Setting Up A Rural

Community Radio
Setting up a community radio station involves seven
steps. They are:

• Get a group together or work with an existing one

• Define the community radio’s mission and
objectives.
• Incorporate the group
• Apply for a licence
• Get equipment and recruit manpower
• Train staff and volunteers
• Begin broadcasting
1. Get a group together or work with an existing one

A community radio is a group affair; it is not the

property of an individual. The first step to take in
starting a community radio therefore is to set up a
community radio committee or board, or coordinating
group. In many Nigerian communities, there exist
community development associations or unions to which
every member of the community belongs. Such unions
have been involved in building town halls, schools,
palaces, bridges and in celebrating ‘annual days’ or
‘carnival’.
In some places such unions are no longer
active, and so cannot be the force behind a
community radio. In some places, they never
existed. Where either of these is the case, a
group must still be formed. Usually a person
or two has the vision for a community radio.
He or she then invites a few more people to
join in the forming of a community radio
committee.
 It is important to sell the vision to the entire
community since the radio is theirs and not for the
person that had the vision.

Getting a successful community radio group together

requires careful selection. Members of the committee
must be members of the community. they must also
be people who share the ideals of a community radio.
They must be people who will not hijack the radio
and remove it from the control of the community.
Not only this, they must be people who understand
that community radio is not for profit. They must
have the spirit of serving the community for the
common good of the community.

Politicians in the community must not be allowed

to manipulate the community radio and turn it
into a tool for supporting political parties or
ambitions.
• Membership of the committee must reflect the
various segments of the community that the radio
will serve. This includes women and young people.
However, membership of the committee must not
be too large. The larger it is, the more difficult it is
for it to meet and take decisions. A committee of
eight people is good. But if the nature of your
community dictates that the number be higher or
lower than eight, go for what the community
dictates. The committee will have to report to a
larger body, that is the community members or its
Annual General Meeting (AGM).
• In communities with development unions, all
members of the union (and that is, all members of
the community) will form the radio's AGM. In
communities where there are no such unions, then
all members of the community should be invited to
become members or supporters of the community
radio.
 2 Write out the objectives and mission of the community radio

• Every community radio has its mission and

objectives. In very simple language, the committee
must state what the station sets out to do. What
will the radio seek to do? If you don't have
objectives, you cannot achieve anything. To
determine objectives and mission statement that
are relevant, the following steps are required:
• Step 1:
• Compile the needs of your community. By now
you have a clearly identified community that the
radio will serve. The committee must now compile
the needs of that community. Think of their
information needs; infrastructural needs;
economic needs; social needs, cultural needs etc.
You can present the needs like this:
Information Needs We in Atan need information about market days, time to
plant corn and where to get fertilizers; we need
information about the village, e.g. if the Baale (chief) has
something to tell us; if someone in the village has just given
birth etc. We also need information about events outside.

Development needs We need information about how to prevent diseases such as

malaria and typhoid. We need information about modern
banking and how to set up things like microfinance banks.
Young people want information about sports also. We need
educational programmes especially on subjects that are not
taught in Atan Community High School.

Culture We want to promote our new yam festival, and marriage

customs. We want our local musicians to be encouraged to
sing about and for Atan. We want a forum that elders can
use to teach young people in Atan of our strong moral
values which are already being eroded.
 Step 2:
Convert the needs into objectives
The needs identified above are converted into objectives for the
radio, like this:

Objectives of Atan FM
• To provide information about Atan village and information for
Atan village.
• To support education, health and economic development of
Atan people by broadcasting educational programmes on
school subjects, educating people on health practices and
enlightening them on economic issues.
• To provide entertainment from local artists and thus stimulate
the growth of local music and culture.
Given the level of literacy in Nigeria, it is suggested
that objectives should be simple and should be
written in the language of the target community. It
is important to note that objectives can change as
time goes on as the needs of the community
change. It is also important to ensure that the
objectives of the radio are based on the needs of
the community. Donor agencies will not donate
money to help a station whose objectives do not
reflect the needs of its community.
If it is possible, a simple policy guide can be
developed at this point. Such guide, which must be
brief and simple, should deal with what the
community radio will do and not do (we will not
broadcast messages from any political party),
issues of funding (we will carry adverts from
business people in the community?) among other
issues.
Step 3:
Submit statement of objectives to the larger community

One of the marks of community radio is participation

and involvement. Members of the community radio
committee should invite the larger community to
take a look at the community radio objectives
before they are finalized. You cannot always get
everyone to read and critique the objectives but it is
important to let those who are willing to make
contributions do so. This approach gives everyone a
sense of belonging. Then the radio, when it comes
out, will be a truly community radio and not the
radio of the community radio committee.
3. Incorporate the larger group

Your community radio group has reached the stage

it should be registered with the Corporate Affairs
Commission (CAC) in Abuja. CAC has offices in
all state capitals. Seek assistance from the
Community Radio Coalition of Nigeria if needed.
4. Apply for a licence

Before a radio station begins broadcasting in

Nigeria, it must have a broadcast licence. The body
that is responsible for issuing licences to intending
station owners in Nigeria is the National
Broadcasting Commission (NBC).
At the moment, it costs N50, 000 (fifty thousand naira) to
get the form to apply for a radio licence for commercial
radio broadcasting. When the licence is given, it is valid
for only five years; after that it must be renewed. If your
radio station is located in an urban area, you will pay
twenty million naira (N20,000,000); if it is located in a
semi-urban areas, you will pay fifteen million naira
(N15,000,000); if it is in a rural area, you will pay ten
million naira (N10,000,000).
These prices are for commercial radio stations.
They are far higher than what most communities in
Nigeria can afford. That is why the Community
Radio Coalition of Nigeria has asked the
government to issue community radio licences free
or at a greatly reduced cost.
Obtaining a licence takes some time. The NBC processes the
application for licence and submits it to the Minister of
Information. The Ministry processes the application and sends
it to the President. He is the only person who can approve the
licence of any broadcasting organisation. This process takes a
long time.
The Community Radio Coalition of Nigeria has also requested
that the government should ensure that licences for community
radio are out at most three months after application has been
submitted. The coalition also asked that application forms for
community radio be designed in a very simple way that will be
easy for community radio committee members to fill out. The
Coalition is actually asking for a totally new licensing regime
for community radio in Nigeria.
 5. Get equipment and 'recruit'
manpower

Once the licence is out, the community radio committee should

obtain broadcasting equipment and “recruit staff”. Contrary to
what many people think, the pieces of equipment needed for a
radio station, especially an FM station, to function are few.
They can all be housed in one room. The station does not need
more than two (12 feet by 12 feet) rooms to function. In fact, a
big room can be partitioned into two and that will be enough
for the entire radio station.
 If you cannot afford modern soundproofing, your local
furniture maker can soundproof your studio by paneling the
walls with a small sheet of cushion (foam) covered with a sheet
of cheap blanket. If that is too expensive, the soundproofing
can be achieved by lining up egg cases against the wall, as
Radio Bombololom, Guinea Bissau did.
 The equipment will be used by staff or workers. More aptly,
they are called volunteers. This is because in many community
radio stations, these workers are not fulltime workers for the
station, and they do not get a salary from the station. Some of
them have their jobs but spend their leisure time as engineers,
presenters, producers and fund raisers for the community radio.
However, some community radio stations are able to maintain
one or two fulltime staff.
Workers in a community radio station do not have to
be engineering or mass communication graduates.
Nearly any barely literate person can be trained to
broadcast in a community radio station. Technically
minded members of the community can also be trained
to handle basic engineering matters.
In getting equipment and recruiting volunteers, the
community radio committee must consider cost.
That should include not just the cost of buying but
also the cost of sustainably maintaining the
equipment. If volunteers will be paid a stipend,
how well the station can cope with such expenses
should be considered before the offer is made.
 Reports show that where community radio is
concerned, there are more people willing to
volunteer without being paid than those who want to
be paid. Not only this, because a community radio
does not need to broadcast for 24 hours daily it may
actually broadcast for less than 12 hours, you do not
need a large number of volunteers. A community
radio station can actually run well with six
staff/volunteers who form two shifts and work three
to four hours a day.
Simple job descriptions of volunteers should be
written for staff/volunteers.
Each person should know what he or she is to do
and when, and what not to do.
6. Train your staff and volunteers

It is important to train your staff and volunteers on

different aspects of community radio broadcasting.
It is the duty of the community radio to give any
member of the community the skills he or she
needs to work at the community radio station.
 7. Begin broadcasting

Now, you are ready to hit the airwaves. The first few days
of coming on air should be devoted to test transmission.
During these days, feedback should be invited from the
community with regard to signal clarity and any other
issues people might want to raise about the transmission.