Teledrama and HIV/AIDS Awareness in Nigeria: A Critique of Zuciyar Zinariya, on TV Taraba

The wave of HIV/AIDS prevalence in Nigeria could be said to have been confronted with an equally proportionate level of awareness. Government agencies, Non Governmental Organizations, Civil Based Organizations and many volunteer groups have launched awareness campaigns at various levels to reach every Nigerian with basic information about HIV/AIDS. Such awareness has taken many forms - billboards, fliers, public lectures, township hall forum, electronic media jingles and drama. Live theatre viewership is practically non-existent in the Central Nigerian Capital of Taraba State, making electronic media a portent option for reaching out to the population through visual images. This study posits that teledrama is a veritable tool in this campaign considering the high level of viewership of local television programmes especially in this part of the country. The study spotlights a production that was aired and reactions were received from a cross section of the audience via phone calls and text messages in order draw the level of their engagement and knowledge of the subject. The participant-observer perspective of the researcher attempts to identify the flaws in the production and does an impact assessment in terms of complete and accurate information to the target audience. It is the opinion of this paper that a carefully planned and well funded use of teledrama could speedily promote desired awareness on HIV/AIDS, reaching many people in all the nooks and crannies of the State at the same time.