Giving women a voice on the airwaves
“Those were years when many Nigerians experienced problems they had never known before. There were constant strikes and salaries went unpaid,” said Boncano. “My mother was a bank clerk raising four children by herself and I could not finish high school. But the democratic opening offered Boncano an opportunity. “After the national conference [on Niger’s political future], political parties were allowed to register and the first private radio station began broadcasting. In January 1995, I learned that a second private station, Radio Anfani, was hiring. I was the last person to apply and found myself taking a test with 15 other candidates, including some who had a master’s degree. I was the only one who passed and was told to begin work immediately. Just like that, I was on the radio every day.” The station was established with the aim of promoting social development, health and education. Carrying feeds from Voice of America, the BBC and Radio Deutsche Welle, it also quickly became the nation’s primary source of news. “It was ex-tra-or-din-aire,” she said stressing each syllable for effect and smiling as she recalled her heady start. “I became a star in less than a week. The people swore by me, perhaps because I had some courage and told the truth—but also because private radio was so new. We created a call-in program, which gave people a chance to be heard for the first time.” One reason for Souley Boncano’s popularity was that she spoke candidly on issues affecting youth and women. Indeed, in a country which today has only one woman in parliament, Boncano’s twice-weekly program “À vous madame” strikes a chord. She is also the assistant secretary-general of the Niger branch of the Association of African Women Professionals in Communication. “It remains difficult for women to organize and effectively defend their rights,” she said. “Today, we have about 60 women working in radio. That is little more than 10 percent of the media. Let’s not forget that women make up 51 percent of the population. “The greatest challenge for women in Niger is to create an environment that permits them to exercise their rights. Importantly, we want to see the full ratification of the international Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Niger has ratified the convention under reservation because there are things in it that those in power know the public would view as unacceptable in the Islamic context. A woman journalist who promoted the convention was attacked by radical Islamic groups until she capitulated. I have to be very careful when I talk about these matters. Radical groups are capable of anything. Look at the case of Nigeria, which lies on a very porous border with Niger in terms of ideas.” Islamic fundamentalism was permitted to grow in Niger under the same freedom of association laws that grew out of the national conference ending single-party rule. But militant Islam remains tempered in Niger, which shares the sort of tolerant Islam practiced in Burkina Faso and Mali. As in most West African countries, the greater obstacle women face in exercising their rights lies in cultural traditions that often cut across religion. Women’s rights advocates must also contend with the government. “When you talk about women’s issues, you talk about politics because the key to the emancipation of women in Niger is in politics. We talk about the authorities as we try to create debate so that people can take a stand on the promotion of women and act as part of a political movement. “I have not had direct problems with the government, but there is always pressure. For instance, I sometimes work with the government. If I were to say certain things against it, I might as well search for another career—if not that, they might take my family hostage.” Her comment on hostage taking was more than a figure of speech. Ever since the country’s first democratically elected president, Mahamane Ousmane, was overthrown in a coup d’état in 1996, the authorities have repeatedly lashed out at Radio Anfani for its outspoken journalism. During the military rule of Ousmane’s successor, Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, soldiers vandalized the station, arrested journalists, and, indeed, kidnapped the director, Gremah Boucar. After Maïnassara was assassinated in 1999, retired Col. Mamadou Tandja won an election which observers considered free and fair. “After the elections, it appeared that we would be free,” Boncano said. Instead, civil society has faced threats and defamation suits in rigged courts. Three years after the return to democratic rule, the state has intensified efforts to rein in the press and civil society (see box on mutiny of free expression). Even as press freedom and democracy remain tenuous, private radio has grown dramatically over the past eight years. Radio Anfani now broadcasts daily over four transmitters, which cover roughly 75 percent of Niger’s more than 9 million people. It is hardly alone on the airwaves. “Today we have competition. There are at least 10 private radio stations and 20 community-based radio stations in Niger,” Bancono said. It remains difficult for women to organize and effectively defend their rights “There is even a woman who has opened her own station. It is a private station that devotes 80 percent of its programming to promoting women’s issues. She is a great professional who worked for many years in television and radio and financed the station herself. When the regulating authority tried to take her off the air on the grounds that her provisional license had expired, women rose up and marched in front of the station in support. She continues her struggle and is a good example for us, the generation of women who will follow.” “Unfortunately, the radio doesn’t always contribute to the consolidation of society. For instance, a lot of the community stations are transmitting only sermons. They carry only Muslim programs or only Christian programs. The state doesn’t allow confessional radio, but associations produce religious programs which are aired over the community radio. A community-based station should unite the community, but it often resembles a community where individuals don’t always see their responsibility to develop society. “I have visited community stations across the country. People in remote areas enjoy listening to the radio, but they don’t always understand that community radio is a force for action. I think that will arrive.” In the meantime, Boncano and others will continue to make a difference in the face of obstacles. “One doesn’t do it to make money,” she said, laughing. “We do it to open up the spirit. For us to talk on the radio and talk to others is an exceptional pleasure." Source:OSIWA |
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