The Role Of Radio Broadcasting In The Rural Development
[A Case Study of Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS)]

INTRODUCTION

1.1    BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

This study, the role of broadcasting in the rural development is however concerned with an attempt to examine how; rural development programmes can be effectively organized and implemented at the local government or grass root levels in any communities in Enugu State and Nigeria generally using Enugu state media as a case study.

However, an in-depth research reveals that within Enugu state media there is an intensive use of amplitude modulation and frequency modulation station of Enugu state broadcasting service to create awareness numerable opportunities available to them. They still flourish in the previous delusion and dogmatic belief that cannot contemporaries in the urban setting.

The press here are faced with the obligation of battering the lives of rural communities through the packaging of information on how to do something which their in exposure hinders them from acquiring basic knowledge. Educating them through programmes, which can sharpen their intellect, providing job opportunities forever increasing population explosion in the rural set up and re orientation of our rural dwellers through sensitization enlightenment, mobilization, emancipation and motivation.

Rural development of any kind in any place can only be meaningfully achieved through a well – planned and executed complex interaction of many economic and non economic variables. The major role of press (Enugu state media) is usually to highlight and examine problem and issue that need to be understood and tackled to achieve rural development or improve the quality of life for the rural dwellers. The Enugu state media should also help to maintain the much needed regular two way communications between the poor or marginalized rural dwellers and the urban cities especially the government or those who hold political power.

It is no longer contestable that when media is properly approved, communication can work together with a nexus of other social variables to facilitate social charge that include rural development experts or practitioners in Africa, Asia, Latin America and other developing areas have long been engaged in the search for method approaches, device, techniques and of course strategies which help them to put communication to the fullest and most effectively use in achieving their various development objectives.

        The crucial area that engaged the attention of these experts in the area of preparing the necessary and tantamount information, education and communication materials that can be usually utilized for the effective application of communication in rural development.

        Enugu state media’s news, features and so on have so long be recognized as efficacious packages for rural development especially when they are well prepared and the press writers should know how to prepare them. The press should focus more specially on how we can better develop and use rural (RADIO) for development and for the mobilization of the much neglected and discard rural dwellers in the primitive and interior part of Enugu state.

        We are convince that it will be quite unreasonable for us to expect to achieve any meaningful, realistic and actualized rural development in this Mgbidi communities without careful and systematic mobilization and participation of the rural dwellers, which of course can be achieved through the press using the Enugu state media as a case of study.

1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT

        In stating the problem statement of this role of press in mgbidi, using Enugu state media as a case of study, we observe very unfortunately that many problems exist.

        However, in a case of many change agents, rural development officers, public relations officers, information officers and other officers that are involved in preparing news, or officials and features for mgbidi dwellers are participant in rural development project, do not do them well enough to achieve the required and desired result.

        Besides, the problem is ignorance, but most of the time the problem is either lack of insufficient orientation or sensitization of those officers to the special philosophies, needs, techniques and approaches for preparing news, articles and features towards achieving rural development objectives.

        Furthermore, the other problems of the role of press is achieving its aim in rural development mgbidi is because of the high illiterates factors among the rural dwellers and the problems of overcoming geographical and language barriers.

        Again, the rural dwellers major weakness to develop arises from two – readership due to the low literacy rate of the rural targeted audience of course, the rural dwellers inability to read and understand the rural newspapers has cautioned not to allowed them develop spite of the role of press in Enugu state.