I’m Glad TV3 Controversy Occured — Nana Aba

Resilence should be Nana Aba Anamoah’s middle name because if anybody had gone through what she did two years ago, they would have perhaps crumbled, but not her.

She was on a high as a famous face on TV3, when what she describes as a joke on Twitter spiraled into a huge controversy which ended with her resigning from the station she had worked at for over 10 years.

To be incessantly trolled, called many names including being a liar and to have a station you have been loyal to for so long turn its back on you, would have broken others but Nana Aba shook it all off and tells Graphic Showbiz, she is glad the incident happened.

“I am happy it happened. I think that it happened for a reason because it gave me the chance to move on. For four years, I had been trying to leave but I wasn’t successful because my bosses always found one reason or the other to make me stay. I am so happy about it and I feel that I should probably have moved earlier and not listened to all the stories that made me stay,” she said.

She had had her own controversies and this was arguably much bigger but Nana Aba insists it did not have much impact on her, perhaps a testament to how strong willed she is.

For her, leaving TV3 has rather been a blessing because she is an even better person now. “In fact, I would say I’ve become even friendlier than I used to be because leaving to another station has given me an opportunity to see people differently. For 12 or 13 years at TV3, I had the same people I was dealing with, I had the same friends; it was like my family.

“But now I’ve moved to a different brand with different people and this is an even bigger platform. So now, I’m getting to understand radio, sometimes I go to Starr FM, I go to Heritage to understand how newspapers operate. I’ve actually opened up more and I’m trying to learn a lot of different things,” she said.

Before she joined the EIB Network and took up the role as a News Editor, there had been a lot of speculation as to where she would land with the Multimedia group featuring prominently.

Now she tells Showbiz, this new phase of her life has been very exciting as she works with a team trying to change the face of news in the country, telling some compelling stories.

“It’s been great. I could have decided to go to any of the other media houses that were seeking my signature at the time but I chose GHOne because it’s a very young station and I wanted to make an impact, I wanted to be part of their story. I wanted to associate my name with them.

“I didn’t want to go to a station that already had a name, basically adding up to the numbers. I wanted a place where I would put my experience to work, to push a brand and I am happy with what we have done together so far. I know we still have a long way to go but in the space of one or two years, people talk about us. I am so excited to be working with all these amazing people,” she said.

Her work over the last two years has certainly paid off and she was rewarded for all her hard work recently at the Radio and Television Personality (RTP) awards. She picked up three awards including the topmost RTP Personality of the Year. She also won the TV Female Newscaster and TV Female Personality of the Year.

And she believes it’s her willingness to make a difference that earned her the trophies. “I try as much as possible to make time for people, those who come to see me with their problems I attend to them.

Sometimes, I don’t have the answers and the solutions and the help they want but I feel that if I’m able to make a call or two for them; if I’m able to get help for them then that’s great. On social media I try as much as I can to respond to people who interact with me.

“And I also make sure that I encourage my reporters to do real stories that matter to people so I guess all of that put together worked in my favour,” she added.

Her issues started with social media and it would have been only logical that she would tone it down but Nana Aba says no. “I am still the same. It was a joke and people who understand social media understand what trolling is. So all of those trolls, I wasn’t affected by them. I couldn’t be bothered and I was having a laugh reading all the comments. I troll and still get trolled. I give it so I can take it. In fact, I think my followers on Twitter and Instagram have rather increased. I will not stop doing the silly things I do on social media.”

Even as she leaves TV3 in the dust and forges ahead, she cannot help but share a great lesson the incident taught her which is measuring our loyalty to our employers. “This was an eye opener for me.

I would want everyone to be loyal to their employers but in being loyal, they should also try to make themselves happy because even your superiors also look out for themselves sometimes. You should be just a bit selfish and put yourself first sometimes.

That is the mistake I made at TV3, I put the station ahead of my interest all the time but when it came to the most critical aspect of my life, they turned their backs on me.

I want people to know that in being loyal and faithful to their employers, they must also do the things they believe would make them better people.”

Outside of her busy schedule, Nana Aba has taken up a project to encourage reading among children called Raising Readers and every weekend, she can be found in communities reading with children.

This is a project she says is close to her heart because of the impact it will have on future generations.

Source: Graphic