By
Alhassan Hassan Salihu
Editor’s Note: This post comes from a regular reader of this blog who has been following my series on journalism. Inspired by the conversations here, he decided to share his own story — a deeply personal journey of how BBC Hausa shaped his path into journalism.
Some childhood memories never fade. For me, it’s the sound of the radio. Every morning in our home had its own rhythm: Voice of America at 6:30 AM, BBC Hausa at 7:00, DW Hausa at 7:30, then back to BBC Hausa at 8:30. In the evenings, the entire family gathered again — this time before the TV — for the 9 o’clock NTA Network News.
At the time, I didn’t realize it, but those routines were shaping me. The voices of BBC Hausa and Radio Nigeria Kaduna weren’t just voices on air; they were teachers. They gave me a sense of the wider world and, unknowingly, they planted the seeds of my love for storytelling.
I grew up in a home where news wasn’t optional. It was tradition. My father passed it down like an heirloom. And while other children might have seen radio as just background noise, to me it was a daily classroom.
So when I found myself studying Mass Communication years later, it all felt familiar. Courses like Media English weren’t intimidating because I had been practicing without knowing — simply by listening, day after day. The first time I stepped into a studio, my coach was impressed by how naturally I voiced a report. She even asked if I had worked at a radio station before. I hadn’t. All I did was follow her guidance. But in truth, the training had started long ago, with every broadcast I absorbed as a boy.
Radio didn’t just prepare me for journalism; it enriched my language. Hausa radio, with its proverbs and eloquence, sharpened my communication skills and even gave me an edge in school subjects like Government, History, and Literature.
But times have changed. Families don’t sit around the radio anymore. Parents are busy with their phones, and children get their news in scattered fragments online. I sometimes wonder what will happen if the next generation grows up without that discipline — the pause, the focus, the shared culture of listening together.
Still, one thing remains timeless: the need to stay informed. Journalism, to me, isn’t just a job. It’s a reflection of how I was raised — always curious, always questioning, always learning.
The world may no longer gather around a radio at dawn or a TV at night, but the lesson endures: news is not just about what happened today, it’s about understanding why it matters tomorrow.
Alhassan Hassan Salihu is a Freelance Journalist.
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