Kano women and love for radios

I grew up with my grandmother and from the beginning the radio set was one of the things I first detected as a child given its closeness to ‘grandma,’ and even now I have never visited her without jokingly asking ‘how the radio is doing.’ In the last few years, visiting a lot of homes […]

I grew up with my grandmother and from the beginning the radio set was one of the things I first detected as a child given its closeness to ‘grandma,’ and even now I have never visited her without jokingly asking ‘how the radio is doing.’ In the last few years, visiting a lot of homes in Kano has made me realize that there are many like my grandmother, who have established an undying affinity with their radios for decades, with no sign of  the fondness abating in any way.
Recently, I went round the Tukuntawa neighbourhood of Kumbotso L.G.A to talk to some of these women who are in their 60s, 70s and 80s, which made them contemporaries to my grandmother  who is 78 now.
My first respondent on this issue was my grandmother who recalled that her earliest affinity with the radio set began in the early 60’s, during the twilight era of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria’s Kaduna station.
 “At that time there were no Television sets, so it’s not as if we had any other option as you people have  today, so we relied on radios for information and entertainment. For most people of my generation that was how it all began, the FRCN was the only local channel and it wasn’t a 24 hour broadcast.Programmes begin and end at certain times, but every household were keen on what will be in store  each day ,so it was an interesting period.As for me that’s the story of my lifelong affair with the radio,” she said.
Hajiya Asma’u Sani, says she can’t imagine life without her radio set which is the first thing she goes for after her morning prayers “As from 6:30am up till around 11am there are programmes I don’t like missing. So that is why I’m always close to my radio. I listen to the BBC Hausa, VOA for the internationals and I revert to FREEDOM Radio for Tambaya Mabudin Ilimi by 8:00am and the list goes on. I only switch it off when I am about to retire for the night. Apart from that we are always together,” she said smiling.
Hajiya Aisha Umar, on her part jokingly admitted that  monies she has spent over the years buying batteries for her radio, would’ve bought her a big piece of land in a choice area of the state “I don’t buy batteries per piece. I always buy in packs which is a testament to how much I really value my radio set, which has really added immense value to my life through valuable information and enlightenment.So for me it is my school.”
Mallama Binta Mas’oud, says for her the motivation is the various Islamic programmes that are aired by the various stations daily. Kano is a highly religious place and the different channels take advantage of that by playing different Islamic programmes for the listening pleasure of religious individuals.
“With these religious programmes it is as if you are  attending  an Islamic school because you will always learn a lot, most of the things I have learnt for years as it relates to Islam were through the radio, programmes like TAMBAYA MABUDIN ILIMI, AL AZKAR, FATAWOWIN RAHAMA AND TAMBARIN MALAMAI I don’t miss them at all, and they help my spiritual life a lot,” she said.
Hajiya Mariya Saleh, says it’s a shame that the younger generation of  today  prefer to watch  empty  television programmes and videos on their handsets, without paying too much attention to the radio which has immense benefits in terms of the dissemination of knowledge.
“Even when there’s electricity, I prefer to listen to the radio because it offers me more, sometimes I find it hard to understand what the young people find interesting in meaningless singing and dancing on Television, and even going as far as having those videos on their handsets. For me, it’s the radio. All I want is there so there’s no need for change,” she concluded.
Across the Kano region, the day starts with the radio for all groups. Some people like to listen to several news programmes during the morning to hear different perspectives on issues.
Meanwhile, according to the latest information from the BBC World Service, the Hausa service now has about 19.4 million weekly listeners (the largest service in terms of the number of listeners worldwide) followed by the Swahili Service’s equivalent figure which stands at 12.6 million.

Some people switch from Voice of America (VOA) which airs its news at 6am, to BBC Hausa (Shirin Safe at 6:30am, the service’s most listened to programme) and then to Radio France International (RFI) at 7am.
The Shirin Safe (morning programmes) appears to be a key appointment to listen for by most people.
Listening to Voice of America (VOA) used to be more widespread. Listeners generally seemed to accept that the broadcast was the point of view of America, and that helped them to build an all-round understanding of issues.
BBC Hausa has a strong influence on society, built from unrivalled heritage in the region, especially northern Nigeria. Reception of the Hausa service was improved with the installation of new and more powerful shortwave transmitters nearer to the target area, in Ascension Island in the Atlantic Ocean in 1966.
Over the years, it has played an important role for the Northern region which includes following closely the constitutional and party political developments that led to the restoration of civilian rule in Nigeria in 1979 and its subsequent collapse in 1984.
Audiences for BBC Hausa service have for a long time been rather larger, and have increased recently, largely as a result of political circumstances in Nigeria.
According to communication analyst, Dr. Sani Jamilu of Baze University Abuja, the radio will continue to be an avenue for disseminating information down to the rural people for many years to come, because the coverage is large and lack of electricity is not a problem ,considering the fact that  most radios are battery powered.
“Even though some people believe that the conventional radio set will soon give way, considering the immense information technological advancements especially with the advent of satellite television and the internet, but the truth is it will still be around for a long time considering the advantages it enjoys which the other mediums don’t especially in terms of penetration and accessibility. It  will interest you to know that rural people who are still a little more in number compared to their urban counterparts,  will continue to hold on to their radio sets for information, enlightenment and entertainment,” he said.
New technology will continue to produce competition for all forms of communication devices, especially for the traditional radio listeners. But technology plays no favorites. As new ways are found to take a share of the listening audience, the traditional radio also must find  new technology to compete and keep a share of the market. The biggest positive for traditional radio is local content and local contact with its listeners. As long as the local radio maintains its local presence, something that internet, satellite and other syndicated forms cannot provide, there will always be a need for its services.