29th May, 2023
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The management of Communications has revealed the actual cause of the death of the chairman, High Chief Raymond Dokpesi.
Dokpesi, founder of African Independent Television (AIT) and Raypower died on Monday at the age of 71.
the DAAR Communications Group Managing Director, Tony Akiotu, in a statement said Dokpesi fell off his treadmill during routine gym exercise and died.
He said before then, he had been ill in the last few weeks and was on his way to full recovery.
The statement reads: “He had been ill in the last few weeks but was on his way to full recovery. He had a fall off his treadmill during routine gym exercise.
“Further announcements as regards to burial arrangements will be made by the family.”
Dokpesi was born on 25 October, 1951 in Ibadan, Oyo State. His parents are from Agenebode, Edo state in a family including six sisters siblings. He entered the Nigerian mass media industry with his company DAAR Communications and set-up the Nigerian TV network Africa Independent Television (AIT).
He was the organizing committee chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party national conference in 2015. As of March 2020, he was still undergoing a trial on corruption charges. In May 2020, Dokpesi became a COVID-19 survivor. He suffered a stroke shortly after the 2023 Ramadan fast, and eventually died on May 29, 2023.
In the early 1990s, as a result of the historic National Broadcasting Commission decree, Nigerian media was dominated by the government only. Information was only made possible from government owned broadcasting firms.
However, the Head of State then General Ibrahim Babangida, issued another decree which allowed private broadcasting in Nigeria. After this decree came the first private television network in Nigeria, Africa Independent Television (AIT). AIT was pioneered by Dokpesi, and was also Africa’s first satellite Television station.