When, on that beautiful night of Sunday, 6 October 2019, the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation honoured John Momoh with the HLF-Christopher Kolade Award for Excellence in Leadership and Professionalism in the Media, the organisation knew it was living up to its bidding. For an organisation that provides a platform for showcasing inspiring stories of contemporary role models to promote a culture of social responsibility among the next generation, honouring John Momoh – alongside other accomplished Nigerians, including President of African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwunmi Adesina, who received the Emeka Anyaoku Lifetime Achievement Award – with its highly coveted annual Role Model Awards was nothing short of hitting the bull’s-eye.
Building Channels Television from a television station of only 15 employees broadcasting out of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial hub, to one with over 400 staff and boasting of stations in Abuja, Edo and Kano States and bureaus in almost every state of the federation, including stringers and affiliates in other parts of Africa as well as strong relationships with international media organizations, and broadcasting to an audience of well over 20 million people in and outside of Nigeria in just a little short of three decades is no mean feat, especially in a country where difficult operating environment appears to be the norm.
When he founded Channels Incorporated in 1992, alongside his wife Sola, three years before Channels Television commenced operations, it was a dive into largely uncharted waters. The military government of Ibrahim Babangida had just deregulated broadcast media with the promulgation of Decree No. 38, which established the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission and authorized it to issue licences for private radio and television broadcasting in Nigeria. Before then, the existing broadcast stations were government-owned.
Channels Television was licensed in June 1993 and eventually made its maiden terrestrial broadcast on 1 July 1995, John Momoh’s 38th birthday. It was John Momoh himself who read the first news bulletin.
It has been nearly 30 years of toil since then, and the rewards of hard work have been rolling in. This is evident in the numerous awards that the independent 24-hour news and media television channel focusing primarily on producing news and current affairs programmes on Nigerian domestic issues has garnered over the years. Just in December 2023, at the 31st Nigeria Media Merit Award (NMMA) anniversary held at Muson Centre in Lagos, Channels Television won the TV Station of the Year Award for a record 16th time. The criteria for the award – the level of adherence to the rules of regulatory bodies, the percentage of local content, response to financial obligations internally and to regulatory bodies, quality of programming and transmission, objectivity, fairness and balance – speak to everything that Channels Television has done right and the quality of leadership John Momoh has provided.
The station, which lays claim to being the most watched Nigerian station and the most awarded television station in Africa, had previously won the prestigious TV Station of the Year Award in 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2021, and 2022. In February 2014, it was crowned as the Best Television Station in Africa by the African Achievers Award Trust.
A station of many firsts, Channels Television was the first Nigerian broadcast station to be nominated at the International Emmy for the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting Award and a regional winner of the Award; the first Nigerian media organization to stream its news and programmes live and interface with followers via Twitter; the first Nigerian TV station to have completed its mobile apps on various platforms (Android, Apple, Microsoft, Nokia and Blackberry); and the first media company to incorporate the use of Skype and Google hangouts in its news and programmes. The station has also been recognized as one of the Top 20 West African Convergence Leaders by the Knowhow Intelligence Unit and the Channels App has been ranked ‘Best App’ in the Apple Store, in all categories.
For John Momoh himself, it has equally been a harvest of honours and awards. The renowned veteran broadcaster, entrepreneur and youth development enthusiast who chairs the Channels Media Group and sits atop Channels Television as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer was honoured with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by the Federal Government in 2005. In 2006, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Nigerian Information Society, and was nominated for Entrepreneur of the Year in 2008 by the Fate Foundation.
In December 2022, John Momoh was recognised with the Media Icon Award at the maiden edition of the Nigeria Union of Journalists’ Milestone Recognition of Media Icons for having “recorded giant strides in curbing issues of rights violation across Nigeria”. He was honoured alongside other media icons and seasoned journalists who have worked towards the growth of Nigeria’s media industry, including veteran journalist and former Governor of Ogun State, Aremo Olusegun Osoba; Chairman/Publisher, Vanguard Newspapers, Prince Sam Amuka-Pemu; Chief Raymond Dokpesi of DAAR Communications; Chairman of Arise Television, Mr Nduka Obaigbena; former Chairman of Lagos NUJ, Mrs Funke Fadugba; and Chairman of Blueprint Newspaper, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, among others.
His other awards include the Lagos Business School’s Distinguished Alumni Award (2013), Leadership Award at the Planet Africa Awards in Canada (2014), ZIK Award for Entrepreneurship and the Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Institute of Directors, Nigeria (2015), Honorary Doctor of Business Administration by Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, and Honorary Doctor of Science by Crescent University Abeokuta, Ogun State.
But John Momoh’s winning streak started even before he ventured into media ownership. As a testament to his commitment to excellence, he won the maiden edition of the Nigerian Media Merit Award’s News Anchor of the Year and the Nigerian Union of Journalists Award for the Newscaster of the Year during his years as an employee.
Born 1 July 1957 in Lagos State, though of Edo extraction, John Olatchy Momoh attended Thomas Aquinas Primary School, Surulere, Baptist Academy, Lagos, and the University of Lagos, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communication and a Master’s degree in International Law & Diplomacy.
He began his broadcasting career in Abeokuta with the Ogun State Radio, from where he moved to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), before joining the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA). In these places he worked across roles, including as News Anchor, Senior Reporter and Senior Producer. It was after these years of tutelage that he ventured into media entrepreneurship.
An alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School (OPM40) and the Lagos Business School (CEP7), John Momoh also holds professional Diplomas from the University of Lagos, the UK’s Thomson Foundation Cardiff and the University of Manchester. He is a Fellow of The International Visitor Programme (IVP), an initiative of the United States Information Agency, a Chevening Fellow and a Fellow of the African Future Leaders, both initiatives of the British Government’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is also a Fellow of the Nigerian Leadership Initiative, Nigerian Guild of Editors, Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Nigerian Institute of Information Management, and Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria.
He served as General Secretary of Nigeria’s Independent Broadcasters Association and Chairman of the League of Nigerian Broadcasters, and was elected as Chairman of the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) in 2016, the first private broadcaster to be so elected, and played the role until 2019.
It was in recognition of his indelible mark in the media space that he was called to deliver the maiden edition of the University of Lagos Mass Communication Alumni Association’s Distinguished Lecture Series on the topic “The Mass Media: Setting the Nigerian Agenda”. In 2020, following a crisis in the University of Lagos arising from a face-off between the then Chairman of the Governing Council of the university, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, President Muhammadu Buhari appointed John Momoh to serve as the Acting Chairman of the Governing Council.
A member of the New York-based International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and a Red Cross Ambassador, John Momoh has served as a juror for the annual International Emmy Awards and also serves as a juror for the AIB Awards organised by The Association for International Broadcasting. He sits on the Board of many non-governmental organisations, including PeaceTech Lab (United States institute of Peace, Washington); Public Media Alliance (formerly Commonwealth Broadcasting Association); Constituency for Africa (CFA), an African-focused organization located in Washington, DC; Special Olympics Nigeria; University of Lagos Advancement Board; Sickle Cell Foundation; Tristate Heart Foundation; Centre for Integrated Health & Development; and Digital Peers International.
John Momoh’s heroes include Steve Jobs, Richard Branson and Nelson Mandela.
