BUILDING COMMUNITY RADIO IN NIGERIA: HOW FAR?

by
Akin Akingbulu

&
Miriam Menkiti

BUILDING COMMUNITY RADIO IN NIGERIA: HOW FAR? BACKGROUND/CONTENT The efforts to put community radio as a sector of the vibrant media landscape in Nigeria are already in the fifth year, thanks to the vast and growing community of stakeholders whose vision and resilience continue to propel the advocacy and accommodation for this globally acclaimed voice of the grassroots. We recall that in the fourth quarter of 2003, a historic journey which aimed to actualize a pro-poor, pluralist environment and the development of community radio started in our country. Two international organizations, the Panos Institute West Africa (PIWA) and the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) in partnership with the Institute for Media and Society (IMS-Nigeria), launched an Initiative on Building Community Radio in Nigeria. The establishment of a steering committee which articulated an Action Plan for the initiative effectively put Nigerians on the driving seat of the advocacy. Implementation began in earnest. A series of awareness-raising and interest generating workshops took the message of community radio development to the various regions of Nigeria. Gathering in these meetings were such important stakeholder constituencies as representatives of grassroots communities, civil society organizations, the media, academia, other professional groups, government agencies, international development groups, among others. The meetings generated more strategies for advocacy and placed demands for policy, legislative and regulatory reform on the tables of appropriate government agencies. As the advocacy continued, the initiative contributed significant inputs into emerging policy reform processes and engaged specific constituencies such as policy makers, regulators, international development agencies, the media and rural communities. Among the activities in this interaction were in-country roundtables and study visits to community radio stations in other West African countries. Meanwhile, our initiative partners, AMARC and Panos, projected and expanded the advocacy efforts at the international level. TRANSFORMATION IN THE LANDSCAPE The CR advocacy has achieved worthwhile results. Among these are:

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The participation base of advocates has tremendously expanded. From an 11-member steering commit at take-off in 2003, there are today about 200 organizations and individuals within the Nigeria Community Radio Coalition, the umbrella body which was formed by stakeholders in 2005. The membership is drawn from a broad spectrum of constituencies with a common bond of social and grassroots development. Members are located in all the geographical zones of the country. A strong awareness of the benefits of community radio has permeated numerous communities. This has led to an upsurge in the interest and resolve to own/establish community radio and to demand for licences and frequencies. Several international development agencies have not only appreciated but also expressed commitment to the advocacy as well as establishment initiatives in some communities. The broadcasting regulatory agency, the National Broadcasting Commission, has reviewed its industry regulatory instrument, the Nigerian Broadcasting Code, to provide wider accommodation for the licencing of community. The federal government has instituted three policy processes. In mid2004, it established a Working group to review the moribund National Mass Communication Policy (of 1990), while in 2006, it also set up Working Groups to design a National Community Radio Policy and a National Frequency Spectrum Management Policy. The reports of these working groups are in its custody. Members of parliament at national and state (second tier of government) levels have expressed support for community radio and willingness to facilitate legal reform in its favour. Community radio issues have moved up to top priority on the agenda of media development in Nigeria. For example, CR now receive prime consideration on the programmes of media conferences in Nigeria. The government granted radio licences to eight institutions of higher learning. In the Nigerian broadcasting regulatory code, campus radio (a radio station in an academic institution) is one of the categories of community radio.

CHALLENGES There are still several important hurdles for the advocacy to cross: There are different levels of understanding and commitment to CR issues within government agencies. For example, regulation is ahead of the policy and legislative levels. There has been a high turnover in government agencies. Frequent replacement of government officials in key policy-making positions has, for instance, found expression in the appointment of five Information Ministers since the return of civil rule in 1999, and three since the launch of the CR advocacy in November 2003.

Government machinery has been slow. The final documents from the three policy processes which were initiated in 2004 and 2006 have not been released to the public by the government. Inconsistency is also evident. Government said in mid-2006 that it wanted a policy in place before licencing CR stations. But while it has not released the CR policy, it approved licences for 8 stations in educational institutions. The understanding with advocates was for grassroots CR but no approval has yet been given for any in this category. Governments interest level in policy has not been replicated in legal reform. It introduced a bill to review the NBC Act (the broadcasting law) in parliament in 2001. The bill was not passed into law before the tenure of that parliament ended in 2003. But government has not re-introduced it in parliament. It has been uneasy to secure adequate funding support to drive the advocacy.

GOVERNANCE & DEVELOPMENT ISSUES Nigeria has enormous governance and development challenges to tackle and overcome. This is demonstrated by basic social data in a few key sectors. In the health sector, maternal mortality stands at 800 per 100,000 live births; infant mortality rate is 100 per 1000 live births; prevalence of HIV/AIDs stands at 3.8 per cent, and live expectancy for the average citizen is 43 years. In education: although the countrys 1999 constitution provides that the government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy, general literacy rate still stands at 67 per cent. Over 65 per cent of the countrys 140 million people live below the poverty line. Nigeria was ranked 158th out of 177 countries in the 2007 annual Human Development Index of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP. Providing sustenance for this pathetic situation is a governance profile, particularly at the local levels, characterized by resource mismanagement along with lack of transparency and accountability. Governments have implemented various strategies to address these national challenges. But consistently lacking in these strategies is the positioning of the people and their communication needs at the centre. Good governance and genuine development can be achieved if all sections of society are integrated into appropriate communication and interaction processes. For the grassroots to be part of these, they must be provided empowerment and space to participate. The situation in Nigeria is that 70 per cent of the population live in the rural areas, but are denied access to modern communication channels and thus shut away from credible information on issues which affect their lives and communities. Most of them live and die, never having an appreciation of development and the possibility that they could participate in a meaningful building of their country.

The grassroots, home to the bulk of the countrys population and the source of her wealth and strength, remain largely marginalized and voiceless. Painfully, mainstream media, including those in the broadcasting sector, have been unable to provide adequate coverage and engagement for grassroots governance and development. The emergence of community radio in Nigeria will help to address the abovementioned and other national challenges in various ways, including: fostering true broadcasting pluralism; providing access and voice for marginalized or underserved peoples and communities; empowering the grassroots to participate in search for solutions to issues affecting them and the country at large; building the capacities of communities to hold political office holders transparent and accountable. helping to preserve languages and cultures across the country

THE ROLES OF AMARC The interest and commitment of AMARC to the development of CR in Nigeria dates back a long time. And this has been demonstrated in the past 41/2 years during which it has been a key partner in the process of Building CR in Nigeria. It suffices to say that AMARC is already part and parcel of the past, present and future of CR in Nigeria. We submit that AMARC has its roles neatly carved. In the short term, these would be to help engage and surmount the most urgent tasks of the moment: Facilitating the conclusion of the policy reform processes, that is, the release of the three pending policy documents to the public by the government. Facilitating the release of licences to CR stations in rural, sub-urban and other communities; Supporting the CR establishment processes in many communities across the country Supporting legal and regulatory reform processes.

In the medium to long term, the role will be to help engage sustainability issues for the stations which would come on air. CONCLUSION We like to thank AMARC for its continuing commitment to the CR cause in Nigeria. We appreciate this opportunity provided us to explain the situation in Nigeria. And we look forward to strengthening our relationship which has developed over the years.

Thank you and God bless.