INFLUENCE OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ON THE ACHIEVEMENT OF MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) IN KOGI STATE NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study examined  the Influence  of Information  Dissemination  on the Achievement  of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) In Kogi State, Nigeria. Specifically, five purposes and  five  research  Questions  guided  the  study.    Related  literature  was  reviewed  under conceptual  framework,  related  empirical  studies.  The  study  adopted  descriptive  survey design. The area of the study was Kogi west senatorial district, the population of the study was 603 information staff in eight information agencies in Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State.  The sample  of the study was 302 respondents  representing  50% of the total population. A multi-stage sampling procedure was  adopted in selecting the sample for the study. Two instruments were used for data collection i.e. the questionnaire and face-to-face interview which were validated  by three experts from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Direct delivery and retrieval method was employed in the administration and retrieval of the questionnaire  in  order  to  minimize  wastage.  On  the  other  hand,  a  five  item  scheduled interview was employed to elicit responses from the respondents.  A face to face interview with key  respondents  was purposively  carried  out by the researcher.  Mean and standard deviations were use answer the research questions that guided the study, therefore, a mean rating of 2.50 and above was used as criterion level for accepting an item.  The  result  of  the study showed among other things that; The channels of information dissemination towards the achievement of MDGs are library, print media, radio, TV, twitter, facebook interpersonal relationship,  town  crier  among  others,  the  sources  consulted  to  gather  information  for dissemination  include  books,  newspapers,  magazines,  research  reports,  online/internets, journals and consultation with the grassroots, it was also found out that proper information dissemination  influences  the  achievement  of  MDGs  in  Kogi  state.It  was  recommended among other things that there should be provision of adequate ICT facilities like the internet that can be accessible to everybody, there should be provision of adequate manpower, more people  should be trained on the use of computer, the government should carry out public awareness campaign on the objectives of MDGs, adequate public libraries should be built and technical expertise to install and maintain electronic networks should be trained  and above all, adequate fund should be provided.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background of the Study

The  problem  of  development  has  occupied  the  attention  of  scholars,   activists, politicians, and developmental workers, local and international organizations for many years with  an  increased  speed  in  the  last  decade.  Though  there  are  different  perspectives  to development,  there  is a  general  consensus  that  development  could  lead  to  good  change manifested in increased capacity of people to have control over materials access, intellectual resources  and  ideology,  and  obtained  physical  necessities  of life such as food,  clothing, shelter, employment, equality, sustainable development, participate in government, adequate education  among  others.  This  is  why  some  people  have  argued  that  the  purpose  of development is to improve people’s lives by expanding their choices, freedom and dignity. As  the  world  was  entering  a  new  millennium,  acknowledging  the  centrality  of  human development,  the  United  Nations  General  Assembly  in  its  millennium  summit  in  2002, adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Millennium   Development   Goals   (MDGs)   are   commitments   made   by   world governments under the auspices of the United Nations Millennium Declaration in September

2000, to address the problem of poverty and promote sustainable development. Echezona and Okafor (2005) opine that, millennium development goals repress ent a global partnership that has grown from the commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s.

The millennium development goals (MDGs) are designed to bring about a positive change in the lives of billions of people in the world. Countries of both the developing and developed world may commit themselves to provide the resources and policies to attain these

goals.  The  MDGs  are  drawn  from  the  actions  and  targets  contained  in  the  millennium

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declaration  that  was  adopted  by  189  nations  and  signed  by  147  heads  of  state  and government. According to the argument of United Nations, attention has been drawn to the reality of the world that countries are underdeveloped with precarious development indices. More than 1.2 billion people or about 20 percent of world’s population survive on less than

US $1 per day. The millennium summit held from 6th to 8th September, 2000 in New York,

the largest gathering declaration committing nations to a new global partnership to  reduce extreme poverty and setting out a series of time-bound targets that has become known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At the millennium summit, world leaders agreed on a set of goals to guide global development in the 21st century.   The MDGs has eight goals to be achieved by the year 2015 that responded to the world’s main development challenges. The  Eight  Goals  according  to  United  Nations  (2000)  as  cited  in  Selim  (2003)  are  to: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger, achieve Universal primary education, promote gender equality  and  empower  women,  reduce  child  mortality,  improve  maternal  health,  combat

HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability,  and  develop  a global partnership for development. The summit went ahead to enumerate these eight goals considered of paramount important and termed them millennium goals.

It is true that MDGs may reflect a global commitment to address the issue of human poverty  in  a  time-bound  manner.  But  even  with  all  the  good  intentions  of  the  world, realization of the commitments may not be easy and the path toward  achieving the MDGs may not be smooth one. The MDGs are designed to bring about a positive change to the lives of billions of people in the world. They summarize the development aspiration of the world as a whole. They include universally accepted human values and right such as freedom from hunger,  the  right  to  basic  education  and  health,  a  responsibility  to  future  generation, developing a global partnership  for  development,  poverty eradication and gender equality. Despite these laudable objective and importance of MDGs, people seem to remain in abject

poverty in Africa with no proper awareness about health care service. It is not yet clear the extent to which the information agencies such as libraries, Mass media, archives, information and  documentation  centers  and  information  brokerage  firms  have  been  involved  in  the dissemination of information to the public about the goals and  strategies for realizing the MDGs. The failure to disseminate the needed information may hinder the realization of the MDGs in Kogi West Senatorial District which make people in that area to continue to suffer from poverty and illiteracy, child and maternal mortality may be on the increase and this may adversely affect the development in the state as well.

In today’s  world  there  are  several  trends  that  may be  acting  as major  structural constraints towards achieving the MDGs. No doubt, there are regional as  well  as country variations in terms of these constraints, yet a few key common ones easily identified include: Persistent human poverty: this means many developing countries, nearly one in every five people  is undernourished,  more than 850  million  adult are illiterate,  more than 1 billion people are without access to safe water and  about 2 billion people are without electricity: High inequality: inequality takes many forms- in terms of access to basic social services or productive resources,  income,  human development  outcomes and between socio-economic groups.  There  are  certainly  overlaps  and  mutual  reinforcement  of  various  dimensions: Economic stagnation, at constant inequality level, a country needs to grow by 3% or more to double income in a generation. Yet of 155 countries with data, only 30 had annual per capita income growth rates 3% in the 1990s. Among the rest, 54 countries  saw annual  average income fall, and in 71 countries annual income growth was less than 3%: Social exclusion: this  denies  the  potentials  of  groups  of  people  to  make  significant  contribution  to  the development process, and it excludes people from participating in the decisions that affect their lives and it raises the fear of human insecurity among affected groups. All these denial and   exclusion   also   make  the  achievement   of   MDGs   quite   difficult:   Environmental

degradation: this poses a serious threat to MDGs, not only in terms of Goal 7, but also on the other  goals  through  its  human  impacts  and  it  also  negatively  affect  human  well-being: HIV/AIDS: today, about 42million people are living with HIV/AIDS, not  counting the 22 million who have already died of the disease. More than 70% of those affected today and it has also left 13 million orphans in its wake.

Nigerian Government have done so many things in order to achieve the set goals and also have specifically address the problems of poverty  reduction, education, gender equality and empower   women, reduce child mortality, combat HIV And AIDS,  malaria and other diseases and ensure environmental sustainability in the country, some policy initiatives have been put  in place  such  as National  Economic  Empowerment  and  Development  Strategy (NEEDS)  and    these  was  designed  to  drive  the  long  term  goals  of  poverty  reduction, employment generation, wealth creation, and value reorientation in the country. According to Federal Government  Report (2005) the  approach,  apart from making the different tiers of government to use poverty reduction as the target of development priorities, it will also bring about a coordinate approach to managing poverty reduction in Nigeria.

Education: in order to achieve the MDGs, Universal Basic Education Act passed in 2004 provides compulsory free universal basic education for all children of primary and junior secondary school age in Nigeria (Ali, 2006) which further reinforces the  national primary education goals and set targets for attaining universal primary education by 2015.

Gender  equality  and  empower  women:  Nigerian  government  have  adopted  some policies to achieve MDGs such as the National Policy on women which was adopted in 2000, articulates gender mainstreaming in relevant sectors and Female Functional Literacy for the Health  (FFLH)  and  the  Federal  Ministry  of  Health  (FMOH)  is  also  responding  to  the problems of illiterate and poor rural women of child bearing age (15-49), who have missed

school through Female Functional Literacy for Health (FFLH) project (Federal Government

Report, 2005).

Reduce child mortality: Nigerian government have elaborated on  so many reform such as National Health Insurance  Scheme,  launched  in mid-2005,  the scheme will pool fund for health system development as well as provide financial protection for insured.

Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases: the federal government of Nigeria in order to  achieve  MDGs  has  established  the  National  Action  committee  on AIDS  (NACA)  to combat the HIV/AIDS  menace. Ensure environmental  sustainability:  Nigerian  government has developed many policies to enhance the quality of environmental management. Some of them  include  National Erosion & flood control  policy 2004 policy Guideline  on sanitary inspection of premises, the researcher has discovered that, the above mentioned MDGs have not been implemented in Kogi West Senatorial District of Kogi State. And this may lead to high mortality rate, high rate of  HIV/AIDS,  high rate of poverty, dropping out of school among others.

Operationally, millennium development goals (MDGs) can be defined as commitment made by the United Nations to encourage development by improving social and economic conditions in world.  Some of these MDGs could be achieve through information which may help individuals to benefit from government provisions.

One could argue that information has come to represent the prime commodity of the present age. Although the developing countries of the world may not have come to  a firm grasp with this reality,  it cannot but be a statement,  if not a reaffirmation  of  an already established fact in the particular case of the developed nations. It is now a common-place observation that the material prosperity of a nation is linked almost directly to its information wealth and vice-versa. According to MeCreadie and Rice (1999) information can be defined as what is transmitted in a message from a sender to a receiver. The receiver interprets the

message as intended by the sender. There may be added value as the message is disseminated or exchanged. MeCreadie and Rice (1999) asserted that, information derived from a message by a reader  or  receiver  depends  on a wide  range  of  factors  all  of which  affect  his/her understanding   of  that  message.   These  include   geographical   location;   social   interest, educational, and professional status.

According to Edoka as cited in Echezona (2005), Information can be any relevant fact or idea or assemblage of data of useful purpose communicated with the aim of addressing, influencing  or eliciting response  that  is capable  of development.  Afolabi  (2003),  defined information as knowledge communicated or received in relation to a particular subject. Eze (1999) opine that, for a developing nation such as Nigeria that is characterized by problems or poor  state  of affairs  like  mass  poverty,  poor  condition  of living,  poor  infrastructural facilities, poor health care, economic under  development, primitive practices, customs and difficult  technologies,  tension,  suspicion  among  others.    Information  could  be important because, it may be needed in order to improve the environments in terms of social, economic, cultural and political wellbeing  of the people. Whether  published  for mass circulation or result of research efforts  made available  to colleagues  in form of report books and non- printed materials, information helps organization to be well managed and organized.

Also, Jacobson (1960) as cited in Madden (2000) sees information as a resource. He asserts that information comprises of three components (addresser, addressee and message). While Van cited in Meyer (2005) views the importance of information resources as one of those needed for societal development. Meyer (2005) gave nine  basic similarities between information and other traditional resources to include: Information is acquired at a definite, measurable cost; information has a definite value which may be quantified and treated as an accountable asset; information consumption can be quantified; cost accounting can be applied to control the cost of information;  information has a clear life cycle; information may be

processed  and  refined  so  that  raw  materials  (e.g.  database)  are  converted  into  finished product; substitute for any specific item or collections of pieces of information are available and may be quantified and choices are available to management in making trade-offs between different grades, types and cost of information (Meyer 2005 as cited in Eaton and Bawden,

1991).

It is believed that information has so many sources. That is, it must be generated from some where. Statrasts (2004) asserted that, information source is an institution or individual that creates or brings about a message.  Abdulwahab (2007) opine that, the availability and free flow of information through an effective dissemination network represents a necessary pre-condition for the achievement of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Abdulwahab further stated that a combination of experience and new knowledge will, most likely, bring about knowledge, which is quite vital for the healthy development of any society. This is so much that development and prosperity have come to be as knowledge-based as they are also dependent upon the dissemination and application of different types of information. Ochogwu (2007) has identified the following as channels of information dissemination; Libraries, mass media,  archives,  information  and  documentation  centre  and  information  brokerage  firms among others.

For the purpose this study, information can be defined as fact or detail communicated from the sender to receiver.   Information constitutes message of human experience-that  is, what  is  transmitted,  a  signal  or  stimulus.  It  assumes  a  response  potential,  transferred physically or electronically; evaluated or raw; accurate or in accurate but always sought in an evaluated accurate sense. It could be in any medium, in any language or on any subject. How if it is then true that information, as often expressed by many experts, is a basic human need, it therefore becomes even more fundamental for it to be disseminated in such ways as could ensure its free and equal accessibility by every member of a given society, irrespective of

racial, religious, geo-political and economic status of the recipients.  Proper availability  of information may lead to information dissemination.

Information dissemination is the process of conveying knowledge or fact from one person to another person. The key partners in the development of information dissemination component  have  free  of  management  system.  According  to  Ajibero(2011)  information dissemination  includes  the  following:  traditional,  state  and  local,  public  sector  agencies (transportation  and  public  works,  transit,  toll  authorities,  law  enforcement),  commercial media,  private  sector  traffic  reporting  services  (distributing  through  commercial  media venues or through direct  subscription  to motorist),  local fleet operators (delivery services, taxis, among others). In some cases, the owners/operators of major traffic generators (mails, tourist attractions,  annual special event promotions among others) could also be important partners to  include in the decision making process.  Robinson  (2000) defined  information dissemination as a process of making news or theories widely circulated  with the aim  of sowing widely. Information dissemination means method one uses to commutate knowledge, facts known to others, (Adepoju, 2001).

In  the  same  vein,  Adepoju  (2001)  opine  that,  information  dissemination  involve passing information or references to people about available current materials which may be of interest and value to them.Abdulwahab(2007)  opine that, the  efficiency of technologies generated and disseminated depends on effective communication which is the key process of information dissemination.  Information  dissemination may be emphasized  for changes and development. The citizens of a country could be reached with the necessary information in order for the country to move forward on the development continuum. In view of this, Issa (2004) asserts that in Nigeria, the populace suffers from an acute low productivity, social and economic retrogression due mainly to ignorance which also results from either inadequate or total absence of information dissemination.

The  information  dissemination  agents  have  the  responsibility  of   disseminating information  as  they  may  provide  the  public  with  opportunities  for  information.  These opportunities will be accessible to all groups of society irrespective of age, gender, and ethnic affiliation (IFLA, 2003).   Information dissemination plays  important role in achieving the MDGs  in  the  sense  that  it  gives  practical  information  for  problem  solving,  it  spreads awareness in the world about people’s rights, privileges as well as their responsibilities,  it sensitize people on the  importance and relevance of information among others. Information could be disseminated through channel of information dissemination. Channel of information dissemination  refers to  the  means of transfer  or exchange of information  from person to person or from one place to another. It is an action that produces a reaction, whether positive or negative, if communication has taken place (Omogor, 2013). In addition, Fayose (2002) says that, information delivery is not a one way affair. There must be a sender to transmit the message and receiver to make appropriate decision on how the rest of the exchange should continue. This involves the exchange of ideas, facts, opinion, attitudes and beliefs between people.

Omogor (2013) adds that, the ability to communicate and pass on information is a key factor  in all culture whether  literate or not. Therefore,  there are channels  of  information dissemination about MDG to Kogi state citizens irrespective of their educational status. There are channels through which information are disseminated in order to achieve the information need of people especially the MDGs. Some of these channels according to Dowlin (2009) are; Libraries such as national library, public library, academic library among others. Mass media such as: electronic media example radio and television, print media: such as magazine, bulletin,   newspaper   among   others,   information   centers:   such   as   information   and documentation  centers and  information brokerage firm and archives, local media: such as

town  crier  and  repackaging  of  information,  and  ICT/social  networks:  such  as  Youtube, Facebook and GSM.

The development of society and individuals can only be attained through the ability of well-informed citizens to exercise the democratic rights and to play active roles in the society (Drotner, 2005). Therefore, if the desired information about MDGs is  disseminated  to the public it could go a long way towards the achievement of the MDGs.  Achievement of MDGs can be defined as ability of the nation to accomplish the  Millennium  Development  Goals (MDGs).

Statement of the Problem

The MDGs are designed to bring about a positive change to the lives of billions of people in the world. They encapsulate the development aspiration of the world as a whole. They encompass universally accepted human values and right such as freedom from hunger, the right to basic education and health, a responsibility to future  generation, developing a global partnership for development, poverty eradication and gender equality.

Despite these laudable objectives and importance of MDGs, people seem to remain in abject poverty in Africa with no proper awareness about health care service. It is not yet clear the  extent  to  which  the  information  agencies  such  as  libraries,  Mass  media,  archives, information and documentation centers, and information brokerage firms have been involved in the dissemination of information to the public about the goals and strategies for realizing the MDGs. The failure to disseminate the needed information may hinder the realization of the MDGs. However, people in Kogi West Senatorial District will continue to suffer from poverty and illiteracy,  child and maternal  mortality may be on the increase and this may adversely affect the development in the state as whole. Therefore, the problem of this study will  pose  in question  form  “What  is the  influence  of information  dissemination  on the achievement of MDGs in Kogi west Senatorial district”.

Purpose of the Study

The general purpose of the study was to determine the influence of information dissemination on the achievement of MDGs in Kogi state. Specifically, the study sought to;

1.   Find  out  the  channels  of  information  dissemination  towards  the  achievement  of

MDGs.

2.   Find out the sources consulted  to gather information for dissemination towards  the achievement of MDGs.

3.   Determined the influence of information dissemination on the achievement of MDGs in the area of education, poverty reduction and health.

4.   Find  out the challenges  of information  dissemination  towards the achievement  of

MDGs.

5.   Identified   the  strategies   that  enhanced   information   dissemination   towards   the achievement of MDGs.

Research Questions

For the purpose of this study, the following research questions guided the study:

1.    What are the channels of information dissemination on achievement of MDGs?

2.    What  are the sources  consulted  to gather  information  for dissemination  towards  the achievement of MDGs?

3.   What are influence of information dissemination on the achievement of MDGs in the area of education, poverty reduction and health?

4.    What are the challenges of information dissemination on achievement of MDGs?

5.    What are the strategies that will enhance information dissemination on achievement of

MDGs?

Significance of the Study

This  study is  expected  to  be  of  significance  to  the  following:    the  government, information agencies, general public and researchers.

The study is of utmost importance to the Kogi state government as it is identify the information  needs  of  the  people  so  as  to  liaise  with  information  agencies  for  effective dissemination of information about MDGs. It   also  helps Kogi state government in decision making. The results of the study  also expose to the government the various methods through which information is disseminated to the people of Kogi state for the achievement of MDGs. The research reveals to the government the roles of public library in extension services to people and the need to strengthen the relationship.

Information agencies will find the results of the research important because it  will expose them to the information  needs of the public on MDGs.  It will also help  them to acquire the materials  needed for information dissemination on MDGs.  Information agents such  as  National  Orientation  Agency  (NOA)  will  know  the  challenges  in  information dissemination to the public on MDGs in Kogi state with the view to improving on them for effective  information  dissemination.  The  results  of  the  research  will  also  expose  the necessary channels used for disseminating  information  so that information  agents can use them.

The study is expected to enlighten the general public on MDGs so as to improve their educational  attainment,  reduce poverty rate, child and maternal mortality rate,  sustainable development  and  gender  equality.  It  will  expose  the  public  to  the  different  sources  of information on MDGs in Kogi state.

The result of the research will add to the field of information as researchers will use the  result  for  further  studies.  It  will  also  add  to  literature  in  the  field  of  information dissemination.

Scope of the study

The study was carried out in Kogi west senatorial district of Kogi state. The district has seven local government areas. Study comprised of all the information staff in Kogi West Senatorial  District  of  Kogi  State.  The  content  scope  of  this  study  was   influence  of information dissemination on the achievement of MDGs.

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