Evaluation and Review of Hannu Daya in Jigawa State

This 21-page evaluation, conducted for the United Kingdom (UK) Department for International Development (DFID)'s State and Local Government Programme (SLGP), assesses the impact, audience reach, and general opinions from listeners of Hannu Daya, a radio programme on governance broadcast in Nigeria's Jigawa State. The 30-minute programme, created in 2002 and broadcast twice a week, was designed to promote better communication between people and government by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, opinions, and information about government and representation at local and state levels. The evaluation found that there is a high level of awareness of the radio programme (over half of all radio listeners) and that about one in three adults has heard at least one episode of the programme.

According to the report, opinions of the programme are almost universally positive. Hannu Daya is viewed as a good example of openness and accountability where the voices of ordinary people are heard. Officials of the state government view the programme favourably, and it is seen as providing valuable insights into the perspectives of ordinary people and drawing attention to weaknesses in service delivery or communication breakdowns that would otherwise not be revealed or aired. The evaluation also found that the production team has a strong level of commitment to the programme and that Hannu Daya has had a degree of independence from interference or intervention from government.

However, it also found that the programme reaches more men than women, and that neither listening nor awareness of the Hannu Daya has grown significantly between 2002 and 2004, pointing to a need for increased promotion of the programme. Negative perceptions of the radio station which broadcasts Hannu Daya, Radio Jigawa, influences people's views of what the programme could achieve, though these views were more prevalent among people who had not heard Hannu Daya.

The evaluation provides a number of suggestions on how to improve the programme. The author recommends additional training for the production team in order to help them come up with fresh ideas for presenting the material they collect. In addition, visits to other stations producing similar programmes would be beneficial. Developing new topics and coverage emerged as another recommendation as, according the evaluation, the format of the programme has not changed since its inception. Covering special populations and marginalised communities would also improve the programme's reach and relevance.

The evaluation concludes that, overall, the approach of Hannu Daya has been a success, and it should be emulated in other communication activities in the state, especially on radio.