Facilitate Citizen Discourse
Hausa Service Covers Airliner Bombing Attempt
VOA Hausa was a prime source of news for Nigerians wanting to learn more about Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian who has been accused of attempting to set off a bomb on a Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Reuters reported from suspect’s hometown of Funtua in northern Nigeria and found residents “. . . were listening to the local Hausa language services of the BBC and Voice of America radio stations, eager to hear the latest developments.” VOA Hausa also sent reporters to Funtua to get reaction from neighbors and friends of the family of the suspect. Other coverage of the incident included interviews with Nigeria’s Minister of State for External Affairs Bagudu Hirse and Information Minister Dora Akunyili; reports on heightened airport security in Nigeria; the reaction of Nigeria’s Muslim leaders, who condemned the attempt; and an account of Abdulmutallab’s activities and demeanor in Yemen, from the president of the Nigerian Student Association in Yemen, Yusuf Mohammed Raka. VOA Hausa listeners also weighed in on the failed bomb incident during a live call-in program on the danger of religious extremism.