AN APPRAISAL OF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION AS A TOOL FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN NIGERIA
Any growth process needs effective communication, which is utilized for more than simply information transfer from one person to another. It is often used to make it easier for individuals to engage in developmental activities. Sociologists, psychologists, economists, and communication specialists agree that effective communication helps speed development. To effectively adapt to the possibilities and difficulties of social, economic, cultural, political, and technological changes, citizens often depend on knowledge and information. However, knowledge and information must be successfully transmitted to individuals to be valuable in growth. This highlights the crucial importance of developing communication in any society’s discourse. The poor appreciation of the underpinnings of development communication has contributed to the exclusion and isolation of many people especially those at the rural areas from the process of development. Also, the demand on the part of the citizenry for participatory development in addition to substantial improvement seen in terms of technologies and globalization signify that efforts should be put in place by stakeholders in order to bridge the gap between the theory and practice of development. However, in order to achieve this, discussions on what constitutes development communication should be optimized. However, the primary emphasis of this research is on the role that development communication plays in Nigeria’s national development. However, there must be more meaningful conversations on what constitutes development communication and a persistent interest and commitment by all stakeholders to the topic. This paper contributes to the effort of others to clarify the idea of development communication through a review of some existing literature under some headings. It also makes recommendations, such that the Nigerian government funds Nigerian mass media institutions to help them become better suited for development communication in the country’s interest.
Keywords: Evaluation, Development, Communication for Development, Tool, and National Development
