The Media Blog: The latest Media Big Boys? Osagie Alonge and Tunde Kara, from Pulse

Last week we updated you on Rich Tanksley. Former head honcho at Pulse Nigeria, who took the unrefined and made it gold – and his departure in October.

Now, everyone has the scoop on where he goes next. General Electric where he will be doing something with garages and laboratories and (shudders) printers.

After the highflying excitement of Pulse?

But whatever his reasons for leaving Ringier for GE, what has come next is so exciting, we’ll forgiving him for choosing boredom.

Osagie Alonge, former rapper, former NET reporter, Terror of Rap Icons All Over Nigeria and First of His Name will become the Managing Director of Pulse. You heard that right. MD.

Yes, it’s not really a stretch when you imagine that he was Editor-in-Chief before this. And in many media houses EiC = MD. But still, the language, and the title. The excitement!

He joined in August 2014. This happened two years after.

osagie-alonge-4-square

How long ago was it that Alonge was an entertainment journalist finding space alongside others at dodgy press conferences with equally sandals that he must remember only with fondness these days?

And then there is Tunde Kara, whose career in the media started here at our flagship magazine Y! – who moved on to Pulse to lead on Sales and is now Director of Sales and Business Development after, from reports we have heard, blowing out targets and building a bad-ass team in the process.

That’s something all three people who have been promoted appear to have in common – at least as far as we can see, and under the guidance of Tanksley. The third person being Aniekan Etuhube, the guy you would find seated quietly to the left of the makeshift studio where Pulse creates all that TV sugar – and is credited with creating the viral shows ‘Pulse Strivia’ and ‘Pulse Vox Pop’.

There is one way to look at it. That Pulse doesn’t need high paid expatriates to run its Nigeria operations anymore, or that it makes more economic sense to hand it over to people who won’t put some heavy duty on the pay roll.

Or there is the other way to look at it, which is undoubtedly what matters more: That a trio of young Nigerians joined a foreign owned company, sprinkled authentic Naija fairy dust on it and proved that completely made-in-Nigeria brands can handle our own business.

And of course, that anyone anywhere can begin a career in the media and by dint of hard work only, find one’s way to the very top.

Attention media owners everywhere: The game has entirely changed. Transformed. It belongs to the young. The previously not-yet-experienced-enough.

Get with the programme (and stop owing people salaries while you are at, plix).

 

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail