WHY GOVT MUST GIVE RADIO TO THE PEOPLE

At the just-concluded national workshop on community radio hosted in Abuja by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Nigeria Community Radio Coalition (NCRC), participants urged the Federal Government to issue licences to more radio stations at the grassroots level.

Essentially, participants tasked authorities in the Presidency, Federal Ministry of Information and Communications, the Federal Ministry of Justice and the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) on the need to implement the pronouncement by President Goodluck Jonathan in October last year authorizing the NBC to begin issuance of licences to community radio stations in Nigeria.

Part of these request is for the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately make public guidelines for the licensing of community radio stations approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC), as announced by President Jonathan. They equally asked the NCRC to increase its sensitization and mobilization in communities ahead of the issuance of community radio licences. This, ostensibly to prepare them adequately for compliance with the requirements and guidelines for the establishment and operation of community radio stations. Such sensitization should also include how to ensure that there is appropriate community ownership of the stations.

Also community leaders and members should ensure that politicians and political parties seeking their votes in the April 2011 elections and other subsequent elections are challenged to make a commitment to supporting the emergence and sustenance of community radio stations.

For the various communities that show interest in establishing community radios, the leaders of those communities should ensure that community radio is not imposed on the community or the people. Rather, community members should demonstrate a clear interest and desire to establish, operate and sustain the community radio.

Since each community has its own diversities, including various professionals, religions, gender, clans, age groups, the physically impaired, among others, in their preparations to establish community radio stations, communities should also ensure that their governance and management arrangements comply with the principles of internal democracy. This should include representation, as much as possible, for all interest groups, participation by all the groups, appropriate governance structures, access by all groups to the structures, effective processes for succession as well as accountability and transparency mechanisms.

The various communities planning to establish community radio stations should include in the plans measures aimed at preventing partisan political interests and other sectarian groups from hijacking, controlling or otherwise taking over the station. Communities should also ensure that foreign groups and interests offering to support their stations do not take control of the stations for this reason or through other means or pretext.

Communities seeking to establish community radios in Nigeria do not need to re-invent the wheel. They can learn from the experiences of communities in other countries around the world, including regarding issues of management, funding and sustainability, programming, capacity building, and other matters.

Communities preparing to establish community radio should begin to assess their personnel and other capacity needs so that they can make plans for addressing these needs. In addressing their personnel and other programming needs, emerging community radio stations should take advantage of existing structures and institutions, such as the National Orientation Agency, which can add value to their work.

International Development Agencies and Partners International development agencies and partners should assist in fast-tracking the process of licensing community radio stations in their engagements through and assistance to various government institutions, including the NBC.

International development agencies and partners should also provide capacity-building support to communities and community radio operators in the areas of management, programme development, acquisition of equipment and appropriate technologies, among other ways.