(http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2618253/ForumPhotos/UNDP-United%20Nations%20Development%20Programme.gif) Experts from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as well as Nigerian scholars yesterday advocated licensing of community radio stations in the country to strengthen the electoral process and give a voice to the people to participate in nation building.
The experts wondered why none of the presidential campaigners for this year's election has even suggested the urgent need to give a feedback and participatory voice to the people of Nigeria through the establishment of community radios.
At the start of the UNDP's Democratic Governance for Development (DGD) and the Nigeria Community Radio Coalition (NCRC) National Capacity Building Conference yesterday in Abuja, the Minister of Information and Communications, Labaran Maku, however, noted that even as community radio is desired in Nigeria to empower the diverse people to be active participants in development process and for the preservation of societal values, there is still need for a strong ombudsman so that a messy atmosphere is not created with the freedom that comes with the responsibility of unhindered access to information.
Nigeria crudely lags behind in the communal access to information indices in Africa. There are 100 independent and locally operated community radios in Mali. South Africa has 28, including campus radios (50 in all). There are 36 of such in Namibia. Many other countries taking advantage of the mobilisation for development benefits of community radios have brought the number of stations to 300 in Africa.
The Federal Government had, during the biennial conference of African broadcasters in October last year, announced that the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission(NBC) had been mandated to license community radio stations in Nigeria.
Maku disclosed yesterday that within the nine months that conversation on community radios has intensified in Nigeria, the open door has been consistently widened to accommodate the information revolution that is about to take place.
He said: "Democracy is often very slow in getting things done, but it is more enduring. It is accepted that democracy is government of the people by the people and for the people. This cannot be if the people do not have a voice. Since I became minister, there is no week that has passed without me signing a licence for a new radio station. Given our level of development, radio is the best tool for informing people and spreading development. If people are not informed, if they cannot communicate, then development is hampered. The process must be that of permanent dialogue between the people and the government. Community Radio makes it possible. Our cultures are endangered by globalisation. The cultures embody in the people certain values and wisdom that the world cannot give."
On the FoI Bill about to be passed into law, he said, "People do not realise that government needs the freedom of information provision. We have reached a stage in global affair where we cannot keep anybody down now. There is a need for a strong ombudsman so that the FoI can be meaningfully implemented."
The United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator and UNDP Country Representative in Nigeria, Daouda Toure noted that a nation such as Nigeria needs to recognise the potential of community radio for enhancing the democratic process.
According to him, new approaches to development emphasise that people have greater control over their own lives through active participation in planning, deciding and executing activities that affect their socio-cultural and economic development. "This requires access to information and assurance that all segments of the community can get their voices heard. Community radio has a lot to offer in that respect."
The UN chief emphasised that on the eve of another democratic transition in Nigeria's history, community radio provides a unique tool for promoting transparency and active citizen engagement that is able to independently choose their leaders and hold the authorities accountable to the people."
Renowned communicator, scholar and president of NCRC Prof. Alfred Opubor, in his remarks, decried the absence of a community radio agenda in the campaign programme of the aspirants who want to occupy the exalted office of president of Nigeria.
"It is a sad reflection on our emerging democratic platform. No party has remotely suggested the importance of strengthening the voice of the people. No one has proposed that, in addition to their plans to build roads and bridges, hospitals and all the other marvellous plans for the transformation of Nigeria, that they intend to give a voice to the people through a simple mechanism of establishing community radios in Nigeria, yet we are committed to a free and fair election," he said.
The president of the International Association of Community Radio Broadcaster Steve Buckley noted that "we live in historic times in which the recognition of the rights of the people to be heard is crucial. Editorial independence and independent regulatory authority are norms crucial today for every advancing society."
Pioneer Director-General of the National Broadcasting Corporation Dr. Tom Adaba stressed that community radio, apart from its strategic use for mobilisation and
people personal identity, is a service that offers a third model for radio broadcast. He stressed that it is service oriented, designed to be operated and managed by the community to meet certain needs.
Source: UNDP, others canvass community radios in Nigeria (http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41028:undp-others-canvass-community-radios-in-nigeria&catid=1:national&Itemid=559)