Doing Community Radio: A Toolkit for Nigerian Communities

This 80-page toolkit, published by the Nigeria Community Radio Coalition, explains what community radio is, as well as how to set up and manage a station. The toolkit has been designed and produced to equip community members in the planning, establishment, and operation process. According to the publishers, its language and presentation are deliberately simple and reader-friendly so that users can easily understand its contents and make it a useful and indispensable companion.

As stated in the toolkit, "Nigeria became a democracy again in 1999 and witnessed the first successful civilian-to-civilian transition in 2007. With that and several other indices, it appears that democracy has come to stay in Nigeria. In the light of that, Nigerians need the resources, skills and training to fully play their roles as citizens in a democratic country. These resources include opportunities to air their views through the media that belong to them. The skills include those needed to manage and sustain such media. Most primary of those media is the community radio station. With the licensing of 28 campus community radio stations, community radio has almost become a reality in Nigeria. But are members of communities equipped to establish and run their own stations? This explains the purpose of this toolkit.”

The toolkit includes of the following Chapters:

• Chapter 1: Yes, you can!
• Chapter 2: What is a community radio station?
• Chapter 3: How to start a community radio
• Chapter 4: Programmes for your community radio
• Chapter 5: Staff training and capacity building
• Chapter 6: Technical matters
• Chapter 7: Funding your station
• Chapter 8: Ethics and code of conduct
• Chapter 9: Partnership and participation
• Chapter 10: Challenges to expect in running your community radio