Impact of Radio Kogi’s flood disaster awareness campaign on residents of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria

Abstract

A major natural disaster that occurred in Nigeria in 2012 was the flooding of many places, including Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State. The flood ravaged the area, destroying food and property; and rendering the people homeless. Before, during and after the flood, Radio Kogi Lokoja had carried awareness and warning messages asking those residing by the River Niger bank to relocate. This study sought to ascertain the impact of the warning on the residents of Ibaji. I adopted survey design, using the questionnaire as the instrument for data collection. Pictorial description was also used to show the flooded area. A sample of 622 was derived from the population (127,572), using Cochran formula. 517 of the questionnaire were returned and used. It was found that all the people (100%) listened to radio. Majority (86.7%) listened to the flood disaster warning on Radio Kogi, but 60% of the residents did not relocate out of the flood. While some (44.7) said the impact of the message was average, others (25.7%) said it was too weak to cause an effect. Majority of the respondents (45.6%) felt that Radio Kogi should have adopted a communication strategy that would change people’s behaviour and attitude. It was concluded that the people of Ibaji are well exposed to Radio Kogi, but the 2012 flood disaster awareness did not create the needed impact on them. It was therefore recommended among other things that radio content creators should consider the backgrounds of the people before adopting a communication strategy that makes impact. Government should use other means of information dissemination on issues that border on disaster and the social-cultural dispositions of the people. Instead on announcing only on radio, government could dispatch a team of experts to flood-prone communities with concrete and live evidence of the negative effects of the flood. Through behaviour change communication approach, audiences would be better informed to take better actions.

Keywords: Awareness, flood disaster, Radio Kogi, Ibaji, warning