Community radio programmes and political participation among rural dwellers of Ondo state, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the role of community radio in the practice of democracy among Nigerians with specific attention on the rural dwellers. This study took advantage of establishment of Kakaki Radio in Ondo West Local Government Areas of Ondo State in Nigeria to gather data among the populace. Adopting the quantitative design and the survey method, it gathered data relevant to measuring the influence of community radio programmes on political political participation. The study populations are the Ondo West local Government Areas of Ondo state in Nigeria. According to the record obtained from Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), there are about 172,815 registered voters in Ondo West Local Government. Using the krejcie and Morgan (1970), formula, a sample size of 400 respondents were drawn from the population. The sampling technique used is the multistage, probability sampling procedure. The findings revealed that Kakaki community radio programmes increases their level of political participation through, news, current affairs, commentaries, and phone- in programmes.. There is also connection between frequency of listening to Kakaki community radio programmes and the level of political political participation among residents of Ondo West Local Government Area. The study concluded that community radio plays an important role t in political life of rural community. The findings informed the recommendation from the study.