Women's Empowerment and Good Governance Through - amarc

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Best Experiences for an Action Research Process 38 Chapter 6. Situation of Community Radio in Nigeria By Akin Akingbulu and Miriam Menkiti (28) The development of a truly plural broadcasting landscape, incorporating a thriving community radio sector along with other tiers, is a key item of engagement in Nigeria. As the country strives to overcome her contemporary development challenges, she cannot but grapple with the provision of access to communication resources for the majority of its 140 million citizens. Sixty-two years of state broadcasting monopoly and a further 12 years of private/commercial participation failed to provide adequate media access to the people. But the story changed when vigilant stakeholders put their ideas and activities into a synergy and began a process of positive engagement. Community broadcasting was not a feature of the Nigerian media scene, even at the early period of the present democratic period. Indeed, the Nigerian political environment was adverse to its development, especially because of the long years of military rule that restricted freedom of expression. All that began to change when, in 2003, a collaboration of two international organizations, the World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) and the Panos Institute West
39 Best Experiences for an Action Research Process Africa (PIWA), with the Institute for Media and Society (IMS), launched an advocacy program, the Initiative on Building Community Radio in Nigeria. In 2005 and 2006, the initiative took the advocacy to higher levels. A national conference capped the zonal workshops and generated outputs such as a corporate structure for community radio stakeholders and a new Plan of Action. This was followed by a series of sectoral engagements that featured international development bodies and local groups such as the World Bank and the Nigerian media. An AMARC regional seminar twinned with a Nigerian CR Policy Dialogue in Abuja also took centre stage. With the message of CR development going down to the grassroots through the nationwide awareness-raising, the engagement of government agencies was also being pursued. Before long, the government began to respond to stakeholders’ demands. From 2004 to 2006, it instituted at least three policy development/reform processes: a review of the National Mass Communication Policy, the Development of a National Frequency Spectrum Management Policy and a National Community Radio Policy. The CR initiative engaged these processes by developing and submitting comprehensive memoranda into them. The release of the final documents by the government is being awaited. Community radio and democratization/governance Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999 after more than 15 years of military dictatorship. Over the past eight years, the public space has relatively become freer, and basic freedoms, including freedom of expression and the media, have improved while democratic institutions are developing. But challenges remain. There is still a substantial deficit in the development and provision of social infrastructure, much of which went into decay during the years of the military. Transparency and accountability have not become deeply embraced cultures in governance institutions. The electoral system has not made any appreciable advance. And the grassroots, where the majority of the population lives, have not benefited from democracy.
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Women's Empowerment and Good Governance Through - amarc

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