Saddick Adams has looked back on the choices and sacrifices that led to his celebrity.

Speaking to Nana Romeo on Accra 100.5 FM’s Ayekoo Ayekoo, Wednesday, October 30, 2024, he disclosed how he secured a dream job at “Angel FM in Kumasi – it was the best radio station in sports then” about 11 years ago.

Power of words

Before working with Angel, “anytime I went past the place at Abrepor junction – around 2006, I had finished secondary school then – I’d always say to myself, ‘I will work here one day’. I loved sports and I was drawn to the branding of the building,” Saddick Adams, alias Sports Obama, said.

Fast forward, he made a name in radio working in Sunyani.

One day, he was phoned by Don Summer “to come over to Angel,” to become his producer.  

Without hesitation, he said he obliged, even though “there was no money involved for upkeep nor transportation”.

Saddick Adams said he laid aside his prestige in Sunyani as “a top don,” settling for producing for Don Summer to host.

He noted he worked in Kumasi but still lived in Sunyani, and would commute between the two cities every day for three months.

30 minutes after he closed from Angel, he would join the Metro bus around 4:30 PM, arriving in Sunyani around 7 PM, he explained. He would rise at 4 AM and begin the same routine, starting his first show at 6 AM.

“I kept this Sunyani-Kumasi routine for three months. If I didn’t have money, I slept at one of the producer’s place. Sometimes too, due to rain, financial constraint, or when I miss the Sunyani bus, I’d sleep at the Islamic Senior High School,” he expatiated.

“After six months, I had the opportunity to speak on the radio, that was it – I’ve never looked back since. Angel acquired an accommodation for me and began to pay me.”

Saddick Adams said this part of his life proved to him there was indeed power in words of conviction.

He said he had learned over time that nothing was impossible as long as he declared his intentions to pursue it.

Confidence

The award-winning sports journalist said he was convinced he was exceptionally gifted when sports and TV icon Kwabena Yeboah commended his knowledge and skill.

“If Kwabena Yeboah says I can do the job [I can],” he said he thought to himself, explaining his confidence had peaked.

Also, he fondly noted his father idolised Yeboah and was so happy to learn they were working together.

Saddick Adams recalled he was the inaugural Best Sports Writer winner at the Sports Writers Association of Ghana’s (SWAG) first Sports Journalist Awards.

Noting Kwabena Yeboah was the SWAG president then, he said it was significant realising just 10 years prior, he was working with the same distinguished person.

“If such a person judges you with other big men, you are not afraid,” Sports Obama remarked.

Above all, he said had he waited for a ‘poaching deal’ to leave Sunyani, he would have missed a lifetime opportunity.