Seasoned broadcaster and marketing communications icon Soni Irabor turned 69 today and friends and family all over social media have been celebrating him. For those of us who grew up in the 80s and 90s we are very familiar with the name Soni Irabor.
The media guru who has over 40 years of an exceptional career which has spanned radio and TV broadcast, film, public speaking, compere and advertising has shown no signs of slowing down.
How did it all begin?
Irabor started his career with the Nigerian Broadcasting Corporation as a Junior Announcer in 1977 and served for a year before proceeding to the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) as a Senior Announcer/Newsreader in 1978 where he rose quickly to hold positions such as Controller Presentation Trainer, Marketing Manager and Asst. Director Marketing.
In the 90’s he was the host of a breakfast programme called Morning Ride on NTA 2 Channel 5, Lagos. It was the darling of many Nigerians.
He left the corporation in 2000 to start Ruyi Communications where he made the transition from his successful career as a public servant to birth his famous Soni Irabor Live programme that ran on Television for a while before becoming a radio talk staple where he has hosted leading public and business personalities.
As a Toast Master and Master of Ceremonies, he has hosted over 15 International events that featured Heads of States including the COJA 2003 (The 8th All Africa Games) and CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) 2003 which had the Queen of England in attendance.
Other high profile events he has hosted include the prestigious NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) Business Forum held in Abidjan, Cote D’Ivoire and he co-hosted the CNN African Journalist of The Year Award, with CNN’s Zain Verjee in Accra, Ghana.
He is also an author as he published a Coffee Table book in 2012 titled TREASURES OF NIGERIA, sponsored by Total Nigeria. The book takes a look at the unique treasures that abound across various genres in Nigeria.
Radio Link, the first radio talk show he created in 1987, is still running on Radio Nigeria, till date. Irabor still presents his award winning talk show, Soni Irabor Live on Inspiration FM92.3.
He is married to Betty Irabor, publisher of Genevieve Magazine and they are blessed with two children Omoruyi and Sonia Irabor.
