‘Fun And Exhausting’ – UNICAL Student Shares Experience Researching Fresh R’s ‘Late Night Sail’ Radio Program

By CrossRiverWatch Admin

Margaret Alfred Ekanem, 22, a final year English and Literary Studies’ student of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) has said that her project which focused on researching selective discussions on a radio program hosted by Ralph “Fresh R” Udofa.

Fresh R hosts the late night sail on Hit 95.9 FM Calabar which analyses live, relationship issues from 10PM to midnight on Monday’s through Thursday. The research is part of the requirements for her to be awarded a Bachelor in Arts Degree from the varsity.

The research document titled, “A Discourse Analysis of Selected Presentations By Ralph Udofa in Late Night Sail, on Hit FM Radio Station,” examines how elements of discourse and conversation analysis can be used to analyse discourse in the talk-in-interactions on the show.

And, Miss Ekanem said her expectation was that it was going to be fun, especially after she called up Ralph whom, according to her, was elated.

“When I first started this research, I just thought it was something fun that I wanted to find out,” Ekanem said while presenting a copy of her project to the award-winning broadcaster and entertainer at his office in Calabar.

On her real experience from expectations, she averred that; “as I went on, being that I didn’t have adequate instruments to use, I had to record live conversations on air, sit down and write them out, it was exhausting at some point, backbreaking… I had to research everything from the beginning.”

Initial findings suggest Ekanem’s work is the first of its kind. And, the student who expressed hope that this will serve as a good resource and reference material for others, disclosed that: “When I got the topic, Ralph was elated that I was going to write about him. We did interviews, at some point I ended up coming to the studio during the shows, I was here live for two months [and I] got my recordings.”

Also, she explained that her choice of the program stemmed from her discovery that, “I got interested in his program because I like the idea about people calling in to meet their partners. For late night sail, that I know, of course, it has joined people together, people have become friends, partners through marriage.”

Ekanem, who described Mr. Udofa as an “amazing person,” charged him to continue flying the flag as people were benefitting from it.

Mr. Udofa, who also hosts the funky freaky Friday show, has close to a decade experience in media, music, entertainment, and communications in the public and private sector.