 | |
| Type | Radio network andwebsite |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | International |
| Owner | BBC |
Launch date | 13 March 1957 |
| Webcast | www |
Official website | www |
| Language | Hausa |
BBC Hausa is theHausa-language service of theBBC World Service meant primarily for Hausa-speaking communities inNigeria,Ghana,Niger and the rest of Hausa speakers acrossWest Africa. It is part of the BBC's foreign language output of 33 languages, of which five are African languages. The service includes a radio station, a bureau office based inAbuja and a frequently-updated website which serves as a news portal and provides information as well as analysis in text, audio and video formats and online access to radio broadcasts. The radio service is broadcast fromBroadcasting House in London with preliminary editing done at the BBC's bureau office in Abuja.[1]
BBC Hausa was the first African-language service operated by the BBC and is one of the five African languages it broadcasts. The service was launched on 13 March 1957 at 09:30GMT with a 15-minute programme by theBBC World Service presented by Aminu Abdullahi Malumfashi: a translated version was later read by Abubakar Tunau in the programmeWest Africa in the News.[2][3] The programme was then aired on Wednesdays and Fridays, with daily programmes beginning one year later on 1 June 1958, and has continuously done so since.[3]
In March 2017, the BBC celebrated the Hausa service's 60th anniversary in Abuja, with attendants including the director of theBBC World Service group,Fran Unsworth, quoted as saying in part:
"We are very proud of the BBC Hausa service and the many years of vital broadcasting it has provided for our audience. This fantastic milestone shows its great success, and long may it continue".[2]
Nigerian presidentMuhammadu Buhari also sent a voice message at the occasion where he made known that he was a loyal listener of the service and spent many years listening to its programmes.[2]
In its early days BBC rose to prominence in Hausa speaking world due to style of its reporting. It has conducted interviews with many prominent African politicians.
The BBC's Abuja office was opened in 2002.[3]
The service has, among other roles, senior editors, producers, assistant editors and senior reporters. There are also stringers in key Nigerian cities such asKaduna,Kano,Jos,Enugu,Abuja andSokoto as well as overseas stringers inNiger,Ghana andChina.[4]
Many BBC programmes are rebroadcast by Nigerian media houses through a special partnership with theBBC World Service, including the following:[5]
As of 23 December 2024, theAscension Island andWoofferton transmitting stations were known to broadcast Hausa programming on varyingshortwave frequencies, with the hours ranging from 2 hours on Mondays-Thursdays to 9 hours on Saturdays.[6]
With the advent of digital means of communication, listenership through traditional radio sets have been steadily declining since the 1990s.[7] BBC Hausa radio reaches around 17.7 million people every week and its website is one of the most visited in Nigeria.[8]
A 2010 research report by theBBC Trust found that there is "a wide distrust of local media in the Hausa speaking regions of Africa where locals perceive local broadcasters and journalists as open to manipulation."[9]
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