‘Beyond entertainment, Freedom Radio frees people to speak’

The Group Business Development Consultant/Acting Head of Station, Dala 88.5 FM in Kano, Nuhu Tahir, is also the presenter of Deep Thinking, a popular Islamic programme of the station. Tahir, who engineered the setting up of the Cool and WAZOBIA FM stations in Kano and was head of the stations for about two years before […]

The Group Business Development Consultant/Acting Head of Station, Dala 88.5 FM in Kano, Nuhu Tahir, is also the presenter of Deep Thinking, a popular Islamic programme of the station. Tahir, who engineered the setting up of the Cool and WAZOBIA FM stations in Kano and was head of the stations for about two years before leaving to help set up Freedom/Dala FM, says in this interview that much more than entertainment, Freedom Radio broadcasts programmes that touch the people’s lives and give them the opportunity to air their views
How did you venture into broadcasting?
In 1984, some of my friends identified that I had the passion for rap music. They also noticed I could copy some raps and presented them in school or community competitions. We also created groups with names so that we could clash in terms of rap contest.  Malam Suraju Muhammed, a veteran broadcaster discovered the talent I have for radio.  He introduced me to Radio Kano on Ibrahim Taiwo Road in 1990. Then it was Radio Kano on its own and CTV on its own.  I started presenting with people like the late Brother Joe, late Baba Ahmad Ibrahim, Aminu Jolie, Patricia Imodi, among others. After that, British American Tobacco identified my talent and felt that I was a good voice for the younger generation to sell their brand, which was Rothmans Kingsize. They took me away from Kano in 1997 and toured with me all over the states of the country on their project. After this they took me in as a permanent staff in their organization where I served as a channel distribution representative in charge of the Northern states for four and a half years. They took me to Abuja, Kaduna, Jos and then back to Kaduna where I finally resigned. After my resignation, I set up my own company called Hypersonic. Although I started the company in 1995, I never went into full practice until 2009.
What is the company into?
Event management, brand building, media and audio content provider and brand marketing. I work hand-in-hand with some agencies like Media Reach, Media Shares, Starcomms Media, MTN and any client that is outside the Northern region, especially outside Kano. We monitored what they were doing on radio including English and Hausa. That was how I kept going until Aminu Musalli, the Group Managing Director of Cool/Wazobia FM invited me over for an interview. He found me suitable to establish Cool/Wazobia FM in Kano. From the scratch, under the supervision of Musalli and his daughter, we set up the Kano office. I also employed almost all the voices that people have been listening to on the station. After I spent one year and seven months with them, I was invited by Freedom Radio Group. Right now at Freedom Radio, I am the Group Business Development Consultant/Acting Head of Station Dala FM Kano, Freedom Radio Kaduna, Freedom Radio Dutse and Dala FM Kano, before the management decided to employ a head of station. But generally, my field is broadcasting and media brand building. I’m also a brand ambassador of Nescafe and Turkish Airlines.  At a point, there was a transformation in my life. After all the work with the tobacco company and entertainment industry, now I’m into full Da’awah, Islamic propagation with a programme on radio called Deep Thinking.
If you had not ventured into journalism, what would you have been doing now?
I would have been a farmer. I have passion for farming, I love farming. That is just it.
What made you quit rapping?
I am someone who loves reading.  I have never read any novel in my life except the Quran and Hadith. Even though I was into rap, even though I was in the entertainment industry with many international concerts that we had hosted in Nigeria like the Soul to Soul and others that I did with many international stars, I have never read any novel outside the Quran and Hadith. Maybe that was what made me quit rapping. I would have been in the Lagos entertainment industry now where most of the big names in the industry are fantastic friends of mine.
How did you come about your programme, Deep Thinking?
I felt that Muslims were misunderstood worldwide and that some Muslims still do not understand the essence of the religion.  They do not understand the true value of Islam and what the religion is teaching, especially in the world today where Islam has been propagated by so many media to be a religion that is filled with terrorists, where Muslims are being looked at as people who kill people. I noticed that there have been a lot of political selfishness and greed-like motive in the minds of so many people. They felt the only thing they could do is to hide behind a religion that is very popular. So, people do not really understand Islam. I want people to understand Islam better and that is why I went into Deep Thinking. I watched a video on the internet by Haroun Yahaya and he tagged it Deep Thinking. I thought using the name Deep Thinking would be a good thing for this programme on radio. I have been doing some Islamic Da’awah even before I started Deep Thinking which is on the internet for people to download. I just feel like people do not understand my religion and people do not understand me as a Muslim. That is why I started Deep Thinking. My wife has been very supportive. She is a part of my strength. There is no monetary benefit that comes to me from the programme. It is a programme done for the purpose of Almighty Allah. When people have issues disturbing them, be it matrimonial, accident or such thing and they come on the programme, some privileged people who listen to us do render assistance to them.  
What impact does Deep Thinking have on your listeners?
It has had great impact on people according to the research that was made in terms of people’s participation in the programme. Now, even non-Muslims call to ask questions on the programme. In fact, I never thought that it would go this far. Deep Thinking was never meant to make people leave their religions for Islam but two pastors have accepted the religion through Deep Thinking and a lot of families have also accepted Islam through the programme. Youths who are listening to the programme are also beginning to change their lifestyles into what Islam directs. For example, we talk about issues of rape and what Islam says about it. We also talk about what Islam says about domestic violence, abortion, masturbation, lesbianism, homosexuality, divorce, and so many things. Just to make our people understand what Islam says about divorce we took up so many topics on Deep Thinking.  The general concept of Deep Thinking is for people to understand Islam better than what we know today.
What was your first programme on radio called?
It was called Hotshot, I started it on August 2, 1992.
What was it about?
The idea was just to play the hottest songs around the globe, be it from Nigeria, Jamaica or the UK. Hotshots are the hottest music jams around the globe. That was what we featured on the programme. Because we did not have the avenue to listen to such types of music in Nigeria, I bought CD’s from people who just flew into the country. We did not even have CDs then, what we had were cassettes. We would bring like eight cassettes from home and we would set the songs we wanted to play and play it. So we would buy the CDs from people at the international airport, then Kano airport was still booming.  We would then send it across the nation.
How many programmes do you have on Freedom/Dala FM?
We have over 31 programmes on Dala FM and about 45 on Freedom Radio.
Which of your programmes are most popular with listeners?
On Freedom Radio we have Inda ranka, Ko wani gauta and another programme called Barka da hantsi. These three programmes are the flagship programmes for the whole Freedom group. Then on Dala FM we have Deep Thinking, because it has 89 countries following it on the internet and about 4,000 downloads per day. We also have Tears and Joy and then the English Premiere League (EPL) on Dala Fm. We also have Total Sports with Fish and Octopus and then we have the recitation of the Holy Qur’an on Friday, Suratul Qaf that we play every Friday. What makes it get a lot of audience is because it is recitation and translation. We are the only station in Kano that plays Qur’anic recitation along with the translation. So the programme draws both Muslims and non-Muslims to hear what is in the Qur’an.
 How is the acceptance of your station in Kano?
We have seasoned broadcasters and presenters who have had the privilege to go abroad for training. We are the only radio in Kano that has working relationship with Deutsche Welle, BBC, Voice of America, Radio China, and others. We also have wide coverage in Kano. So Freedom Radio is what they know and it is what they hear. For Freedom Radio Group, according to research, looking at the Media Planning Service (MPS) data, Freedom Radio is rated as number one. The reason is because of the goodwill the people have for Freedom Radio, secondly because Freedom Radio is for the people it speaks the language of the people. 90% of the contents of the programmes on Freedom Radio are issues that directly address the people and their lives. It is not just about entertainment. That is why we have Dala Fm, for entertainment. But Freedom Radio on its own is something that addresses the situations of the Kano people and gives them that freedom to speak. People can call in and send messages at any time to express their feelings. It becomes the driving force of Freedom Radio. 
 What is the reach of Freedom Radio?
Apart from Kano, we cover Jigawa, part of Zaria, part of Bauchi, Azare, Katsina and Benue.
What would you say have been the challenges so far?
The challenges we have been facing in Freedom Radio is the issue of electricity. It is either you have one issue of the system burning today or the other one tripping off the next day because we are always on power generator. Even if the power is from the electricity distribution company it is never strong enough to carry some of our facilities. These are the challenges all radio stations are facing in Kano. With stable power supply, we would do better and even employ more people. Right now we have more staff than any station in the whole of the Northern region. Our staff strength now is over 350 in Kano, Dutse, Dala and Kaduna stations.