By Kehinde Ajose
Truth be told, Wana Udobang is not your regular run of the mill broadcaster. The brilliant on air personality who anchors Airtel’s Sharing lives issues on Inspiration FM, is a woman of many parts who evokes the image of a go -getter. She studied broadcast journalism at the University College for the Creative Arts and graduated with First Class honors.
Wana Wana, as she often called by her fans and friends, continues to push boundaries, reinventing herself not just as a broadcaster, but going on to do other things with her God given abilities.The bubbly damsel opens up on how her experiences in the media as shaped her outlook, her thoughts on women moving forward, among other issues.
What is the Wana Wana Story?
Wana Udobang
I don’t know that there is any particular WanaWana story. I attended St Leos catholic school Ikeja, then command secondary school Ibadan and University for the creative arts in Surrey England. Have done a slew of different jobs since I was 16. I suppose the odd one would be Human resources but post University, I have mainly worked in the media and had other jobs side by side.
I once interned at Rhythm 93.7 over a certain summer holiday. I always say that was my baptism into personality radio as my back ground was in journalism, documentary radio and a bit of sound art. In 2009 I started working at Inspiration 92.3FM and I think that is where WanaWana really came to being and blossomed.
How have your experiences in the media shaped your outlook to life?
I think it has made me more aware of the power we have in shaping public perception, opinion and most of all having the ears of millions is such a huge responsibility. This means that I have become a lot more careful and watchful with my utterances.
What will you regard as your greatest struggle and how have you been able to overcome it?
As an individual my greatest struggle has always been confrontation. Most people I know find it weird to believe, I am not a confrontational person and as a result it’s easy to get walked on but it is something I am learning to deal with daily because it is important to confront situations sometimes, you can’t always let it go. You have to face things and deal with them.
What are your thoughts on women moving forward?
I think women need to be aware of the psychological hold that patriarchy can have because sometimes our limitations aren’t just as a result of what the society has told us or drummed into our heads but what it has made us believe that we start to believe it yourselves. Ultimately we become our own prison believing that we are miraculously incapable of doing certain things.
I remember once being told that only when a people are empowered do they move from just being a population to a human resource. I think a greater sense of our place, importance, and contribution to the world on every level is the kind of juggernaut we need for forward movement.
We make 50 percent of a population, imagine how much more ideas, innovation and disruption needs to be done. Bringing it closer home as Africa’s most populous nation, imagine the magnitude of what we could do, if we are engaged and unafraid.
How can women make their mark in their spheres of influence?
I think at striving to be excellent at all they do and remembering to pay it forward. We don’t exist in an orbit so its important to remember that there are people coming after you. There are lots of people who have made life easier for me and certain dreams and ambitions more accessible by just being excellent in their pursuits and I have never even met them but they work they have done means I don’t have to shout as loud as I would have had to if they hadn’t done beyond the ordinary.
You are an on air personality, writer and poet. Have you explored every of your talents?
I wish. I don’t even know that I have any talents. I think I just enjoy learning new things. I think I have a few more things to explore but honestly I am in no hurry, I take it as it comes. The opportunities will present itself to continuously explore myself and my potential as a human being and if it haunts me for long enough, I create the opportunities. For me life is a continuum and I owe it to myself to live it to the full
What inspired Shrink and Sensitive skin?
My short film Shrink was inspired by a short story I had written a while back of the same title. But I think more importantly by our pre-occupation with perception to the point where we loose and sometimes destroy ourselves in a bid do be accepted by society’s constructions of what is perfect and beautiful.
I think also for a while now I have been very interested in the homogenization of beauty as a result of the internet. The world is getting smaller and smaller through connectivity and as a result ideals and constructions of beauty are increasingly taking single definitions and that has been of great interest to me and how it affects the way we live our lives and perceive ourselves.
Sensitive skin was a documentary about my friend Glory Edozien and her ten year battle with the auto-immune skin disease psoriasis. I think I was completely inspired by the way she has been able to live and cope despite having a condition that in many ways alters your whole physical appearance especially living in society like Nigeria where we aren’t necessary the subtlest of people and where everything can be highly spiritualized.
What was your growing up like?
Growing up was simple, complex and interesting all at the same time. I am the last of five children, quite loud and talkative. I played a lot as a child, was always quite hyperactive to the point of talking in my sleep. And I was always in adult company. Initially, it was the middle class Nigerian childhood, then my parents divorced and things got difficult.
Adjusting from having everything to the complete opposite was a very interesting time to say the least. But I think that has made me very chameleon like and quite good at adapting. Perhaps its why I am able to do a lot of things simultaneously because I have always learned to get on with things and never needed much to get things done.
What new projects are you working on?
So many, I hope I don’t collapse from over-exhaustion soon. I am working on a YouTube interview series called Culture Diaries where I interview people in the world of art and culture, from visual artists to performers and writers. Then there is Room 313 a fictional series to be released on YouTube which I have written and I will be directing. I will be taking on the role of curator and artist for series of self-portraits project titled Awo Uwan. I am sure there are other things but let’s just say this will do for now.
Hi. I’m a Web Developer and Graphics Designer, I enjoy blogging as part-time and I draw a lot when I’m free. Thanks for visiting my blog today and I hope you come back next time.
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