Abstract:

Social entrepreneurship is described as a means to alleviate or curb social problems as well as speed up social transformation. Considering the current realities Nigeria is faced with in various sectors such as the economy, security, agriculture, education, health, infrastructure and so on, social entrepreneurship becomes a plausible solution to the persistent national concerns. As every entrepreneurial undertaking requires capital to begin and keep running, social entrepreneurship also thrives on social capital. Explained as the resources embedded in social networks which are accessed and used by actors for action, social capital has therefore become one of the basic variables for explaining development needs and quality of life across communities. As long as development, and in fact, sustainable development is most desired especially in Nigeria, considering the potency of the mass media  to facilitate development in the aforementioned sectors becomes imperative. The aspect of mass media capable of performing this function most effectively is community radio – a not-for-profit radio broadcasting. Given its unique feature of functional presence in every community across the world and the fact that electricity and illiteracy pose no barrier to its use, radio has proven to hold greater potentialities for achieving sustainable development in Nigeria. Using questionnaire to gather required data for this survey research, outcomes of this study reveal that community radio through development oriented programmes, has encompassing positive impacts on the education, agriculture, health and economic sectors of the society. In addition, community radio mobilizes community members to take responsibility and participate actively in their own development.  This paper suggests that stakeholders in the various sectors of national life join in the crusade for the creation and smooth functioning of community radio across Nigeria. This will facilitate the utilization of community radio as a tool for mobilizing the generality of Nigerians towards sustainable development.