Citizen TV anchor Nimrod Taabu has found immense success in the broadcast business but the journey has not always been that rosy for him.
In a 2016 sit-down with Nairobi News, the celebrated anchor disclosed that he had gone through his fair share of suffering including being denied a chance at a leading hospitality college where he wanted to pursue his dream of joining the hospitality industry.
After being denied the chance, he returned to work on a farm together with his father for a full year.
The TV star further pointed out that a career in the media was not his first choice and that it took the intervention of a friend for him to enrol at the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC).
"Growing up I looked up to my father and I had no idea what I wanted to be. I think that was a big mistake on my part not knowing what to do in life.
"My first choice was the hotel industry and I applied for admission at Utalii College three times unsuccessfully. Back then to get to Utalii was not easy so I went back to the farm and spent more than a year there farming with my father," explained Taabu.
"A relative one day came and told me to apply for admission to mass communications school, which I did, and the rest you can see now. I also did try to become a footballer but that didn’t go so well," he continued.
After leaving KIMC, the anchor worked diligently since joining The Standard Group as an assistant reporter in 2000 before moving up to become a news anchor at KTN.
He then moved to NTV as an anchor where he co-hosted a show with Jane Ngoiri before ditching the Kimathi Street-based station for Citizen TV in 2018.
He explained that he majored in Kiswahili largely because of his interests as well as a strict upbringing that cemented his mastery of the language.
"Growing up we used to be punished for getting a Swahili word wrong by our parents. All through school I scored A’s in Swahili. Moreover, I’m more comfortable speaking Kiswahili than English.
"I had to learn English after I was told that if I was to get a job and survive in Nairobi I had to be able to speak it well," he added.
