Voices Radio Soap Opera

The BBC World Service Trust's VOICES project is a three year national public education broadcasting project made by Nigerians, in Nigeria, for Nigerians in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba languages. The project uses radio drama and discussion programmes to explore governance issues, rights and responsibilities, and how these can translate into positive livelihood strategies.

The radio programmes are accompanied by training and capacity building. The project organisers work with universities, drama and radio production organisations, state radio stations and other broadcasters to develop their capacity to produce and broadcast educational radio programmes.

Each series has an overarching theme (i.e. security, corruption, health) and explores specific topics such as local campaigns to renovate a medical facility or repair a road/bridge. The stories of the characters are interwoven, such as an individual learning how to live with HIV/AIDS.

The programming examines issues like poverty and strategies of how to reduce it, ethnic tensions/civil unrest and how to cope with and avoid corruption.

The production of the drama series took place in Nigeria, creating opportunities for training in radio skills and the development of external links between the national media organisations, other universities and NGO communities.

The project features a community dealing with the type of issues ordinary people face and must cope with in their daily lives. The key characters are traders, farmers, people with money and power, religious leaders, civil servants, commentators and outsiders.

The content of the drama series was informed by research drawn from some of the work the Depratment for International Development (DFID) supports across Nigeria and that of its partners and other appropriate agencies. Follow-up discussion programmes further investigates the issues, and are held in diverse settings to reflect the full range of viewpoints and regional differences.

Conflict, Rights

The combination of the issues explored by the drama are aimed at helping to increase the knowledge base of listeners and assist them to identify their own strategies for moving forward.

"The project will develop these and other links so that there are on-the-ground follow up activities in the states where DFID has a presence. This will involve work with other aid and development agencies and educational institutions. The programming may also be broadcast by state radio stations which will in turn help to develop capacity in appropriate Nigerian institutions."