SOURCE:

Faculty: Arts
Department: T&fs

CONTRIBUTORS:

Arah, A. N;
Asigbo, A. C;
Nwadigwe, C. E;

ABSTRACT:

The use of the macro media of radio and television for communicating development may not be a nascent phenomenon but the same cannot be said for the practice of Theatre for Development via the mass media of television. Not only does this practice ensure a wider viewership, but, together with the advent of new media and the World Wide Web, a wide vista of possibilities has been opened for development agents from every field. The use of Reality Television to foster participation of locals in their development programmes has been explored with relative success in certain parts of Africa and one of such experiments has recently been concluded in Nigeria, among her Niger Delta peoples. The reality show Dawn in the Creeks was set in three communities of the region-Ozoro in Delta State, Nembe in Bayelsa and Erema in Rivers State. It was televised on five national television stations and the local TV stations of those states concerned. However, despite the participatory nature of the programme and the many windows of outreach on offer, courtesy of the new media, pockets of restiveness still occur within the confines of these communities. Moreover, the development project lacks the benefits of continuity and follow-up, a situation indicative of a problem. The study has been anchored on four major theories, including Paulo Freire’s Theory of Conscientization and Critical Consciousness, Augusto Boal’s Theory of the Oppressed, the Participatory Development Theory and the Democratic-Participant Theory. With the qualitative Content Analysis method and quantitative Interview and Questionnaire methods, data was generated for analysis, to measure the effectiveness of the programme in reducing incidences of violence among the youths of two of the three communities, namely, Ozoro and Erema. The research work underlines the need for a truly people-driven participatory development practice. It also concludes that there is need for altruism and sincere effort on the part of would-be change agents to allow the people evolve solutions for lasting and positive change in their communities.


 
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