He said he left the BBC because he needed to move from UK to Africa to spend the rest of life at home because he wanted to contribute to the development of Ghana.
Also, he said, he was not getting the opportunity to bring up his child the way he wanted to under British Laws. “The other reason I decided to come home was because of my son. I was watching television and he came to change the channel because he wanted to watch a particular programme.
I gave him some smacks and the next day, the school teacher came to give me warning for smacking my own son. I thought that it was not the right way to bring up my child. I thought I could come back to Ghana and bring up my children the way I wanted,” he said to News-One and a number of other media houses at the re-launching of The Mike Eghan Show at the Silverbird Cinema on Wednesday.
His comment was a reaction to a question posed to him by newscaster Gideon Aryeequaye, as to why he left BBC, a bigger platform, where there are a lot of opportunities. He disclosed that he went to BBC to improve his career. He left the shores of Ghana in 1965 to the UK and worked for the BBC where he hosted ‘Music with African Beat’ programme, for 4 years before finally returning home. Before leaving Ghana, he was a disc jockey on national radio.
“On my own accord, I found myself in UK. I walked into BBC and I said to them, I am a Ghanaian, I want to work here. Every day, I went there to sit for about 4 to 5 months. One day, the head of Africa Service called me and asked me what I wanted there. I told him I wanted work at BBC. So he recommended that I go to BBC Training School. After I did that, I got the opportunity to work at BBC.”
Back home, Mike hosted the Mike Eghan Show from the 70s and featured prominent figures. The programme was uniquely presented to capture every viewer.
Mike Eghan said two of the biggest interview segments he still remembers were his encounters with late top South African musician Miriam Makeba and Ghanaian composer Dr. Ephram Amu. Unfortunately, he said, records of the programme were all burnt after fire gutted Ghana Broadcasting Corporation some years back.
The old man, who said he was retired but not retarded, is about to relieve his moments on the screens as his show is bouncing back on the screens very soon.
The Mike Eghan Show would air on ETV weekly, starting from Sunday March 27, at 7pm. He said due to the proliferation of TV stations and different audience, he was gearing up to offer the viewing public yet another magnificent show.
ETV, in a speech by Gideon Aryeequaye, expressed happiness about bringing Mike Eghan back on the screens, hoping to give the old generation what they missed about Mike, while the new generation got something new from him.
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"I Quit BBC Because Of My Son"