ASSESSING THE ROLE OF ASKING RADIO IN PROMOTING THE 2024 NIGERIAN DEMOCRACY DAY CELEBRATION IN BENUE STATE

ABSTRACT This study investigated the role of Asking Radio in promoting the 2024 Nigerian Democracy Day celebration in Benue State. The primary objectives include: assessing the station’s influence in fostering democratic awareness, evaluating its effectiveness in civic engagement, and exploring its impact on political discourse during the commemoration. The study anchored on the Public Sphere Theory and the Voice of the People Theory, the study underscores the importance of radio as a medium that enables public participation, civic education, and democratic consolidation in a multicultural society. It adopted a survey research design; it however, employed both primary and secondary sources of data collection in the study, again, primary day data was collected from valid respondents drawn from selected towns across Benue State. The findings revealed that Asking Radio significantly contributed to raising public awareness about Democracy Day, promoted democratic values such as civic responsibility and political inclusion, and provided interactive platforms for public discourse on governance and national unity. Notably, the station was perceived as effective in educating the populace about their rights and responsibilities and in encouraging participation in democratic activities. The study recommends that local radio stations should intensify their civic education efforts, adopt more inclusive programming, and maintain editorial independence to further enhance democratic participation and public trust in the media.