Influence of Women-Related Radio Programmes On Women Empowerment in Akwa Ibom State

This study was undertaken to find out the influence of women-related radio programmes on women empowerment in Akwa Ibom State. The specific objectives included: To find out the extent to which women in the State were exposed to Mboho Iban, Today’s Woman, and Diana-Mkpo-Nam programmes on radio; and find out the way(s) in which women-related programmes on radio empowered the economic lives of women in the State, among others. The survey method was adopted, with the structured questionnaires as the instrument for data collection. The population of the study consisted of 2,001,311 projected adult women residents in the State, while a sample size of 384 respondents was adopted using Meyer’s guide. The data were presented in tables, and analysis done using simple percentages and Weighted Mean Score. Findings revealed that all the respondents in the study (100%) reported that, they were exposed to Mboho Iban, Today’s Woman, and Diana-Mkpo-Nam programmes on radio stations in the State. Additional findings revealed that 48% of the respondents reported that they listened to the programmes very often, while 43% of them also listened to the programmes often. More findings of the study, which had to do with the women-related programme, that women in the State were mostly exposed to, revealed that the majority of the respondents (51%) reported that they listened to Diana-Mkpo-Nam programme on Passion 94.5 FM most, Mboho Iban on AKBC 90.5 FM (30%), and Today’s Woman on Atlantic 104.5 FM. Additional findings pertaining to the factors that motivated women in the State to listen to women-related programmes on radio, revealed the factors to include, presenters of programmes always encouraging feedback from the listeners (34%), presenters always keeping them company while performing their home chores (28%), and contents of programmes always being very educative (22%), and entertaining (16%). More findings of the study revealed that women in the State were economically empowered, with a W.M.S. of 3; politically empowered through the programmes, with a W.M.S. of 3.31. The researcher recommended that producers of radio programmes in the State to continually ensure women-related programmes are extensively produced and broadcast to members of the society, as it would help in the empowerment of women in the State. Summary and conclusion have proven that women are expose to these programme on radio. The study suggested that youth empowerment should not be over rule. It ended with references.