SATURDAY April 5, 2025 |
By thenewsdesk.ng
Voice Of America, VOA l, Radio goes off air in Nigeria, Ghana, others countries.
When listeners in northern Nigeria tuned into Voice of America last month, they found music playing in place of their regular broadcast — a telltale sign, historically, that soldiers had seized telecoms offices, and even the government.
“Was there a coup in the US?” Babangida Jibrin, a VOA journalist, recalled one worried listener asking, as he and colleagues fielded unending calls after the US-funded station abruptly went off air on Friday.
The dismantling of VOA by President Donald Trump’s administration has left a particular dent in northern Nigeria, where a now-shuttered Hausa-language service that Jibrin worked for served tens of millions in Africa’s most populous country.
The radio broadcasts to Hausa speakers across rural Ghana, Cameroon and Niger, where print media is sparse and internet service spotty — was a key resource for those not fluent in official languages like English or French.
“People are now cut off from news, especially international news,” said Moussa Jaharou, from southern Niger, among the many VOA Hausa listeners living in poor areas prone to conflict and jihadist violence who now find themselves further isolated.
– Difficult media environment –
Established during World War II to counter Nazi propaganda, VOA expanded amid tensions between the United States and communist countries during the Cold War.
Though backed by US government funding, it was considered in modern times a source of reliable, professional journalism in Nigeria — and an important alternative when other outlets were sometimes seen as too close to the government or business interests.
Trump’s first term, however, saw accusations that the president was politicising the outlet. His second time around, he gutted its funding as part of his administration’s massive budget cuts.
While it’s hardly a death blow to Hausa-language media, which serves an estimated 80 million people and banks on a strong radio culture in west Africa, it represents yet another hit against an already fragile industry, taking out a service with a widespread network of local stringers.
In addition to daily news, VOA’s health programming — including on HIV, and, right as the rainy season starts, malaria — has also come to an abrupt end.
“It’s really, really a shame,” Sadibou Marong, West Africa chief for Reporters Without Borders, said, noting that VOA reported on areas hit by armed groups in Nigeria and Niger, even situations where the military pressured journalists to report favourably on their campaigns.
The dismantling of VOA — currently being challenged in a US court — comes as Radio France Internationale (RFI), including its Hausa service, has been banned by military authorities in Niger. Britain’s BBC was recently hit with a three-month suspension in the country.
