Nigeria Marks World Radio Day with Emphasis on Responsible Broadcasting Practices

As Nigeria commemorates the 2024 World Radio Day, there is a call for all radio stations, both traditional and online, to uphold responsible broadcasting practices, focusing on adherence to principles and ethics in their operations.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, emphasized the significance of editorial functions like fact-checking, objectivity, and balance to maintain the credibility and trust associated with radio broadcasting, highly valued by most Nigerians.

Idris further urged sub-national governments, affluent Nigerians, and other stakeholders to invest in establishing community radio stations to bolster democracy, enhance social cohesion, and offer credible information access to rural dwellers, aligning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu‘s Renewed Hope Agenda.

In a bid to make community radio more reliable, cost-effective, and efficient, the government disclosed ongoing reforms in the process of setting up such stations, with the approval of broadcast licenses for eighty-nine community radio stations across Nigeria.

Radio listeners are urged to utilize the medium for learning, personal growth, and amplifying their voices, with governments set to partner with UNESCO to drive enhanced capacity building and reforms in the sector to further empower radio in disseminating credible and reliable information to the populace.

The 2024 theme for World Radio Day is “Radio: A Century of Informing, Entertaining, and Educating,” underscoring radio’s pivotal role in society over the past hundred years.