Theresa Ayoade Is Mad?

Radio is such an effective medium it can make or unmake any personality, especially when such a personality gets the opportunity to speak on it. With millions of discerning people tuned in, attentive and meticulous to every word uttered, whoever it is must be very circumspect with the words that emanates from his/her mouth. So was the case when Charterhouse front woman, Mrs. Theresa Ayoade had the opportunity to speak on radio like she’s been doing always, but this time, she was speaking in defense of her event-organizing firm which has been accused of some wrongdoings - and she misfired. The bespectacled Mrs Ayoade is noted for her cool demeanor, her good communication skills, her genial smile and composure whenever she speaks on radio, TV and at events but on the fateful Saturday courtesy of Kwasi Aboagye’s ER on Peace FM, she heavily disappointed many of her admirers, listeners and observers when she uncontrollably lashed out on the show, the panel members and especially on Copyright activist, Carlos Sakyi. The manner with which Mrs. Ayoade attacked Mr Sakyi on radio could be described as unfortunate, unnecessary and highly evitable. It is an undisputed fact that Ghana’s entertainment arena with respect to television and events would have been dormant if Charterhouse, a subsidiary of Multiple Concept Group of Companies, had not emerged. Charterhouse is one of the best if not the best event organizers in the country. They are so good in whatever they do, so well other people contract them to organize their shows for them, and I was amazed at how well the MTN ‘Hear our Roar’ concert held at the Independence Square, was expertly organized. 70% of our television programmes are Charterhouse produced shows and 80% of events held at our various auditoriums are Charterhouse-organized events. Considering what Charterhouse is involved in, they are open and subject to criticisms every now and then. Since the advent of the highly-anticipated Ghana Music Awards, they have always been criticisms on the nominations, categories, award winners and performances; yet, the organizers take it within their stride and ameliorate upon them. They have been castigations on Agoro, It takes 2, International Music Fiesta, Miss Malaika, Stars of the Future, Master Sports, Rhytmz, 100 Laughs and others and yet Charterhouse handle all criticisms with such professionalism. The question on everyone’s lips on the unprofessional outburst of Mrs. Ayoade was why she couldn’t handle this one. Was she pushed by some forces to do what she did? Or she was fed up with the criticisms; she thought the only way to handle them was rave and rant on radio? The contentious issue that made Mrs. Ayoade hit the roof was simple. The allegation which was backed with material evidences and words from some top musicians involved was that; Charterhouse had put the Ghana Music Awards held years ago on VCD and sold them without the knowledge and consent of the artists. According to Copyright laws which were reiterated by Carlos Sakyi on the show, the move by Charterhouse was an infringement on the rights of the artists and was unacceptable. Carlos may have been extremely harsh with his criticism because he felt Charterhouse with all its experienced personnel should have known better. Mrs. Ayoade, instead of accepting the fault of her firm, rather chose to defend their actions and say that; an issue that occurred 8years ago should not be accorded such relevance. I beg your pardon, Madam! Ex-President Alberto Fujimori of Peru is facing jail term for abuse of power years ago when he was President. The late Dictator Augusto Pinochet of Chile faced extradition and many charges for crimes he committed against humanity decades ago. Thanks to forensic evidence, crimes committed years ago are detected and culprits are brought to justice. So Mrs. Ayoade, if you guys did the wrong thing 8 years ago, it does not mean we should not talk about it because it’s past. No way! Charterhouse are bound to face criticisms on their organizational skills like the overcrowding and ticketing issues that happened at the 1005 Laughs and Ofori Amponsah shows, like the poor coordination at the Miss Malaika event, like the allocation of prizes for winners at the Stars of the Future show and so on – and if Mrs. Ayoade’s reaction on radio is how Charterhouse would be responding to criticisms, then they are in trouble. In her outburst on radio, she went like, “ We(Charterhouse) are doing our best, putting resources and personnel together to make sure everything goes on well, and we are tired, just tired.” Did I hear tired? I would be the first to admit that Charterhouse are doing incredibly well for Ghanaian entertainment and we appreciate their efforts, but it does not mean we should stand aloof and act a fool when things are not going right? Absolutely not! She said they are tired and it is natural for every human being to grow tired, even machines do tire – but the danger is that, when you are tired you do things haphazardly. So my little advice for Charterhouse is a simple one: If Mrs. Ayoade and Charterhouse are tired, they should take a deserving rest, they should go for a vacation or something and then come back rejuvenated and refreshed to do things properly.