You do not come across Beat FM’s on air personality, Tolulope Oniru, best known as Toolz, without failing to notice her distinct figure. Although blessed with a soothing voice that keeps listeners tuned in to Midday Show, where she dishes out celebrity stories, an avid follower of happenstances in the social media circles in Nigeria would agree that her curvy figure is a discussion starter.
She reveals that the hullabaloo about her figure used to make her feel uncomfortable, but she has come to accept it as a feature she cannot not change.
“It is still a bit confusing to me, because this is Africa; full-figured women are everywhere you go. So I am baffled that my shape is a constant topic of discussion. It took a while, but I think I have accepted that my figure will be one of the things people talk about . I would hate it to be the main and only thing that people dwell on however,” she says.
For bloggers and top entertainment online sites, a singular picture of the dark skinned presenter is all it takes to drive traffic and generate a stream of comments which sometimes runs into hundreds. While some of the feedbacks are vile, others are simply enamoured. So, does she ever get to read them?
To this Toolz says, “Some of them could drive someone mad. When the blogs started paying attention to me, I would read the stories and the comments as well and would get upset when I read bad comments. I would think: ‘Why would this person be so mean, they don’t know me personally’. Soon, I realised that thinking about the opinions of people that leave hateful comments is silly. Thankfully nowadays I’m too busy and I know better, but I do hope the blog owners take more responsibility for the negativity that they allow on their sites.”
When she first conceived the idea to take the plunge to move back to Nigeria after being for 10 years, she developed a cold feet. After consulting with friends conversant with the entertainment scene in the country and family members, her desire for new challenges saw her make the move.
After a successful audition process at the radio station, Toolz began hosting her own radio show in April 2009 and her blend of natural humour, love of most things showbiz, passion for music and strong African entertainment knowledge stands her out.
Looking back at how far she has come under a short period of time and the awards she has garnered, the OAP, who gained extensive experience within the British entertainment industry, having worked at MTV Networks Europe for several years before moving on to the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, US feels fulfilled.
“Because I had not been to Nigeria for a long time , when I moved back, I did not know anyone except my parents and cousins. I realised that I would not know anyone my age and somebody had told me about Beat FM. I thought I was only going to be on air for about an hour or two weekly but things changed completely. If anything I wish I had moved back sooner,” she says.
Like other radio hosts, Toolz says her first time on radio was not spectacular. “It was awful. I was so nervous that I made lots of mistakes and stuttered a lot. Later I learnt to calm my nerves. I have had several embarrassing moments. One of the worst was when Banky W premiered his tracks on my show, and the CD decided to skip several times!”
Owing to the warm chemistry she exudes during interviews with top music stars like Banky W, D’banj and PSquare, little wonder she has been romantically linked to quite a number of them.
Surprisingly, Toolz, who describes herself as a spectacular success in the making, takes these allegations in good faith, saying, “Jazzy and Banky are good friends of mine. My relationship status is plain currently, I’m not married. Marriage is absolutely in the cards for me. Right now I’m focusing on finding the right person, it is very important that I find someone who respects the sanctity of marriage like I do.”
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