Hadizatu (not a real name) was in her fifties. The neat wrinkles that formed around her temple when she smiled revealed her implied age. Tufts of grey hair escaped between her ears and a loosely tied scarf. Hadizatu would pause momentarily, gaze down, and shake her head, as if in reminiscence of the painful memories she was reliving that fateful day.
Her 32 year old marriage had only gotten worse with time. Married to an ill-tempered husband who cared less about providing for the family had moulded a timid, submissive and intimidated woman out of Hadizatu.
She had earlier commenced her narrative with obvious hesitation, wondering if she was doing the right thing by opening up.
“This is the first time I am pouring out my heart to anyone, especially a stranger. I am quite surprised at myself,” she confessed.
For months, Hadizatu had ardently followed up with Kukan Zuci Podcast, a WikkiTimes production that gives voice to the oppressed women of Northern Nigeria.
Despite living in a rural area, Hadizatu would sometimes borrow her son’s android phone and log into Facebook where she would listen to uploaded episodes of the podcast. Other times, she resorted to radio stations airing the programme on a bi-weekly basis.
Inspired by the stories of resilience and courage by featured women and even girls, Hadizatu and I crossed paths one day and with a little push, she agreed to voice her story to the world.
Kukan Zuci Podcast has its tentacles spread across various communities in North east Nigeria especially. Its collaboration with local Radio Stations in two north eastern states; Vision FM Gombe and Albarka Radio Bauchi had ensured its presence in hard to reach communities like that of Hadizatu.
With support from CJID and Women Radio, the podcast has been able to amplify its message in ensuring a smooth production while delivering quality content across social media platforms.
Kukan Zuci does not just seek outreach, it seeks to encourage women that embrace silence as a virtue to speak out against societal vices.
Overtime,in previous episodes, we have had women speak out on drug abuse, gender discrimination, dysfunctional family and even post natal depression. This has influenced subsequent episodes through feedback from audiences willing to share similar stories too.
Hadizatu is one of the many women out there longing for a voice to speak out and Kukan Zuci is set to bridge the gap by amplifying more empowering stories and lending ears to those willing to voice it out.
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