Impact of Radio Advocacy on the Reduction of Drug Abuse among Youths in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Published: 2024-12-23
Author(s): Jesse Okedi, Godwin B. Okon, Fred Amadi & Dike, Harcourt-Whyte
Abstract:
Background: The mention of Niger Delta rings a bell in Nigeria not just for its abundance of oil and gas reserves but also for the polluted environment, youths restiveness, violent crimes like kidnapping, cultism and militancy. The Niger Delta region has been at the receiving end of Nigeria’s political cum economic quagmire with its attendant consequences on the youth population and high rate of drug abuse has been one of the motivating factors of such notoriety. Irked by the complex issues associated with the region, this study investigated the impact of radio advocacy on the reduction of drug abuse among youths in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Objectives: The objectives were to investigate the level of exposure to radio advocacy programmes on drug abuse among youths in Niger Delta region of Nigeria; determine their perception of the programmes investigate how the radio advocacy programmes have influenced drug use and abuse among youths in the area.
Method: The study adopted the descriptive survey design and a sample of 385 respondents were drawn from the population of youths between ages 15 - 46 residing in Rivers, Bayelsa and Akwa-Ibom states, totaling 15,587,997. According to United Nations, Sixty percent of the population is made up of youths. That means 60 percent of which equals 9,352,798. The researchers employed proportionate sampling technique to be able to cover the three states under focus. To this end, Rivers State had 193 respondents for contributing 50.2 per cent of the study population, Akwa-Ibom State had 123 respondents for contributing 31.9 per cent of the population while Bayelsa State had 68 respondents for contributing 17.9 per cent of the population. The researchers utilised the convenience sample technique to reach the target respondents. The instrument used for this study was the questionnaire. The method for analyzing the data was using the Weighted Mean Score on a four point Likert Scale with a 2.5 decision rule. Results: The research found that youths of the Niger Delta were very much exposed to radio advocacy programmes on drug abuse due to the high entertainment belt of the radio station being their bait, the youths perceived the radio advocacy on drug abuse as educative and engaging considering the complexities of their age bracket and radio advocacy on drug abuse had affected the prevalence of drug abuse positively by bringing down the incidences of open display cum consumption of illicit drugs and influencing the enforcement efforts of security agencies. This implies that the construction of social reality theory applied in this study was effective to the extent that the audience members made meaning out of the radio advocacy contents on drug abuse and were influenced to refrain from drug abuse especially those that were not drug addicts.
Conclusion: This study concluded that society can chart a new course with the media setting the agenda. The radio can also be utilized to push positive agenda like stopping drug abuse among youths. It has also proven that the media do not operate in a vacuum but are subject to the various sociological, economic, religious and political configurations of the society.
Unique Contribution: This study has added voice to the growing call for a drug free society. It has proven the radio and indeed the media as a development partner in any society. It demonstrates that when the media promotes constructive social agendas, small changes can occur.
Key Recommendation: The study recommended that the radio should utilize other advocacy paradigms in order to make anti-drug advocacy programmes more appealing and invite more youths as guests on the programme. The study also recommended that every strata of the society from the government, non-governmental organisations, faith-based organisations to private individuals should collaborate to bring about the needed synergy that will tame drug abuse in the society.
Keywords: Drug abuse, Reduction, Youths, Niger Delta, Radio advocacy.
Issue IJSSAR Volume 2, Issue 4, December 2024
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Copyright Copyright © 2024 Jesse Okedi, Godwin B. Okon, Fred Amadi & Dike, Harcourt-Whyte

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Journal Identifiers
eISSN: 3043-4459
pISSN: 3043-4467