A radio station that built its identity in the 1990s cannot sustain that identity on a 1990s fact in 2026. Dynamism is not about where you started; it is about whether you have evolved with the world
By Victor Otunuga
This piece is not a quarrel. It is a silent, independent observation from a long-time listener of radio in Lagos and Ogun States.
To understand the present, we must reference a verifiable past. There was a period in Nigerian broadcasting history when the Frequency Modulated (FM) band was an exclusive preserve. In the 1970s and 1980s, Radio Nigeria 2 and Radio Nigeria 3 dominated the FM band, and subsequently, OGBC 2 and BCOS 2 joined to dominate the FM band in the South West and, by extension, Nigeria as a whole.
During that era, FM was rare. The band was government-owned, orderly, and limited. Owning an FM receiver was considered elite, and broadcasting on FM was a mark of prestige. The audience had few choices, and the broadcaster had little competition.
That landscape changed in 1992 when the Federal Government liberalized broadcasting through Decree 38. Private and public FM stations were licensed. As the nation’s commercial capital, Lagos took the lead. Among the early entrants was a station broadcasting on 89.7 FM, which adopted a powerful and memorable positioning statement: “First on the dial.”
In the 1990s, that statement was factually correct and verifiable. At that time, the FM dial in Lagos effectively started at 89.7 FM. There was no other commercial frequency below it. If a listener tuned a radio set upward from 87.5 MHz, the first audible signal was on 89.7 FM. The slogan was brilliant because it was true.
However, the world has moved, and to demonstrate dynamism, you must move with it.
A radio station that built its identity in the 1990s cannot sustain that identity on a 1990s fact in 2026. Dynamism is not about where you started; it is about whether you have evolved with the world.
Today, the FM landscape in Lagos and Ogun States has been completely transformed. Lagos now has over 60 licensed FM stations, while Ogun has over 20. The Lagos-Ogun corridor now functions as a single, continuous audio market. A commuter traveling from Abeokuta to Ikeja will scan through stations from both states without interruption. The FM bank that was once dominated by four stations is now shared by over 80 stations.
The truly first stations today are those that are first in the hearts of listeners — first in trust, first in innovation, and first in community impact. The dial has moved from 89.7 to 87.7. The market has expanded from Lagos alone to Lagos and Ogun as one. The audience has migrated from analogue to digital
In this new reality, can any station operating on 89.7 FM still claim to be first on the dial? The answer is verifiably no. This is not an opinion; it is a checkable fact.
According to current, verifiable frequency listings for Lagos, as published in the National Broadcasting Commission’s public records and other independent frequency guides, several FM frequencies now operate below 89.7 FM.
For objectivity, only the frequency numbers are listed below, without station names:
*Frequencies below 89.7 FM currently licensed and operational in Lagos and corridors:*
1. 87.7 FM
2. 87.9 FM
3. 88.3 FM
4. 88.5 FM
5. 88.9 FM
6. 89.3 FM
These are six operational frequencies below 89.7 FM. This means that when scanning from the lower end of the band today in Lagos, and in Ogun border communities such as Mowe, Ibafo, Sango-Ota, Agbara, and Akute where Lagos signals are clearly received, a listener will encounter six other frequencies before reaching 89.7 FM. By dial order, 89.7 FM is now seventh, not first. This is verifiable on any modern car radio or FM scanning application.
Why does this matter for dynamism?
Because radio in Lagos and Ogun today is no longer about frequency position; it is about relevance. The industry has moved from analogue dials to digital streaming, from claiming to be first on the dial to being first with traffic information on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, first with credible election updates, first with sports news, first with old-school jams, and first in community engagement.
To continue claiming “first on the dial” on 89.7 FM in 2026 suggests that a station’s most significant innovation occurred 30 years ago. It projects nostalgia rather than dynamism, and nostalgia is ineffective in a market where the audience has over 80 alternatives.
Each generation was dynamic in its own time. Radio Nigeria 2 and 3 introduced FM, OGBC 2 and BCOS 2 regionalized it, and 89.7 FM and 100.5 FM, the first privately owned station to start commercial operations in Nigeria, pioneered private commercial FM in Lagos. Each era ruled due to a temporary advantage, and each era ended because the world moved.
It is time to move again.
Who now owns the catchphrase “First on the dial”?
By the strict, literal definition of the lowest frequency on the FM dial, ownership has technically shifted. The lowest verifiable operational frequency in the Lagos market today is 87.7 FM. By frequency mathematics, 87.7 FM is now technically the first station a radio set will encounter when scanning upward.
However, our subtle and independent observation is that no serious station in Lagos and Ogun should aspire to own that phrase any longer. In a market with over 80 stations, the concept of being first by number has lost its relevance.
The truly first stations today are those that are first in the hearts of listeners — first in trust, first in innovation, and first in community impact.
The dial has moved from 89.7 to 87.7. The market has expanded from Lagos alone to Lagos and Ogun as one. The audience has migrated from analogue to digital.
The question is simple: Has your strategy moved with it?
Respect your history, but do not live inside it. The world is moving. Move with it, and demonstrate your dynamism not by the frequency you occupy, but by the future you are building.
•Independent opinion by Comrade Victor Otunuga, 09066666721 , an Abeokuta based public affairs commentator
•Opinions, positions or thoughts expressed here are personal and strictly those of the writer/author and do not represent the views of The Daily Crucible.
