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Jerry Blake, professionally known as JHERI Blake, is a broadcaster, singer, songwriter, filmmaker, director, producer, and creative entrepreneur whose career reflects resilience, innovation, and purpose. A graduate of Economics from Lagos State University and holder of a Creative MBA from the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship, Switzerland, JHERI Blake has built a reputation for transforming challenges into opportunities.
Unable to secure a job as a radio presenter after graduating from university, he refused to allow disappointment to define his future. Instead, he created his own opportunity by establishing Empire Radio018, an online radio station that started from the sitting room of his home and has since grown into a respected digital broadcasting platform.
Today, he combines broadcasting, filmmaking, music, and social entrepreneurship to tell stories that educate, inspire, and drive positive social change. This October, he will join other Nigerian creatives under the auspices of the Warien Rose Foundation to represent Nigeria at the global Good Festival in Switzerland.
How did you develop interest in the creative arts and which aspect resonated with you?
I fell in love with the creative arts, even though I studied Economics for my first degree. I worked with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) under the tutelage of Comfort Okoronkwo, who we used to call Auntie Comfort. She taught me everything I know about TV presenting. I was presenting a show every Tuesday. Back then I would take a motorcycle ride from LASU to the NTA Channel 10 studio at Yaba. I would present alongside my colleague, Lizzie Daga. She has changed her name now. Beside that I was part of the Pillarz, an acapella music group. We›ve been together for 27 years now. We started from high school till now that we are all married with kids. So the creative arts have been something that I feel I was born with and born into.
Paint a picture of the trajectory of your progress in the creative space.
I started at the university and it was through TV presentation. From TV presentation I moved on to being a TV producer. When I was doing my youth service, I served with an organisation called DBS Media. It was the major media production company for MTN at that time. When I submitted my application to serve with the company, I told the HR person that interviewed me about my experience as a TV presenter.
The man then looked at me and he said, ‘Jay, I know you›re good with standing in front of the camera. How about I teach you how to be behind the camera? Honestly, that blew my mind. Even though I didn›t see it as fun then, that was the beginning of my love for the camera. I love what the camera does.
I love to see what I can do with it in post-production and all of that. So from then, of course, years down the line, I started editing. I learned how to edit videos on my own, for short adverts and the like. Of course, I got guidance from one or two people, who put me through.
Eventually, in 2024, I went to a film school, to study a course on editing and directing. I graduated as a certified cinematographer. I have done quite a number of projects. For instance, I produced a documentary, “Oyo At 50” for the Oyo State government. I have shot some short films, done some projects and creative works for local and international businesses in the United States of America and also in the United Kingdom.
What are some of the most memorable moments in your creative journey?
There are a lot of memorable moments, but the major ones that kick-started my creative journey was with Comfort Okoronkwo. Without her giving me the opportunity, I wouldn›t have been able to stand in front of the camera as a presenter. Without Cletus Chukwuma of DBS Media teaching me and taking me behind the camera, to make me a TV producer and director, I would probably not be doing some of the things I am able to do now. I am a product of what these people taught me over the years. A lot of people that know me from where I was born knew that I would sing and become a musician. But they never thought that I would venture into production. I owe my journey into the world of creatives to them.
How do you get inspiration for your creative work?
It›s very simple. Number one, I love serenity. If I›m going to do a short video advert for a business or a company, no matter how short the visual would be, whether 60 seconds, three or five minutes, I like to be alone. I know that some people like to blast loudly while working. But I don’t do that at all. I like to hear the sound of my own thoughts. I want to feel like my thoughts are physically speaking to me directly. I love serenity. Again, I naturally like to be happy, especially if somebody just paid me for a job I just did, I got good news about my kids or my family. I am inspired when I am happy. Of course I am inspired when I am sad or someone upset me or I›m just not in a good mood. Then I can›t do anything. So those two basic things, serenity and happiness inspire me to do any work in my creative space.
What is the backstory behind the Empire Radio station?
For the entirety of my life, I have learned a lot from different people and all that contributed to bring me up to this space. Way back I knew a fantastic guy, Kamal Salah, who was a radio presenter with Metro FM 97.6, owned by FRCN (Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria), based in Ikoyi, Lagos. I used to go there too, just to watch him on the radio. Kamal was just good and fantastic. I became his friend and told him that I wanted to be a radio presenter. He taught me everything I know about radio presenting. When I finished school and tried to get jobs in radio stations I could not because Kamal had left the country. Cordelia Okpei also was in Metro FM at that time. I also loved listening to her too. When I could not get a job on a radio station, I decided to start my own online radio station.
As at 2015 and 2016 on the online radio space, there was no podcast. Podcasts came in just a few years ago. At the time, we had Gospel Time Radio, and we had Praise World Radio. I just decided to create my own space and called it Empire Radio 018, which took off in 2017 and we just started presenting online. I started from the sitting room of my house. My friends who had their own shows would come and feature as my on-air guests on the website. Empire Radio 018 is still one till today on www.empireradio018.com. They are merged together. If you visit the website, you will see some of the jobs and shows I have done.
What impact would you say that the radio has made so far?
The feedback I was getting from small-scale businesses brought me into the social entrepreneurship space. They wanted me to do adverts for them, which I was not doing at the time. I was just focusing on artistes coming on the show to talk about their music. And then I was inspired by Dr. Fionnuala who told me that I could be creating small adverts for businesses. I yielded and started doing it on small-scale for small businesses. I found it quite interesting to be able to brand small businesses. Through it we were to solve problems of businesses that didn’t have a presence online. We grew from there and introduced Warien Rose Academy, where I then studied for my Creative MBA of the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship.
Before long I began getting jobs that involved visual storytelling and adverts for businesses both within and outside Nigeria. As I said earlier, I›m a certified filmmaker. I use my film to tell stories about the ills of society and what we are going through as a nation.
So the impact is everywhere. If you Google my name, just type Jerry Blake, you will see some of the music works I›ve done over the years. And my filmmaking side is another thing that I am trying to bring out.
Some of the people that have seen the work on a smaller scale don›t know, except when they watch the end credits and then notice that it was done by me. So in my own little way, I have been able to impact a lot of people from within and outside Africa.
What recent creative project or projects have you worked on and you are very excited about? When will Nigerians get to see the finished project (s)?
Last year I produced some works. The first one was Inheritance; the second was Haunted Mind. I have recently finished producing and directing a short film titled, The Price of Choice. The premiere will be held in a few weeks. It will be featured in Switzerland during the Good Festival, a major annual, global flagship event of the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship. It is a wonderful, beautiful movie about the present generation of the youths, who are complaining about old politicians embezzling, but when they have the opportunity to lead and are given a portfolio to do some things, they also behave like the old politicians. The premiere of the movie will be held on Sunday, August 23, 2026, on cinematic screen with all the razzmatazz. We are inviting Nigerians to come and watch the movie and also interact with actors and actresses. After the premiere, it will be released on Youtube. In addition, I will release a new song in September.
If a padlock is the problem and a key is the solution, which specific aspect of your background provided a perfect match (key) as the driver of the solution?
I love the analogy. The perfect key to solve the problems I have encountered is my creative side. Everything I have been doing is driven by my creative side. It has been like that in the course of my journey from high school to university. I started playing music and became a TV presenter. In addition to presenting on television, I got into being master of ceremonies (emcee). I never knew all that would metamorphose into what I am doing now – film making and documentaries. So, my creative side of me has been able to create solutions to problems for organisations, institutions and governments.
At what point in your quest to solve the problem did you learn about Roxbourg and social entrepreneurship?
I learned about the Roxbourg Institute of Social Entrepreneurship, Switzerland through Dr. Efe Anaughe, who is a barrister and wears many hats. She had been telling me right from when the Warien Rose Foundation established the Warien Rose Academy as a professional higher education centre. Adamantly I showed no interest – I did not understand the concept of social entrepreneurship at the time. About three years ago, I joined and found out that the school opened what was already in me. The knowledge and exposure I have gained are paying huge dividends. Who knows, from short movies I will produce full-length films like big producers such as Steven Spielberg and Chris Nolan, among others. I am glad and proud that I am a product of Roxbourg and Warien Rose Academy.
