When Citi FM started the Heritage Month Series years ago, it was not a trendy thing to see across the media landscape. Today, it has become a thing with various media houses jumping into the fray.
Ghanaian foods, clothes, music, languages and traditional cultures often relegated to the countryside come to life in front of the cameras and lights. They become the subject microphones and recorders stumble to get bits of.
But even before the frenzy that has become a healthy competition even trickling down to educational and religious institutions, Citi FM had long set the pace dedicating the entire month of March as a Heritage Month with on-air series including interviews on historical accounts of various aspects of the country called Ghana. Documentaries were produced for broadcast on radio.
The Music of Ghanaian Origin (MOGO) highlighted and celebrated, as the name goes, Music of Ghanaian Origins in a way one can dare say not even the state has done over the years.
While it is easy to replicate programming to project Ghana in the month of March, it hasn’t been easy for competition to imitate the Heritage Caravan which was launched in 2014 to promote Ghana’s rich cultural heritage and tourist attractions.
The initiative involves a road trip across various regions of Ghana, during which the team visits and showcases the historical, cultural, and natural sites of each region. The Heritage Caravan has been the icing on the cake as part of the series of activities to project Ghana to the world.
This year, the Heritage Caravan was over-subscribed as patrons fell over themselves to book a seat. But it was late. All 3 buses were full. And patrons had a trip of a lifetime visiting well over 14 regions to experience exquisite hotels, art galleries, cultural festivals, natural and historic sites amidst fun-packed activities that patrons confess are more than value for their money!
But what a unique way to crown the Heritage Month Series with the Back to Your Village Food Bazaar! Cuisines and dishes from various regions that migration and gentrification have deprived many families off were served. Patrons were spoilt for choice as any and everything Ghanaian food from Akple to TZ, Tubane to fufu etc were served. Vendors were fatigued cashing out on the buzz generated around Ghanaian foods by Citi FM/Citi TV. The venue, the forecourt of the AMA was bursting at its seams. Parents trooped in with their children many of whom tasted some Ghanaian dishes for the first time.
The Bazaar certainly re-engineered the taste buds of many Ghanaian homes to make their meals Ghana as Managing Director of Citi FM/Citi TV intimated: “Anytime you sit round your table to eat, you make a decision whether they create employment for Taiwanese or to create employment for your fellow Ghanaian here in Ghana by the choice of meals you eat”.
But here is where Citi FM/Citi TV demonstrates its leadership again. The programs were over-subscribed. With patrons travelling from the length and breadth of the country to participate calling for the Bazaar to be organized more than once a year, it rather calls on other media houses that have excelled in replicating its template of leadership to consider its example and once again replicate its success stories across the year as enough demand has been created to share across the year through its pioneering work.
Besides, the stampede to outdo each other solely in the month of March, as has become the norm thanks to Citi’s pioneering work, Ghana is too rich to be explored merely in month-long programming. So, Citi TV/FM is stretching beyond the clutter and rising above the noise. Throughout the year and indeed the years to come, Citi TV/FM is challenging itself and its audience to have Ghana in their decisions.
Whatever endeavour or enterprise you engage in, Make it Ghana. You don’t want to miss the trailblazing programmes lined up for the rest of the year that only seeks to push the interest of Ghana and Ghanaians on Citi TV/Citi FM.
