Rai Dangin Goro: Between entertainment and public good

Rai Dangin Goro is a popular Hausa programme being aired by a Kano based private FM Radio station Express Radio. The programme entails reading of Hausa novels written on various human endeavors. The programme has a large number of listeners ranging from men and women and across all strata and it is popular largely due […]

Rai Dangin Goro is a popular Hausa programme being aired by a Kano based private FM Radio station Express Radio. The programme entails reading of Hausa novels written on various human endeavors.
The programme has a large number of listeners ranging from men and women and across all strata and it is popular largely due to the way and manner the presenter, Alhaji Ahmad Isa is handling the programme in a unique style. Isa can manipulate his voice to speak like a lady, an old woman, a guilty house wife or an innocent husband while on air.
In terms of listernership,  Rai Dangin Goro seemed to have replaced the famous Taskar Labarai of the Radio Kano in the 90s. Once it is 9:30am, listeners of Rai Dangin Goro at homes, markets, places of work and even on motorbikes and cars could be seen glued to their radio transistors.
Kano Chronicle observed that many Hausa novels were read through the programme which in one way or the other shaped the lives of many listeners religiously, educationally, socially and economically.
Barely one year after the introduction of the programme, similar programme Zaman Duniya was also introduced by another private radio station in the state Freedom Radio and is being handled by the same presenter.
Like Rai Dangin Goro, Zaman Duniya entails reading of Hausa novels to the listeners. While Zaman Duniya is being aired on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, Rai Dangin Goro is aired six days in a week with exception of Friday.
According to Alhaji Nasiru Ahmad Karaye, the manager news and current affairs of Express Radio, the programme was initially introduced to entertain listeners, saying “but few months into the programme, we have realized that Rai Dangin Goro is equally educating our listeners.”
However, like any other thing, Rai Dangin Goro has its own negative effect on the society. The programme is negatively affecting the lives of many people in Kano and beyond.
One of its negative effects is increasing rates of accident among road users. The programme has caused several accidents within the state metropolis.
Driving on Kano roads at the hour of Rai Dangin Goro is becoming dangerous as many motorists and cyclists who are keen to the programme could be seen paying more attention to the programme even while on the wheels.
Aminu Auwal Yakasai said: “Once you see a motorcycle rider hanging a radio receiver around his ears or using earpiece while riding, just check your clock, I am sure it will be between 9:30 and 10am when many people are listening to Rai Dangin Goro programme.
“This is dangerous to his life and the lives of other road users because he can cause accident at any time. Unless, the management of the radio station does something, this programme will become disaster to road users in this state,” he observed.
Another negative effect of the programme is on the housewives. They most a time abandon their domestic works at their matrimonial homes just to listen the programme.
Children at schools also abandoned their lessons just for Rai Dangin Goro. They could be seen hanging GSM phone on their ears or put on earpiece when the programme commenced even if it was time for lesson, a secondary school teacher, Yunusa Idris Gama, said.
Gama told Kano Chronicle that “this programme is becoming something else. Students have developed the habit of coming to schools with GSM phones purposely to listen to that programme. This ugly trend is affecting their studies seriously.”
Even at Hospitals, nurses and sometimes doctors could be seen with earpiece listening to the programme at the detriment of hundreds of patients waiting to be attended to.
Hajiya Laure Isyaku is a housewife and constant listener of the programme. She told Kano Chronicle that although her husband had banned listening of the programme in the house, but she always listen to it while on her way to office.
She said: “on the weekend
I listen to it in the kitchen. Because my husband doesn’t like it, I normally pretend to be doing some minor works in the kitchen at the time of the programme so that I can listen.”
A mother of four Hadiza Lawwali said the time fixed for the programme was too precious to be wasted on a fiction story.
She said: “We are not saying the management of Express Radio should stop the programme but the timing is ill-planned because that is the  parents would want their children to concentrate on some house chores that must be done in the morning. And at school, that is the time when serious subjects such as English and Mathematics are taught to the students,” she averred.
She added that the time should be shifted to night hours when many people including women and children are less busy so that they can listen to the programme.
For Malam Audi Usman, a civil servant, the radio station should be sanctioned if it refuses to change the time of this particular programme, “I have been to schools and have seen how authorities there are struggling hard to stop their students from listening to this programme because of its negative effect on their studies.
“The state government and the emirate council should do something about this programme to save the lives of our children,” said Audi.
An executive of the Parents Teachers Association (PTA) Kano state chapter, who prepared for anonymity, said the association has received several complaints from both principals and some serious students of secondary schools  against the programme.
 “Many principals were in our office over this programme and just of recent some students from Bayero University came here to complain that when it is time for the programme, many students would put on their ear piece to listen to it even while lectures are in progress,” he said.
On the allegations of destroying the morality of children, Karaye said the management of the radio station introduced the programme in good faith and has no intention whatsoever to impact negative effect on the society through the programme.
“To be honest with you, Rai Dangin Goro is not introduced to destroy our children’s future like many people were made to believe. All the Hausa novels read by the presenter have been censored by the Kano State Censorship Board.
“The allegation is politically motivated. After all, Express Radio is not the only station airing such programme. There is a station in this state that is airing similar programme around 7pm which is a time for prayer but nobody cares to talk about that,” he said.
However, Karaye said the management of the radio station had received many complaints about the time, the way it received many commendations about the programme, noting that “we have been invited by the censorship board and we have discussed extensively about the programme.”
Also, the General Manager of Freedom Radio, Alhaji Umar Sa’id Tudunwada, said the Zaman Duniya was purely an entertainment programme aired in the evening hours when many listeners are at homes.
Tudunwada, suggested that if listeners had any grudges against any programme aired by Freedom Radio, they should confront the management of the station.
“Sincerely speaking, if people can abandon other things just to listen, I think it is a plus to the station because this has signifies that the programme has popularity and therefore it is successful. This is what all radio stations are looking for. But if people have any problem with the programme, they should confront the management of the station for a solution,” he said.
He said: “The doors of Freedom radio are always open for our listeners. Whenever they have problem with our programme they should come directly to us so that we can sit down with them and iron out things for a lasting solution. We are always encouraging our listeners in this respect.”
When contacted, the Executive Secretary, Kano State Censorship Board, Malm Isma’ila Muhammad Na’Abba Afakallahu, said the board had written to all private radio stations in the state that they should not entertain uncensored Hausa novels.
Afakallahu said: “when we realized that the outcries of people about the programme were much, the board invited the management of the station for discussion and they honored the invitation.”
He said the board made it clear to all private radio stations that it would not allow uncensored Hausa novels to be read on air. He assured that the board would do everything within its power to protect the integrity and morality of the populace.