Hear Aniekan’s show Beyond Borders on Saturdays 5-6 PM.

The content I put out focusses on the cultural diversity of Kamloops. Through my volunteering, I have spoken with different people who have told their stories about how they view Kamloops and how they get processed towards integration in Kamloops. It has pushed me to read more about understanding Kamloops as a society. I took a course on Indigenous Canada to understand the cultural transition in Canada, including the situation in Kamloops. The volunteering has helped me to meet different people from different backgrounds and to hear their stories too.

I remember a time I had a guest originally from Zimbabwe. She had a struggle to get into medical school. I understood how the medical school is a bit regimented and not open to all. The system that guides how people get into medical school is rigorous. That gave me deeper understanding of how that aspect of Canada works.

I love to travel. I believe that travelling is an education on its own. You learn a lot from travelling. I tell people that the kind of education that travel gives can’t be read in a book, it must be experienced. I have travelled in the US on holiday and experienced how things work there. I have been to the United Arab Emirates. I have been to Tunisia and Istanbul for work related reasons. And now I am in Canada.

I want to travel to the big cities in Canada and the big provinces like Ontario. I hear that other provinces have colder weather–colder than Kamloops–so I would like to travel to places like Alberta in the summer. The weather has been a major culture shock to me. I come from a region where we don’t understand minus temperatures. The normal weather there was never chilly. Coming to Canada and experiencing the cold weather the day I came made me feel like I had no business going outside.

I also love to watch soccer—I’m an ardent soccer fan. I also play for recreation and relaxation and I am a fan of England’s soccer teams. It is packaged to be entertaining and the way they talk about soccer appeals to me. I support the Arsenal team in England. The soccer team I play on in Kamloops came together to play for recreation. We just come together to play. There are two teams I play on. The one team has older members than the other team. The older team understands that it is for recreation. The younger team players seem to see the game as a profession. It is sometimes too physical and I have to remind them that I am not a professional player and I play just to relax. This group travels to play as a team. I must define my boundaries and travelling to play is not why I joined the team. It is not recreational. I played soccer in Nigeria. When I was younger, I played competitively.

My show is titled Beyond Borders, and the focus of my show is to promote the cultural diversity of Kamloops. I have turned my focus to people who are not from Canada. With any international, I like them to share their stories of their victories, their challenges in coming to live in Kamloops. How they have had to manage the different cultural situations that they have encountered. When you tune to my show you will hear people telling their stories of trying to integrate into this society. I also try to promote music from other cultures. It is a spoken word show also with international music from different cultures. You can hear songs from Brazil, Iran and more. I try to focus on music from other countries.

My show is unique because the stories can inspire, they can challenge, they can make you understand that your own situation is not a singular situation. For someone who has been on radio for a long time–and I have done documentaries–I always fear the danger of the single story. When people tell a single story, it can be harmful. I like the fact that my program gives an opportunity to people to tell their different stories.

The program may look limited, and if you are from Canada, it might not be of interest to you. People from other places are coming to tell their story. The range of interest is wide because storytelling connects. People are interested in stories. Movies are one of the biggest industries because people love stories. The focus is on immigrants, and they may benefit more as their tell the stories of their travails and triumphs. On one hand, the stories may seem to have a limited scope, and on the other hand, these stories have universal appeal and are of general interest.

I hope that Canadians can learn about the good that they have done and learn to improve the parts that are not done so well. And to understand that everyone has an obligation to society to make things better.

Community radio can reach people at the local level and the programs are tailored to that reach. I like that this radio station emphasizes local content, like Cancon (Canadian Content). You are obligated to promote what is indigenous to the local population. So you are required to play a certain percentage of Canadian music and that contributes to the community because artists in the community benefit from having their content promoted.

I listen to a lot of CFBX shows because this is basically the culture I have taken from my country. My frequency is always set on 92.5 in the car and at home. I have listened to a Jazz show that I like. I like Girlie So Groovie (Saturdays 7-9 PM). I may not recall their names, but I know that I am not bored listening to this station. You can’t get into my car and see any other frequency being played.

Community radio gives me a new and fresh challenge. It is very important to me to listen to this station and I listen with a critical ear. As a mentor, I find aspects that I can comment to volunteers that I can have a conversation with them to suggest changes and improvements that I would make. This is what I think you should do differently or this is what I would do. In commercial radio there is a higher level of monitoring quality. In community radio, the people are volunteers. There is some measure of liberty to do it your own way and your own style. Yes, it is community radio and we put some excellence to it as we learn.

I have discovered the artist Garnetta Cromwell. I like her songs—I could play a song of hers each week if it weren’t against the policy of the station. It is the blend of her lyrics and her tempos that I like.

I interviewed a local music duo that I really like, LooPS. They are young and they believe in what they are doing which is key for any music artists. They believe that if they keep their consistency that they will get there. I listen to them and I think sincerely that they will grow. Their music is good and the most important part is that they believe in what they are doing. I haven’t had an opportunity to attend a concert here, but I would like to attend one of LooPS’ concerts.

The people that I interview I find on social media and through some of the groups that I belong to that are for immigrants. Kamloops Immigrant Services is a place where I meet people and tell them about my program. Usually, I just reach out on a group where immigrants come together and I say, “Look, I have this program where I share the stories of immigrants in Canada. In Kamloops. So, if you are interested to be participants, I can have you on my show.” So that is the way I get a lot of my guests.

In the future, I hope to see the show being a reference for immigrants and a platform for information. Maybe for someone who just comes to Kamloops, I can look forward to my show being one of the recommendations that can be made for someone who wants to understand issues around immigrants and they could listen to my program. “If you want information, listen to this program.”