Brekete Family Radio Programme

Conducted in the local pidgin English, the Brekete Family Radio programme is intended to be a platform "for gathering public opinion, obtaining public redress, facilitating arbitration, and fundraising for a scholarship programme for the poor." The programme airs from 8pm to 9pm, Mondays to Fridays. People call in to report complains or issues, usually related to governance, which are discussed by the in-studio panel and the audience. In some circumstances, the government official involved is actually called while the programme is still on air to offer an explanation over an alleged issue. According to OSIWA, "this kind of on-air public accountability inquest has become very effective in putting a large number of public officers on the spot and has also achieved significant results in confronting impunity."

Brekete Family Radio is aired in five states in Nigeria, including Abuja and has an estimated listenership of 20 million people. In addition to calling in, people can respond to the show through SMS and submit complaints through an online form.. The Brekete Family website includes an archive of recorded radio programmes.

Aside from producing this daily radio programme, the project involves a monthly newsletter that captures the key cases to be followed up on and a collection of evidence that may be used as a basis for future advocacy efforts on political, economic, and social issues. People can also interact with the project and discuss issues on the Brekete Family facebook page. In addition, audiences can stay in touch with what is happening by following the show on Twitter, which is being run by Ordinary Ahmad Isah, the presenter and founder of the programme.

According to OSIWA, “every day the program is flooded with thousands of text messages and hundreds of phone calls. There is also always a crowd of plaintiffs in the BFR office itself. They work with volunteer lawyers, and do their best to assist everyone and anyone that has an issue.”

Governance