Chilling moment with Rosemary

Rosemary Ajuka aka, Chilli, is an on-air personality and media entrepreneur. The award winning host the Sunday Chilli out zone with Chilli as well as Good Morning Nigeria show on Cool fm 96.6. Speaks with The Guardian Eniola Daniel, on her journey to broadcasting.

What kind of family upbringing do you have?
I was born and raised in Lagos. I am from of Afikpo North, Ebonyi State. I come from a big, closely-knit family. I have 10 siblings; 11 of us, but it’s a very close family with a lot of girls.

My upbringing has to do with a lot of reading. We read a lot as kids, my dad would always buy us books instead of toys, so, that was the kind of upbringing I had. I grew up with a hunger for information, and this kind of influenced my choice of a job to gather information and to dispense it. Taking anything from anyone, that would be my dad. He’s very inquisitive and also brave, I like those two aspects of him, and I can say I took after him.

You said you come from a big family do you mean a polygamous home?
Yes, so to say. But my stepmother, may God bless her soul, passed on before I was born.

You must have had a childhood that is memorable, what do you still recollect most when you were growing up?
Reading books. Like I said, we read a lot of books. One of my fondest memories was that my dad used to travel a lot, and he used to come back with a lot of book. My sisters and I would read up all the books, and when you are done with one, we exchange, and at times, we also read one book together, you see one holding a page and other reading from the other page lying down reading the same book, not because we were forced, but the hunger for knowledge was the driving force.

Did you feel bad not getting toys like your peers?
No. I think buying kids toys instead of books is a big disservice to them, especially, nowadays. Seeing some of my friends or other people dumping their kids in front of television or buying them tab, i-pad or other gadget, I always feel sorry for them; acquiring these gadgets or getting used to them make them think for you, you cannot think for yourself, so, what book does for you is that, it makes you question everything, and make you think for yourself. You are denying your children a beautiful life if you don’t buy them books as early as possible nor help them to read the first word, as early as one year old.

What was your first experience in school?
As a child, memory is vague, but I remember that I was always considered a talkative in primary school and I got double promotion in primary school, I was considered the smallest in secondary school and that had always been the case. I am the smallest where I work, I am the smallest in my industry, I am the smallest every time so, in university, I was considered a foreigner, people always asked me ‘why do you talk like that, didn’t you school in Lagos, why are you speaking like that.

Did you, at any time think you would be an OAP?
No. I did not. I never thought I would be one. Do you know what I wanted to be? An aeronautical engineer. But I didn’t do well in Further Mathematics, I had to do Biochemistry. I actually studied Applied Bio-Chemistry, so, radio just happened. I wouldn’t completely call it a coincidence, because it was suggested to me, people usually say ‘you talk too much, you should be on the radio, it was suggested and I took it.

What actually brought you to the broadcasting industry?
I would say it’s the power it gives. I love power and broadcasting gives you power to know you can say this is the time and people will check their wristwatch to see if it corresponds with the time you say, that is power.

What is the greatest challenge of being Rosemary Ajuka?
I think the greatest challenge would be separating myself from the public. There is Rosemary Ajuka and there is Chilli; Chilli is the one on the radio, she’s crazy, she got golden hair, she makes a lot of noise, she’s a different person, but when I get off the radio and get to the public, I’m really quite a loner, I really just cuddle on my bed with book, so, it’s difficult to balance that, because there are two different people, there is one who loved to go out for event, be on the radio, on Tv but there is other one who just want to sit in bed and read a book.

Considering your experience as OAP, what advise or word of encouragement will you give to young ladies in similar situation?
First of all, I will say ‘don’t stop talking, don’t stop having an opinion because young women were shut down every time, ‘shut up you are a woman, you don’t have to talk, you must sit in the corner, I am telling, don’t let anybody shut you down, don’t let anybody stop you from having your own opinion and don’t be afraid to express it.

We are in the greatest time in the history of man, the social media so, you can have your blog, you can go to facebook, instagram, twitter to express yourself, you can market yourself by yourself and if you want to be on the radio, walk up to any radio station and tell them you are awesome, they will not take you seriously at first, but if you do it over and over, one day, somebody will pay attention and study too, because a lot of people think if you can just speak ‘phoneee’ you can be a broadcaster, broadcasting is beyond that, you have to be knowledgeable, you can’t know everything but try to know a bit about everything, read, read and read!!!

Does that mean you feel intimidated by size?
No. I don’t feel intimidated but is not really a question of size, it’s a question of youth, you don’t get a lot of respect as a young person, and when you are a young person and you are a female, they will always be calling you aburo (little girl) normally, if you are not as young as I am, people in the same position that I am, and they are older than me, they don’t have to prove so much but because I am so young and I am a woman, I have a lot to prove so, it more work because young people are not respected in this country, they don’t believe you have any wisdom so, I always find myself in a position where I have to let them know that I am young but I am smart and I got wisdom and we have a lot of young people in Nigeria that are very wise so people should not take young people for granted. I have met so many young people doing stuff you won’t believe, things beyond their age but they are doing it so they need to get some respect.

When not on radio, what other things do you do?
I like to laugh, I laugh a lot. , I love to swim and I love to dance, I like to inspire people, a lot of young people are following my brand and I got inspired when they say ‘she’s young and she’s doing this. I speak to young people.

You’re a popular figure and many want to know what your social life is like, are you an introvert or extrovert?
When I need to be an introvert, I am an introvert, when I need to be extrovert, I am an extrovert. My job actually makes me an extrovert, because you have to be the life of the party, you have to be able to engage with people, which an introvert cannot do. I like to go out, I like clubbing, I go fishing, some times, at the lagoon and I love sport. I exercise a lot.