The characters express the frustrations ordinary Nigerians feel. They also give their views of what should be done.
- On air since 2004, Story Story is a radio soap opera which aims to improve awareness among Nigerians of their rights and responsibilities as citizens and of ways to hold government to account.
- Weekly magazine show Talk Your Own - Make Naija Better (Make Nigeria Better) includes interviews, discussions, and invites audience participation to improve awareness among Nigerians of how dialogue can be used to solve conflict
- Radio soap Gatana Gatana Ku (Telling a Story) and an accompanying discussion show Mutattauna (Let's Discuss) is broadcast in Hausa to audiences in northern Nigeria.
People across the country can tune in to hear the programmes which inform people of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, trigger debate on how the country is governed and encourage the use of dialogue to settle conflicts.
Radio soap Story Story and magazine show Talk Your Own - Make Naija Better (Make Nigeria Better) are broadcast in Pidgin English, spoken throughout the country and particularly in the south.
Radio soap Gatanan Gatanan Ku (Telling a Story), which is modelled on Story Story, and its accompanying discussion format programme Mutattauna (Let’s Discuss) is broadcast in Hausa, the most widely spoken language in the country’s north.
Story Story
Since 2004, when Story Story first went on air, the ±«Óătv Media Action’s radio programmes continue to play a role in improving people’s knowledge of the democratic process in Nigeria.
The drama - set in a market and the motor park next door - now reaches more than 13 million people in Nigeria. It is broadcast on 111 partner stations in Nigeria and by the ±«Óătv World Service, reaching audiences across Africa.
Real-life characters
Writer and actor, Jab Adu, says the production team makes sure their stories show the effect of corruption or a lack of accountability on real people.
"The characters express the frustrations ordinary Nigerians feel. They also give their views of what should be done," he says.
Joy James, a stall-holder from the Karshi district near Abuja, says she likes the drama because she can relate to the characters.
"It is so educative and I like the political dimension. [The character of] Madam Philo for instance manages a shop like me. She has shown me, as a businesswoman and as a mother that you need to be honest and humble with people.”
"Drama works because there are those of us who don't like to read and others that are not so educated. Because Story Story uses Pidgin [English], this gets messages across simply. It offers much more than a newspaper."
Make Naija Better
People like Joy can tune into 30-minute weekly magazine programme, Talk Your Own – Make Naija Better (Make Nigeria Better), which began broadcasting in 2013. It includes interviews, discussions, and walkabouts to hold leaders to account. Listeners are invited to participate through SMS messaging, their Facebook page and Twitter handle. It currently airs on 111 broadcast partner stations across Nigeria.
Focusing on issues like education, electricity, water and roads, the programme explores ways people can participate in governance decisions that affect their lives – through engagement with leaders and government institutions, public petitions or legal protest among other things.
One show examined Nigeria’s national policy of free education and revealed the many hidden costs such as examination fees, uniforms and classroom materials. The highlight of the programme came when a mother from Enugu questioned the State Commissioner of Education about the cost of sending her children to school.
Listeners feel the programme provides a platform for them to learn, question and engage their government. One listener, Josephine from Abambra said, “After listening, I realised I could petition a hospital which misdiagnosed my case through the Public Complaints Committee. I didn’t know the PCC existed before now.”
Telling a story
In northern Nigeria, radio drama Gatanan Gatanan Ku (Telling a Story) is broadcast on ±«Óătv Hausa and 12 partner stations. It shares, with its listeners, a 15-minute soap opera modelled on Story Story, tackling political and social issues like service delivery, community involvement in governance issues, corruption and women’s participation in community development from a northern Nigerian perspective.
The themes of the drama are then discussed in Mutattauna (Let’s Discuss), a 15-minute studio debate programme exploring how the drama’s storylines relate to northern Nigerians’ everyday experience. As with Story Story and Talk Your Own, Gatanan Gatanan Ku and Mutattauna aim to increase the audience’s knowledge about the concrete steps they can take to improve their lives.
Significant unrest
Northern Nigeria suffers from significant unrest and some of the lowest levels of development and highest levels of poverty in the country.
Project Manager, Damian Ihekoronye, is enthusiastic about Gatanan Gatanan Ku's potential to help people in the area. “I like hearing what our audiences are saying about our governance programmes. It’s great to know they don’t just tune into our programmes to be entertained but also to learn things they then share and debate with their family and friends.’’
Project information
| Project name | Global Grant: Governance |
| Funder | The UK Government's |
| Dates | 2004-2017 |
| Themes | Governance |
| Outputs | Story Story , Talk Your Own - Make Naija Better (Make Nigeria Better), Gatana Gatana Ku (Telling a Story), Mutattauna (Let's Discuss) |
| Broadcast partners | 300 radio and television partners including ±«Óătv World Service |
Our projects in Nigeria
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Challenging attitudes on disability: The return of Story Story
Our popular radio drama reflecting the lives of ordinary Nigerians is back on air across sub-Saharan Africa with a new focus – to transform attitudes around people with disabilities, with storylines, actors and writers that reflect their experiences. -
Inclusive Futures: media for a fairer world
As part of the Inclusive Futures consortium, we’re working through media to improve knowledge of the rights of people with disabilities, and challenging stigma, discrimination and negative social norms related to people with disabilities. -
Leave no one behind: Improving participation in the 2019 Nigerian Elections
We’re helping people in Nigeria become more involved in political processes and hold their leaders to account. With an emphasis on reaching young people, women, and people with disabilities, our content aims to ensure traditionally marginalised groups are heard. -
Helping improve child health through radio in Nigeria
Helping families and the wider community make informed decisions about childhood immunisation - with the aim of reducing preventable death and disability. -
Encouraging accountability in Nigeria
±«Óătv Media Action's radio dramas and discussion shows are encouraging political accountability in Nigeria. -
Tackling pneumonia and diarrhoea in Nigeria
A multiplatform media project - running between 2014 and 2016 - aiming to stop two of the biggest killers of children under five in Nigeria. -
Improving family health in northern Nigeria
Weekly radio show Ya Take Ne Arewa (What’s Happening up North) tackles health issues facing women, families and communities. -
Responding to HIV and AIDS in Nigeria
Between 2009 and 2014 ±«Óătv Media Action provided accurate information about HIV and AIDS and tackled stigma through radio shows, short films and training for media professionals.
