How Gov Fashola saved Traffic 96.1FM

If not for the timely intervention of Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, perhaps the popular Traffic 96.1FM, which monitors traffic across the ever-busy Lagos metropolis, would have lost its focus. Skoops gathered that barely three months after the establishment of the radio station, it became the beautiful bride of Lagosians and therefore every brand manager who knew his onions wanted to seize the moment by placing advertisement on the platform. A source disclosed: “The Traffic Radio became a huge success just a short while after it started broadcasting and brand managers began to eye it as a veritable platform to push their brands because its listener base ran into millions on a daily basis. It was sheer market economics at work! “A deluge of adverts bombarded the station and the climax was when business savvy brand managers brought cheques running into millions of naira, ready to buy off a large chunk of airtime. However, Governor Fashola got wind of the plans to commercialise the station and waded in.” The source continued: “Millions of naira had to be re-funded. Fashola would have none of it because he is fully aware of the implication of letting the platform go commercial. It would lose focus and deprive Lagosians the opportunity of getting up-to-date and in-depth traffic reports. And as far as the governor was concerned, what mattered most was the soul of the radio station, which is traffic monitoring and reporting and not money. So, he gave instructions that all monies that had been collected be re-funded with immediate effect and that singular act saved the day for Lagos motorists.” When next you’re driving on Lagos’ ever-busy roads and you tune in to Traffic 96.1FM for directions, don’t forget to thank Governor Fashola for keeping it real.