BBC Hausa is the Hausa Language media arm of the British Broadcasting Network in Africa (BBC Africa). It consists of a radio network as well as a website where people can listen to the latest news, information, and entertainment in the Hausa language.
Hausa is the language of the largest ethnic group in Nigeria and is also present in some neighbouring African countries. Here are 10 facts about BBC Hausa that you probably didn’t know before now.
- It was founded on 13th March 1957
- It is available internationally
- It is owned by the government of the United Kingdom
- It can be accessed at www.bbc.com/hausa/ and on radio
- It is present in Nigeria, Ghana, Niger & other West African countries where the Hausa language is spoken.
- It is one of BBC’s 33 foreign language media services
- BBC has four other African language services apart from BBC Hausa
- Its bureau office is located in Abuja, Nigeria.
- It also offers an online radio service on its website
- The radio service is broadcasted from London in the BBC Broadcasting House
The BBC Hausa website is updated every day with news, analyses, and information in audio, text and video formats. It provides world news, sports news, video journalism, technology news, special programmes and more.
It was the first African language service started by the British Broadcasting Corporation and it’s very first program was a 15-minute programme on the BBC World Service which had Aminu Abdullahi as its presenter later translated to the Hausa language and read by Abubakar Tunau.
At the time, it was aired only on Wednesdays and Fridays, on the 1st of June, 1958, the daily programme was launched and has been on since then. The service celebrated its 60th anniversary in Abuja, Nigeria in March 2017 with top BBC management in attendance.
The current president of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari has said that he is a loyal listener of BBC Hausa and has been for many years. The programme has interviewed several prominent Hausa politicians in Africa in its years of existence and has been recognized in the news industry due to its reporting style.
The Abuja bureau office of the service was opened in 2002 and has been operational since then. The service has stringers in Nigeria, Niger Republic, Ghana, and even China. In Nigeria, its stringers are present in top Northern cities such as Kaduna, Kano, Joss, Abuja and Sokoto. The service also has senior editors, producers, senior reporters, and assistant editors.
The radio stations in Nigeria on which the BBC Hausa programmes are rebroadcast include: Radio Gotel – 917kHz AM in Adamawa, BRTV – 94.5FM in Maiduguri, Freedom Radio – 99.5FM in Kano and Jigawa, PRTV – 88.65 FM in Jos and Rima Radio – 97.1FM in Sokoto.
BBC Hausa on radio reaches over 17 million people per week and the bbchausa.com website is one of the most visited in Nigeria.
According to research by BBC Trust in 2010, most locals prefer the BBC Hausa service to local media due to their belief that it is open to less manipulation.
Steve Edegbo is the team lead at Naijatechhub.com. Naijatechhub is a team of writers and researchers dedicated to providing the best up to date information on topics in Nigeria. If you need more information, kindly contact us.
