The Role of Radio in Non-Formal Adult Education Delivery in Rural Niger State

This study examines the role of community radio broadcasting in supporting non-formal adult education delivery in rural communities of Niger State, North Central Nigeria. Radio remains the most widely accessible communication medium in Nigeria's rural areas, where literacy levels, electricity supply, and internet connectivity are limited. Several community radio stations in Niger State broadcast adult education content including health literacy, agricultural knowledge, civic education, and functional numeracy. This study uses a mixed-method design, combining a survey of 160 adult community radio listeners in Suleja, Bida, and Lapai local government areas with qualitative interviews with 12 adult education programme producers and facilitators. Learning outcomes are assessed through structured recall and application tests administered at baseline and after six months of radio programme exposure. Descriptive statistics and paired-samples t-tests are applied to quantitative data, while thematic analysis is used for interview data. Findings reveal that regular radio programme listeners demonstrate significantly higher functional literacy and agricultural knowledge scores compared to non-listeners after six months. Listeners in communities supplemented by face-to-face study circle meetings show the strongest learning gains. The study concludes that community radio is a cost-effective and reach-maximising adult education delivery channel for rural Niger State communities. It recommends that the Niger State Broadcasting Service develop a structured adult learning curriculum for its community radio output and integrate regular listener feedback mechanisms to improve programme relevance.

Keywords: radio education, non-formal adult education, Niger State, rural communities, distance learning.