CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1     Background of the Study

The study set to examine the place of radio in rural development the rationale behind the study is to find out to prospects and challenges of using radio as a tool for rural development communication generally, has a very crucial role to play in bringing about positive attitudinal change. The first requirement for the development of an information society that enables the effective use of radio is wide spread access to the radio set and radio programs. Radio plays a very significant role in the development of the rural and urban areas as a society.

Several problems are however associated with the use of radio as tool for rural development in Nigeria, some of which are; communication related problems, message problems, message problems, illiteracy, the use of English Language by the electronic media, multiplicity of language in Nigeria, lack of audience feedback, ownership problems, dearth of qualified personnel, urban-central development journalism and death of community based or vernacular radio/telecommunication. Radio is an important tool for entertaining, informing and educating the society, but that there are certain factors that hinder the effective use of radio for rural development. It therefore recommends, among others, that radio station should endeavour to use local dialects, especially when the radio programme is aimed at the rural dwellers and that there is the need to establish community radio stations that will be closer to rural dwellers.

1.2     Statement of the Problems

          It is generally believed that radio is the most important instrument in information dissemination because it reaches larger percentage of the people. Irrespective of their location, it promotes the level of awareness of the people on socio-political and economic issues and it also enables people to be adequately informed about programmes and activities of the government. However, it is not certain the extent to which resident of Itu Local Government Area has access to radio programmes. If they do, to what extent have radio have served developmental needs of the people. This therefore constitutes the concerns of the study.

1.3     Objective of the Study

i.        To ascertain the extent of the use of radio for rural development.

ii.       To find out the percentage of the role of radio in development among         residents of Itu.

iii.      To find out the areas of development that radio is most useful to residents of        Itu Local Government Area.

1.4     Research Hypothesis

The study was guided by the following objectives:

i.        To what extent do the radio used in the rural development?

ii.       How radio used in the rural development in Itu resident?

iii.      What type of content do the radio used in Itu resident?

iv.      What are the reason radio are used in the rural development, Itu resident?

1.5     Research Hypothesis

Ho:   There is no impact on the residents’ perception of radio for rural development      in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

Hi:    There is impact on the residents’ perception of radio for radio for rural development in Itu Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

1.6     Justification for the Study

This study will give an insight into the use of radio for rural development. Findings of the study will be beneficial to scholars and managers of broadcasting stations especially in the area of programming and content production.

1.7     Delimitation of the Study

The research scope was limited to Itu residents’ perception of the use of radio for rural developments. However, findings could be helpful in understanding the potentials andlinitations of radio in development.

1.8     Operational Definition of Terms

PERCEPTION:  The ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses.

RADIO:The activity of broadcasting programmes to the public.

RURAL DEVELOPMENT:The process of importing the quality of life and economic well-being of people living in relatively isolated and sparsely populated areas.

1.9     Limitation of the Study

It will never be an over statement to say that a work of this nature cannot be carried out without some experiences. However, below are the constraints raced in the course of this study.

The researcher was refused information useful for the study. As such, they development did all their best to ensure that the needed information was released to enable the completion of the work. forms most individuals returned the questionnaire forms were administered to could not be found, as such as researcher had to spend her time again and again in order to get back the questionnaires.

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1     Review of Concepts

2.1.1   The Perception of Radio for Rural Development

2.2     Review of Opinions

2.2.1  The Use of Radio in Itu Resident

2.2.2  Functions of Radio

2.3     Review of Studies

2.4     Theoretical Framework

2.1     Review of Concepts

2.1.1  The Perception of Radio for Rural Development

Development as a concept was used to purely describe economic growth alone. This so because economic growth was often considered from the perspectives of the Gross National Product (GNP) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of a country which were used as a standard for measuring development. With time it was discovered that the definition was not encompassing as economic growth alone could no longer be used to measure the infallible index of human and national prosperity. Rogers (1976) defines development as a widely participatory process of social change in a society, intended to bring about social and material advancement for the majority of people through their gaining control over their environment. In citing Edeani (1993) Okunna (2002) locates his perception of development on the belief that if adequate development would be seen to be taking place, then rural development must go hand in hand with national development. The implication of this is that development in the rural areas is as important as that of national, if meaningful development is to be achieved.

The media, right from the independence of the nation have always been agents of development. They are used to engender social, cultural and political development in a society. Governments and their agencies have used the mass media are used to convey development policies and actions to the people and the masses in-turn use the media to convey their development needs as well as feedback to the government. Despite the giant strides taken be the broadcast media for the development of Nigeria, the broadcasting environment as defined in policy, legislation and regulation has remained unfavourable to the majority of the Nigerian populace. For example, the existing National mass communication policy envisaged such lofty broadcasting sector objectives as: Dissemination of information to enhance the welfare of the people in all aspects of life, providing efficient broadcasting service to the entire people of the country, ensuring broadcast programmes are used to mobilise the rural population for national development and improving quality of their lives, and providing regular channels of communication between the government and the people. These no doubt would have passed for a perfect policy, but in reality it is mere paper work as broadcasting stations have continued to serve only the interest for their pay-masters (government and private individuals), thereby neglecting the masses whose interest they are established to serve. No doubt the influence of community radio on the rural development of Nigeria cannot be overlooked. Wilson (1991), gives a vivid analysis of the nature and influence of the mass media, thus: the mass media of communication are so pervasion in their socio-cultural and political influence that there is hardly any field of human endeavour that they do not have a specific role to play, they act as eye and ear of society (i.e. as watchdogs) and as mobilizes, informers, educators, entertainers and channels educating, disseminating information, propagating culture, educating, entertaining, mobilizing, correlating the environment and promoting the general economic well-being of the society and their owners. The implication of Wilson’s assentation above lies in the fact that for effective and meaningful development to take place at any level of our existence, the role of the media cannot be overemphasized and for the desired development to be achieve, the mass media must be carried along in the development plans. Nigeria is a developing country and majority of her citizens reside in rural areas. The rural areas are considered undeveloped. This is because these areas lack basic social amenities such as electricity, portable water, good roads and other amenities which make for maximum comfort in life.