ABSTRACT

In Niamey, the capital of Niger, promoters of reformed religiosities have almost monopolized the audiovisual media and made these platforms the central pieces of their communication strategies (Sounaye 2011b, 2013). On a Saturday morning in April 2012, a preacher had just completed the introduction to his weekly radio sermon when he said:

Before I elaborate on the topic of our gathering, let me remind you that tomorrow you are all invited to a wazu [open air sermon] at the Académie des Arts Martiaux.2 Insh’allah, it will be very beneficial to all of us. We have guests from Ghana and from other towns of Niger, so, please, people of Niamey, women and men, young and adults, tell your friends, bring your families; be there at 9 a.m. (A preacher on Radio Saraounia)

Throughout the day, TV channels, FM radios, and text messaging devices relayed this information across the city. I also received the announcement by text message from a young woman I interviewed a few weeks earlier, and who knew my research interest. Until recently, she had been part of the preacher’s movement. However, she “broke up” with the community when she married a husband reluctant to let her pursue such activities. She described the event as one of the ways her former community raises money and promotes specific projects. To convince me, she concluded: “so, if you really want to know how our group functions, you should go see for yourself”. I did not wait for any further invitation.