Anike Agbaje-Williams (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Kuforiji) is one of Nigeria's pioneer newsreaders. She was the first female television staff announcer and broadcaster in Nigeria.

Life

Agbaje-Williams was born in

Abeokuta Abeokuta is the capital city of Ogun State in southwest Nigeria. It is situated on the east bank of the Ogun River, near a group of rocky outcrops in a wooded savanna; north of Lagos by railway, or by water. , Abeokuta and the surrounding are ...

on the 23rd of October, 1936. She was the third daughter born to Mr. and Mrs. Kuforiji, her father was of Egba heritage. She spent her primary school and junior secondary school years in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

under the care of her guardian, Mrs Gbemisola Rosiji, wife of

Ayo Rosiji Chief Ayotunde Rosiji (24 February 1917 – 31 July 2000) was a Nigerian politician, having served as Minister for Health and Minister of Information. He was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State, on 24 February 1917 to the family of an Egba policeman. ...

and Bishop and Mrs S.C. Philips. She attended

CMS Girls School, Lagos St Anne's School, Ibadan is a secondary school for girls in Ibadan, Nigeria. The school took its current name in 1950, after a merger between Kudeti Girls School, founded in 1899, and CMS Girls School, Lagos, founded in 1869. It can therefore clai ...

. In 1950, when CMS Girls School was relocated to

Ibadan Ibadan (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Oyo State, in Nigeria. It is the third-largest city by population in Nigeria after Lagos and Kano, with a total population of 3,649,000 as of 2021, and over 6 million people within its me ...

and renamed St Anne's School, she moved with the school and finished her education in Ibadan. After completing secondary school education, she got employment with the

Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation The Voice of Nigeria or VON is the official international broadcasting station of Nigeria. History Founded in 1961, the Voice of Nigeria began life as the External Service of the then Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation (now Federal Radio Corpora ...

Ikoyi Ikoyi is the most affluent neighborhood of Lagos, located in Eti-Osa Local Government Area. It lies to the northeast of Obalende and adjoins Lagos Island to the west, and at the edge of the Lagos Lagoon. Popular with the extreme upper class res ...

, Lagos in 1955. Abgaje-Williams' career as a newsreader began as a result of co-worker not showing up to work. On that day, a colleague who usually does announcements or reading small bits of information on the radio did not show up, the current host then asked her to take his place. Agbaje-Williams read the information and when the supervisor heard her voice, he was impressed, she was then asked to join the programmes department as a staff announcer. When a television station was established at Ibadan, she was asked to interview and was subsequently given a job at the station. Agbaje-Williams was a pioneer staff of WNTV, which was first television station in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

, she was also the first female broadcaster of the station. She rose to become a producer and director of programmes at the television station before retiring in 1986.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agbaje-Williams, Anike Nigerian women journalists Nigerian broadcasters People from Abeokuta History of women in Nigeria 1936 births Living people Nigerian television personalities Television personalities from Lagos 20th-century Nigerian women 21st-century Nigerian women St Anne's School, Ibadan alumni