Analysis of the Use of Public Address Systems in Mosque Communication in Kano City

Public address systems in mosques represent a significant and pervasive communication infrastructure in predominantly Muslim northern Nigerian cities, functioning as community announcement networks alongside their primary religious role. This study analysed the use of public address systems in mosque communication and their role in community information dissemination in Kano City, North West Nigeria. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining structured observations of public address announcements at fifteen mosques in Kano Municipal and Fagge LGAs over a two-week period with semi-structured interviews with ten mosque communication officers and twelve community members. Observation data coded announcement types, frequency, duration, and language use. Interview data were analysed thematically. Results showed that mosque public address systems delivered an average of eight non-prayer-related announcements daily beyond the five prayer calls, covering community deaths (67.8 percent of announcements), government health campaigns (24.6 percent), neighbourhood security alerts (18.4 percent), and market day information (14.2 percent). The reach of mosque public address systems was perceived as more reliable than formal government communication channels for emergency information by 83.3 percent of interview respondents. Misuse of mosque PA systems for commercial promotion and political messaging was a concern raised by 60 percent of community member interviewees. The study concludes that mosque public address infrastructure in Kano represents an underutilised formal-informal communication channel that could be leveraged for public health and civic education campaigns in collaboration with religious leadership.

Keywords: public address systems, mosque communication, community information, Kano, Islamic communication