Raymond Dokpesi

By Tunde Asaju

One of my earliest assignments as a rookie reporter with Newswatch was to unearth a ‘pirate’ radio station operating in Lagos under the curious name, Raypower. I began my search for its ‘alleged’ owner, a shipping magnate that goes by the name of Raymond Aleogho Dokpesi. I met him in a posh home in VI and we settled to an interview. I have never forgotten that encounter and later I would meet Raypower Abuja, my good friend, Mac Mac Imoni Amarere and he’d become not just a friend but someone who’d take me under his two-door Toyota to every assignment in the town. I would later meet Jeff Aboh of blessed memory, Doyin Okesola and of course Austin Agbonsuremi Augustine Okhiria. I became part of the Raypower AIT family even meeting a distant cousin at the Katampe Hill studios.

Raymond became to Nigeria what Ted Turner was to CNN. The history of the independent broadcast industry will not be written in Nigeria or Africa without a mention of this awesome guy. His business ethics and his personal life may not totally agree with society’s dictates but I have never had course to disrespect this icon. It is particularly hard to learn that he has left the building. May God grant him a smooth sail from whatever failed him. May God comfort his immediate family and all of us in the media.

Adieu Raypower, hoping the empire you built will surpass your legacy.