1 PRINT AND BROADCAST MEDIA IN NORTHERN NIGERIA Yusuf M. Adamu Department of Geography, Bayero University, Kano. Introduction Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and one of the largest in terms of size , Church (1979). It came into existence in 1914 when the British colonialists amalgamated the then Northern and Southern protectorates. The Northern protectorate falls within the domain of the Sokoto Caliphate, which fell to the British invaders in 1903. The Hausas, Fulani, and Kanuri are the larger ethnic groups. Islam is the predominant religion and Hausa language is the lingua franca in the region. Other important ethnic groups include the Nupes, Tivs, Angas, Jukuns, and Egbiras mainly in what is now known and called middle-belt of Nigeria. The major cities in northern Nigeria includes Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kaduna, Zaria, Gusau, Damaturu, Yola, Wukari, Jos, Maiduguri, Gombe, Bauchi, Funtua, Dutse, Ilorin, Lokoja, Makurdi, Gboko, Potiskum, Hadejia, Nguru, Argungu, Birnin Kebbi, Daura and Azare. The major occupation of the northern population is farming, although Kano is a major commercial center, the largest inland port south of the Sahara. Industrial activities are also prominent in Kano and Kaduna axis. There are a good number of educational institutions notably the Universities, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, Bayero University, Kano, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto, University of Maiduguri, University of Jos, University of Agriculture Makurdi, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University of Technology Bauchi, University of Technology Yola and a host of others. Northern Nigeria has been literate for the last seven hundred years after the invention of Ajami (the use of Arabic script to write Hausa language). It is however behind southern Nigeria in western education which came to it late and was not popular for a number of reasons, which we are not going to discuss here. This may partly explain why the north is lagging behind in terms of the print media in particular. Print Media in Northern Nigeria: Historical Background. No newspaper or news magazine existed in northern Nigeria before the occupation and subsequent colonization of the region by the British imperial force despite its literacy and intellectual history of the region in terms of Islamic learning and culture. British colonial rulers introduced a trilingual newspaper around 1932 called Northern Provinces News/Jaridar Nigeria Ta Arewa. /Jaridat al Nijeriya al Shimaliyya. It was 22 pages and published four times a year and sold at half a penny (sisi). (Yahaya, 1988). This newspaper or rather a periodical reports mainly new colonial policies and news items about colonial administration activities.