Linus Unah, a freelance journalist writes about how the fight against insurgency is taken to the airwaves by Dandal Kura Radio International, a radio station based in Maiduguri.
The idea behind the radio station broadcasting is that isolation helps propagate radicalisation, so providing information and giving an empowering voice to civilians helps reduce it.
As the “on-air” lamp flashes in the sound-proofed studio, presenter Fatima Ibrahim Mu’azzam puts on her headphones.
“Good morning and welcome to Dandal Kura Radio International,” she says in the local Kanuri language. “It’s a beautiful morning in Maiduguri and I’m excited to bring you your favourite phone-in programme, Kuttunumgulle,” she adds, using the Kanuri phrase for “listeners’ complaints”.
After a news bulletin, the phone-in segment of the show starts.
“My name is Mallam Ahmad and I’m calling from Dalori camp in Maiduguri, home to more than 18,000 who fled Boko Haram attacks,” the first caller says, in the Hausa language.
“Good morning Ahmad. We’re happy to hear from you. What’s up for us today?” asks Mu’azzam, effortlessly mixing between the two languages.
“Please help us tell the government that our girls and women are being raped,” says Ahmad, his voice heavy with anger. “This has to stop because we’ve suffered a lot.”
“I’m sorry about that, Ahmad,” responds Mu’azzam. “We will try to bring the issue to the government so they can act fast to stop the rape.”
The next caller, Bashir from Yobe State, says internally displaced people like him are suffering.
“We don’t get the food, and things like clothes, tents and blankets, allocated to us… This is corruption and it’s not fair at all. We want the government to set up a committee to consider the diversion of food and other relief materials.”
Mu’azzam assures Bashir the government will be urged to address this.
Other callers complain about the rising cost of living in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State and birthplace of Boko Haram, and several others say they can’t afford to continue staying away from their villages.
“This phone–in programme gives IDPs and people affected by the conflict a loud and clear voice,” explained Mu’azzam in an interview with IRIN.
The station also provides information about the government’s counter-insurgency operations, as well as about facilities such as medical centres, farm irrigation, sports, human rights, and entertainment.
“Information is key to countering insurgency and that is why we begin some programmes with a news bulletin which tries to inform people about activities of the PCNI, the body responsible for the coordination of humanitarian response and recovery in the region,” Mu’azzam added.
For Mu’azzam, the government’s lack of attention to the Kanuri language has created a platform for Boko Haram’s message to thrive.
“During conflict, people need information and when there is none they can easily begin to feel isolated and abandoned,” she explained.
David Smith, Dandal Kura’s Canadian project director, noted: “There are roughly ten million Kanuri speakers in the four countries bordering Lake Chad.
“Creating a radio service that provides a cross-border platform creates an opportunity for all Kanuri to come up with home-grown solutions to the crisis, [which] is generally more sustainable than one imposed from outside,” he added.
The ability to talk to people in their mother tongue, and take their questions and comments in Kanuri is a way of showing respect,” said Smith.
It’s a point not lost on Boko Haram, whose leader, Abubuakar Shekau, is Kanuri, and whose own multimedia messaging, in the Kanuri language, has capitalised on the perceived marginalisation and economic deprivation of people in the northeast.
Boko Haram even tried to get in on the radio game itself last year, but its fledgling FM station, set up on the Nigerian-Cameroon border, were blocked by the National Broadcasting Commission.
Dandal Kura – which means “big meeting place” in Kanuri, is a radio station which has 30 correspondents dotted around its coverage areas in four countries. It was launched in Kano State in February 2015, it relocated to Maiduguri early last year as relative peace and security began to return to the city.
“We need a radio station that will take up the fight to sensitise young people who are hoodwinked into joining the sect to fight,” said Mustapha Ali Busuguma, a lawyer based in Maiduguri.
“It is very important because most of the fighters do not have the option of hearing other interpretations of the Koran, so they are stuck with whatever Shekau says.”
Keen listener, Garba Ibrahim, a security guard in Maiduguri said the station “helps us understand the Boko Haram insurgency and gives us information about things happening in other places like Chad, Niger, and northern Cameroon.”
“Maiduguri without a radio station like Dandal Kura would be like total darkness. Dandal Kura is a fearless radio station that speaks the truth and broadcasts facts,” he added.
As well as the news and phone-in shows, the radio station also broadcasts tips on how to identify suicide bombers and produces dramas penned by local writers, some of which feature former members of Boko Haram and their families.
It also helps reunite families separated during the conflict.
“We have linked about nine families this year,” Dalhatu said. “We hope to get more connected back soon.”
The station’s bold stance has incurred the wrath of Boko Haram. Last September, a man who identified himself as a rebel commander phoned the station and condemned the reporting of an attack.
And in March, Shekau himself released a video statement in which he said: “That radio station called Dandal Kura with those prostitutes you parade as your female workers, may Allah curse all of you.”
Staff seem to take the hostility in their stride, and there have been no overt threats.
“This job has always carried along with it an element of risk. It is not the safest job because every day when you come to work you say or write something that somebody doesn’t like,” said Dalhatu.
“When Shekau spoke about us, it brought an additional dimension to the risk because of the group’s ruthlessness. I was very worried about the Fatimas of this station: we have about 15 young women whom we invited, groomed, and showed that they could start up a career in journalism,” he said, adding that Boko Haram’s reaction itself demonstrates that the station is having an impact.
