ASSESSMENT OF COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES OF COMMUNITY AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS IN BENUE, NASARAWA, AND TARABA STATES

Abstract

The study anchored on assessment of communication strategies of Community and Social Development Projects in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba States in Nigeria. The statement of the problem centred on how effective the communication strategies were in terms of their deployment; the specific communication channels used; the challenges of the use of these communication strategies. The objectives of the study were to: determine the communication strategies, ascertain how the communication strategies are deployed and the challenges of communication strategies used. The theories used were the Developmental State Theory and Alternative Paradigm Model. The aim of this study was to ascertain how the communication strategies are deployed. The methodology adopted in this research designs were survey and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The population of the study was 11, 468, 425; the sample size was 384, while the sampling techniques were multi-stage, and simple random sampling techniques. The study find out that the respondents were fully-aware of the CSDPs in their communities based on the communication strategies; and that mobile phone calls/text messages and WhatsApp messages have now displaced radio as the dominant communication channels. The finding of the study show that the communication strategies deployed contributed maximally to the success.