng unconcerned, only for its natives abroad to come and talk to them about the dangers involve in an atmosphere of filth and squalor?
B.T. Good question! I think problems, discouragement and frustration all combined has been the contributory factor. There are people who on daily basis are thinking how to get food to eat and in that mentality are least concerned about the environment they are in. I was talking to the ‘Ga Mantse’ (Head of the Greater Accra Regional House of Cheifs) sometime ago and he narrated a story to me. He said, he was walking around his Palace one day when he saw some food sellers sitting in a dirty environment conducting their business. He approached one of them and questioned him about sitting in that enviroment. His reply was:”If you want us to clean here then you have to pay us” According to him he gave them money to have the place sorted out. Astonishing! Unfortunately, this is the situation we have. What the Gadangme natives from Italy came to start on the sanitation problem is an awareness that should stir the people to continue.
R.T. What do you see about the future of the Gadangme Union in Europe?
B.T The formation of the Gadangme Union in Europe is a good thing. If all of us will put our efforts behind it that will help our Region a lot. It’s about time all Gadangme people come together because there is strength in unity.
R.T. Your relationship with Adjei Klu a native of the Greater Accra Region and a correspondent of your programme, ‘Bo Oba’ Show, has been cordial and of mutual co-operation. What can you say about him?
B.T. Adjei Klu is a knowledgeable person, he is cultured, he is honest and fast (let me say slippery). If you associate with such a person you learn a lot. That’s why he is my mentor. I will always speak good about him where ever I go. He has been of great help on my programme and also assisted my Foundation in diverse ways. He is a brother, a friend and through my programme he has been made more popular.
R.T. My final couple of questions. For some time now, the ‘Bo Oba’ Show has been off the air on Sky Channel 0212 and only received on the internet at www.hotdigitalradio.com What problems have you encountered?
B.T. It cost £7,000 a month to broadcast the station on air. My producer has been doing his best to keep it on air until now. Assistance is needed to feature the programme on Sky Channel 0212 and we will welcome all who want to contribute.
R.T. What will be your advise to all your listeners, especially Gadangme people residing abroad.
B.T. My advise is, we are still learning on the ‘Bo Oba’ Show and all the listeners should inform their fellow ‘Ga’ natives or interested persons who are not aware of such a programme going on air to tune in and listen. By so doing we will get more listeners and that will make the Show more interesting.
R.T. Bishop. It’s been a pleasure talking to you and once again thanks for this interview, I wish you all the best in the good work you are doing.
B.T. It’s a pleasure talking to you too, hope people will also notice the good work you are doing for the Ghanaians community in Italy and reward you accordingly. Thank you.
