Plateau residents lament as radio stations reduce transmission time

Radio listeners in Jos, the Plateau State capital, Sunday lamented the lack of access to radio broadcasts after many stations reduced their transmission time due to poor supply of electricity and the high cost of diesel.

The residents said they had been denied access to news and other radio programmes that inform them of happenings across the country.

Murtala Yahaya, a resident, said, “Honestly, we are not happy with the way radio stations are going off air. Anytime you are listening to radio programmes, the transmission will just go off. We understand that it is a result of erratic power supply. It is affecting our level of awareness of current events.”

Another resident, Abubakar Muhammad, said, “We rely on radio to receive information about what is happening, but it is very difficult now.”

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Other residents called on the government and other relevant authorities to resolve the problem in the power sector and the high cost of diesel.

Hadiza Ahmed, the head of news at Unity FM Jos, explained the reasons some radio stations cut transmission in Plateau State.

She said, “The cut in transmission is due to the shortage of power supply and the high cost of living. We don’t get a constant supply of power. When the power is taken off, we do buy diesel but these days, we can afford it. A litre is N1600, and we can’t withstand it. We just have to reduce the number of hours of our broadcast.”