A Non-Governmental Organization has harped on need for community radio in nation building and how it has been downplayed.
The organization, Light up Africa development initiative (LADI) stated this through its Director, Mr. Audu Kester who hinted on how affordable medium within the rural community can play a significant role in rural development of young men and women.
Audu in a statement made available to journalists on Monday said: “In the Media space, community radio stations are accorded a pride of place as support systems for their role in information dissemination, however, the community development of young men and women has not been fully explored and the plight of these young men and women has hindered their access to right information that would enable them to participate responsibly in nation building.
“Part of its key roles is to provide information and lends support to educating rural people in financially disadvantaged communities on good living. However, obstacles such as poverty, illiteracy, fear, poor access to public agencies and lack of knowledge about the right to information and how or where to ask for it, have deprived both people, particularly the women of access to information,” Audu lamented.
However, a two-day project event has been organized in Ondo seeking to strengthen the capacity of four selected community radio stations on content production; to improving the quality of their work around citizen participation among marginalized beneficiary groups, particularly indigenous communities, and women’s groups. Part of the activities at the event is an advocacy to Kakaki Community radio. This will avail the participating radio stations to learn about the station’s sustainability after the death of the founder. According to the statement, the training is being facilitated by Prof. Adegoke Akeem Rauf and Emokhare Paul Anthony.
