Daily Trust Investigation Desk
10 December 2001
A relentless media campaign has been going on against the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA), leading to administrative and editorial changes in the service, Daily Trust investigation reveals.
The campaign, which is being carried out mainly on the Internet by some Christians, centres on the allegations that the Hausa Muslim staff of the station have been spreading pro-Muslim, anti-Christian and anti-American propaganda through the station.
An American newspaper, The Weekly Standard, reported last month that the campaign, which has been going on for sometime had already led to some administrative and editorial changes in the service.
The Online Editor of the paper, Mr. Jonathan V. Last, reported in the November 12 edition of the paper that it was in response to the anti-Hausa Muslims criticisms that the VOA leadership, last August, appointed Mr.
Sunday Dare, a Nigerian Christian to head the service.
The paper quoted the VOA Director, Mr. Robert Reilly, as saying, "we are aware of the problems (allegations of bias)" and are "paying very special attention" to the Hausa service.
It was part of paying such attention, the paper said, that the director expressed his dismay over the VOA Hausa service interview with Sheikh Dahiru Mohammed Bauchi on October 15, in which the Islamic scholar accused American forces of killing innocent Muslims in Afghanistan.
The paper quoted Mr. Reilly as describing the broadcast as "totally unacceptable."
Similarly, the paper said: "all broadcasts from the Hausa section are now being reviewed by both Dare and the regional director, Mr. Reilly."
The paper also reported that Mr. Dare had put in a performance audit as a result of which, "one of the Hausa service stringers was dropped and three others have been placed on three months probation."
The paper had earlier reviewed what it said were the criticisms against the Hausa service's pro-Muslim anti-Christian programming and hiring policies.
It said: "Nigerian Christians complain that the VOA perpetuates a subtle pro-Muslim bias, as when it exaggerates the size of the Muslim population in places such as Jos and interviews a disproportionate percentage of Muslims in "man-on-the-street segments."
The paper also quoted an anonymous Christian missionary as saying that "several qualified indigenous Hausa Christians have applied to VOA but have been rejected because they are not Muslims."
After the paper's report that the criticisms had led to both editorial and administrative changes, the criticisms, however, still persist.
One Jerry Okaha, with an e-mail address <jerryokaha@hotmail.com>, posted a letter on the Internet on November 23, 2001 entitled "VOA Hausa service; a disgrace to journalism and freedom," condemning its Muslim workers.
"It is a shame that American people are spending money to pay and maintain the VOA Muslim workers (Reporters and Producers in VOA Hausa Service), and yet they use this American generosity and instrument of freedom and democracy against other religions," he alleged.
Earlier, an American, who claimed to have lived at the permanent site of senior staff quarters of University of Jos but now lives in Seattle, U.S.A., Dr. Ronald B. Rice, had made similar allegations on October 29, 2001 and called for changes in the service.
"As long as journalism staff of the Hausa VOA are all Hausa Muslims, the news will never be objective and unbiased. That is by definition and by fact. It is impossible," he alleged.
"Unless at least half of the Hausa language VOA journalists are non-Muslims, their broadcasts will never be unbiased and balanced, and until that happens, the Hausa language VOA has no business being on the air and has no business being supported by the US government and U.S. taxpayers. It is as simple as that," he said.
But some articles posted on the Gamji website countered some of the criticisms against the Hausa Muslim workers of the VOA.
One of them came from Hannatu Mohammed who dismissed Okaha's article as being "full of hatred," and the Weekly Standard report as containing "too many inaccuracies."
She argued that the dominance of Hausa Muslims in the service was because "99 per cent of Hausa people are Muslims. But they also passed a test given by the VOA to all its language staff.
"Not only in VOA, all Hausa broadcasters in BBC and Voice of Germany are Hausa native speakers and they happen to be Muslims," she said.
"Of course, Christians have been complaining against the VOA progra-mmes since the times of David, Connie and Steve (former non-Muslims heads of the service). But they have also always complained against the BBC, the Voice of Germany, and even against the FRCN, Kaduna. The complaints are not credible, they are mischievous and are factually incorrect," she added.
Another letter posted on the Gamji website by one Joshua B. Bwala on November 24, criticized the appointment of Sunday Dare as the new head of the Hausa service and the changes being introduced in its programming, claiming that such actions have led to the reduction of VOA audience in Nigeria.
"Many listeners in Nigeria are now turning more to BBC, Deutche Welle, some even to Radio Iran as their sources of news and programmes," he said.
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