Welcome to the
Sahel Centre for Information, Media and Development Research SCIMDER
AI Door-to-Door Project
About the Project
Millions of people in Northern Nigeria own smartphones, yet many underutilize them—limited to watching videos and chatting—while missing out on their full potential. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), tools like ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, and Bing AI are now making learning, business, farming, teaching, and healthcare smarter, faster, and more accessible. However, language barriers, low digital literacy, and lack of awareness are excluding the majority from these benefits.
AI Door to Door is a groundbreaking initiative by SCIMDER that demystifies and democratizes AI. We deliver AI awareness and training in Hausa, using voice, illustrations, and real-life demos, in non-formal settings like markets, farms, schools, garages, and even WhatsApp groups. Our goal is to train 1,000,000 functionally literate and illiterate smartphone users on how to use AI in an ethical, productive, and healthy way that directly improves their daily lives and livelihoods.
Kano State 2024 Household Radio Listenership Research
Maiden Research Project
Executive Summary
Kano State, being the most populous and the epicentre of Nigeria’s commerce and politics, is one of the leading Nigerian states with a vibrant, unique, and emerging media industry. However, there is a dearth of statistics and industry-focused research that explain and document the history, nature, and evolving patterns of its vibrant media industry—broadcast (radio, TV), film and music (Kannaywood), print media (conventional and online newspapers), and social media, leaving gaps in historical documentation, managerial and strategic insights. The Sahel Centre for Information, Media, and Development Research (SCIMDER) embarks on a groundbreaking mission to illuminate this uncharted territory, beginning with the state’s most ubiquitous medium: radio. With 30 active radio stations as of December 2024, Kano’s airwaves pulse with opportunity, competition, and untapped potential.
As an exploratory and maiden study, we aim to examine listeners’ attitudes towards radio, information access and its barriers, listenership patterns and habits, opinions about radio programming, radio station awareness and preferences, and emerging trends in media consumption. We used a mixed-method design: a survey, in-depth interviews, and field observations. We administered 737 questionnaires across nine local governments, three from each senatorial zone.