In a converted shipping container on the outskirts of Oloibiri in Ogbia Local Government Area -- the site of Nigeria first commercial oil discovery in 1956 -- a community radio station broadcasting on 89.5 FM has quietly become the most trusted source of local news and information for over 300,000 residents across seven communities in southern Bayelsa.
Oloibiri Community Radio, founded in 2022 by a group of young journalists and community activists, broadcasts 18 hours a day in Ijaw, Izon, and English, covering local governance, environmental issues, community events, health information, and agricultural news that the national media consistently ignores.
Station manager Perebowei Aganaba, 29, explained the mission: When there is an oil spill, CNN is not coming here. Channels TV is not coming here. But we are here. We speak the language. We know these people. We tell their story the way it deserves to be told.
The station has broken several significant local stories, including the exposure of a ghost workers scheme at the Ogbia LGA secretariat and the documentation of an oil spill that the operating company had failed to report to regulators.
Funding remains precarious. The station operates on a combination of small community donations, local advertising from market traders, and a modest grant from a European press freedom organisation. They have repeatedly applied for NDDC support without success.
Media freedom groups have cited Oloibiri Community Radio as a model for community-owned journalism in underserved Nigerian regions.
