By JOE Hemba
A female caller, Amina on a live Radio phone in program in Yobe yesterday accused a presenter of marginalising female callers on the program in favour of men.
Our correspondent who monitored the program which is aired in Hausa Language on Yobe State Broadcasting Corporation(YBC) observed a female caller, one Amina who called from Tsamia Lilo, one of the suburb settlements within Damaturu metropolis said the presenter left the female phone line and was busy attending to calls from the male phone lines.
“You allow us to call and wait for too long and you are busy receiving calls from men. You left our line ringing without answering us but you are answering the men,” Amina said.
The radio program which is christened NISHADIN KARSHEN MAKU literally translated from Hausa as “Weekend Relaxation” is a one hour program of the State Radio Station which starts at 7 pm in the evening and terminates at 8.pm every Sunday. Two separate phone lines are provided and dedicated for male and female listeners to phone in and greet their loved one.
The General Manager of the State, Musa Galadima when asked how his station intends to correct such complaints from listers like Amina said he was happy that the station is now being widely listened to by the people of the state.
Galadima was particularly delighted for sensitive listeners like Amina who are phoning into live programs and advocating for their rights.
This is a good development for our Radio Station, I am extremely delighted to hear from our esteemed listeners and particularly you as journalists to take interest in listening to our program. I am also happy that female listeners are calling on the phone in programs to voice their complaints on some of our programs.
“This is really a thing of special interest to me as the Manager of the station because there is this consciousness among the female folk that they also want to be contributing. That she has lodged a complaint will even spur more of her female counterpart to phone in”, the GM said.
The GM also added that the investment of the State under the leadership of Gov. Mai Mala Buni in the station has made it possible for their listenership to increase, stressing that, “YBC is now live on radio garden broadcasting 24/7”.
The GM promised to sit with the management and review the complaint of the female caller and address the matter.
He also encourages more female listeners to be involved in the phone in programs so as to air their views on matters affecting their communities to help the government to serve them better.
But in her view, The Executive Director, Women and Youth Empowerment Initiative, Hajiya Hussaini Ibrahim, an advocate of women’s right said the discrimination has already started from the two lines provided for the program.
According to her, providing two different lines and dedicating one to the female is already a clear case of gender discrimination which shouldn’t be so.
“My point is very clear that, providing two lines and separating them for women and men suggests the discrimination and the marginalisation of women in the society. The women should be giving equal opportunity on the same phone line that the men are also calling. Separating them will make the presenter to clearly know that a woman is calling and he could decide not to pick up the call from the woman's phone line. So you can see the conflict here,” Hajiya Hussaina explained.
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