Radio as a tool for education

PROPOSED CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. Background of the study

There is no single definition of communication but a set of interrelated propositions and postulations by different social scientist and scholar’s in the field of communication and media studies and in the social sciences all aimed at explaining the meaning of the term. Yet it is argued that the term cannot be satisfactorily defined because it is both a field of study as well as a set of activities and process evolving and changing on a daily basis and overtime. This explains why the MacBride commission (1980, p. 3) asserts that:

‘Throughout history, human beings have sought to improve their ability to receive and assimilate information about their surroundings and at the same time to increase the speed, clarity and variety of their methods of transmission of information

This makes communication such an indispensable component of our lives such that the growth and survival of a society is said to be tied down to a number of things among which is a system of communication.

Development implies growth or advancement in the life of a person or a society. It involves growth in economic, social political and cultural sector of a society. According to Rogers (1976), development is a widely participatory process of social change in a society, intended to bring about social and material advancement such as equality, freedom and other valued qualities for the majority of the people through their gaining greater control over their environment. To Oladipo (1996), development in general is a process of economic and social advancement which enables people realise their potentials, build self- confidence and lead lives of dignity and fulfilment. Development is a multi-dimensional process involving major changes in social structures popular attitudes and national institutions, as well as the acceleration of economic growth, the reduction of inequality and the eradication of poverty (Todaro and Smith, 2003)

Development is concern with the quality and quantity of life. Quality of life in terms of opportunities and availability of social, health and educational concerns. Quantity in terms of the amount of economic and political participation of the people (Muhi, Panopio and Salcedo, 1993).

According to Ozor and Nwankwo (2008), the true success of a comprehensive economic and social development programme in Nigeria is primarily dependent upon the extent to which it contributes to the wellbeing of those living in rural areas. Usually, community development programmes should aim; at creating awareness of rural possibilities; providing information on resources, inputs and infrastructure; deploying technical assistance; skills acquisition and development; increasing literacy levels; improving productivity and productive systems; adapting appropriate technology in agriculture; sensitizing potential volunteers and donors as well as focus on peoples’ felt needs and basic amenities such as the provision of good roads, electricity, health clinics, markets, school buildings, and farm settlements among others.

Rural development can be defined as the actions and development to help improve the standard of living in non-urban environments and these actions focus mainly on social and economic developments. It means an overall development of rural areas social, economic, political and cultural so that the people are to live a pleasant life.

Rural development, in general, is used to denote the actions and initiatives taken to improve the standard of living in non-urban neighbourhoods, country sides, and remote villages. Rural is a geographic area that is located outside cities and towns. The Health Resources and Services Administration of the U.S. department of health and human services (1991), defines the word “rural” as encompassing all population, housing and territory not included within an urban area.

Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas are commonly rural, though so are others such as forests. Different countries have varying definition of “rural” for statistical and administrative purposes. In Canada, the organization for Economic Co-operation and Development defines a “predominantly rural region” as having more than 50% of the population living in rural communities where a “rural community” has a population density less than 150 people per square kilometer. In Canada, the census divisions has been used to represent “regions” and census consolidated sub-divisions have been used to represent “communities”. Intermediate regions have 15 to 49% of their population living in rural community. Predominantly urban regions have less than 15 percentage of their population living in a rural community. Predominantly rural regions are classified as rural metro-adjacent, rural non-metro-adjacent and rural northern, following Ehrensaft and Beeman (1992). Rural metro-adjacent regions are predominantly rural census divisions which are adjacent to metropolitan centres while rural non-metro-adjacent regions are those predominantly rural census divisions which are not adjacent to metropolitan centres.

According to Gustavo and Kostas (2007) a natural definition of rurality is to define it by exclusion, as that which is not urban, where urban is defined on the basis of population agglomerations.

Soola (2003) posits that development must permeate the entire spectrum and strata of the society, touching on the lives of the poorest of the poor, lifting them up, as it were, from the abyss of poverty, ignorance, disease, squalor, human rights abuses and similar deprivation.

The media are primarily occupied with providing information to accelerate development. They are to produce contents that meet specific cultural and societal needs. The media here are all forms of communication channels used in disseminating development oriented messages. It involves the use of contemporary means of transmission of development messages using both traditional and modern means of communication. Traditional media here includes; Drums, gongs, masquerades, puppetry, etc. used to convey messages in simple and understandable languages and signs in such a way that even the uneducated understands the meaning. While the mass media include; Radio, television, newspaper, special interest or specialised magazines, digital signage, billboards, booklets, flip charts, brochures/leaflets etc. over the years, radio set has been used in disseminating developmental communication as it is, most easily accessible and cheapest medium for mass communication in developing countries, as reiterated by most third world development scholars (Refer to Oyero, 2003; Anaeto&Anaeto, 2010).

The radio as a set is relatively cheap and can be afforded by many, the programmes aired on radio are easy and cheap to produce, it does not require literacy on the part of the listener, it has a wider reach and accessible in the most remote area, it sometimes do not require electricity and also it allows for multi-tasking while listening to it hence the reason why the radio is widely used as a tool for community development.

It is important to note that the importance of radio in community development cannot be underestimated as Mefalopulos and Kamlongera (2004) posit that radio performs the following in any community development communication; disseminate messages to a large audience, raise awareness and knowledge of community issues, mobilises community members to tackle issues of collective interest, enlarges the forum for social dialogue, lift peoples voice to high levels of authority (local, state or national), and training, transfer and exchange of knowledge and technologies when combined with other media.

The radio is also a veritable tool for influencing behavioural change and creating the right attitudes towards the reception of development idea. It also motivates and persuades the people to accept and participate in development campaigns.

1.1         Statement of research problems

It is paramount to know that any society that neglects the development of its rural communities should not expect meaningful development, and the success of development in a society depends on effective use of information on daily activities. Rural Community Development Programmes have no doubt become an issue that needs serious and careful attention and coverage in radio programmes.

The challenge here is that rural community development programmes are either under-reported or not even covered by most Radio house in Nigeria. This is attributable to either low level of prominence attached to it or just negligence by the broadcast media. However, this study seeks to understand how effective is the radio in community development, using Kajuru local government as a case study.

1.2        Objective of the Study

        This study intend to;

1. Analyse the nature of coverage given to rural community development programmes by Radio station.
2. To find out, how the potential of radio has been utilized by the selected people of Kajuru Local Government to facilitate communication towards community development.
3. To determine how effective, radio as a tool for communication is, towards community development.
4. To determine, whether illiteracy is a barrier to social development and also a major obstacle to effective flow of information.

1.3        Research questions.

1. Do Nigeria Radio station covered issues on rural community development programmes?
2. How effective is the coverage of this programme aired (broadcasted) through the radio
3. Are this broadcast geared towards community development
4. How often do radio stations cover rural community development programmes?
5. To establish if radio as a tool helps in bridging communication gap between rural dwellers and those in urban centre

1.4        Significance of the study