Centre for Development Communication - Communication Lab

The Communication Lab is where communication knowledge, theories, and practices are critically examined and applied to development issues. It serves as a space for diagnosing communication challenges, testing ideas, generating evidence, and translating communication theories into practical strategies that address real-world development problems. Through research, innovation, and collaboration, the Lab advances people-centred communication solutions that support sustainable development and social change.

Participants Asked If AI Will Take Over Development Communication Jobs. This Was My AnswerI had a virtual strategic development communication class with 11 participants on the 21st day of July 2026. Three participants asked if AI will take over development communication jobs, and this was my answer.

Crisis of Communication in Development Begins from the TopThe communication crisis in many development organizations begins at the top. Many senior managers do not fully understand what development communication entails.

We Mistook Participation for Inclusion—Then Failed WoefullyThe Centre for Development Communication (CDC) failed woefully in its climate change development intervention in the Chibiri community of Kuje Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria's Federal Capital Territory. We made a fundamental mistake by mistaking participation for inclusion.

7 Cs of Communication Are Not Enough for Social Change CommunicationIn one of my Strategic Development Communication classes on 18 June 2026, three participants who were communication officers from different non-governmental organisations (NGOs) asked why I do not teach the 7 Cs of Communication. They assumed the framework was the best foundation for communication p

Don't Mix Them: Content Creation Is Not CommunicationFour months ago, an organisation a friend recommended me to reached out, asking me to reform and reposition its communication. Part of my role was to design its communication strategy, recruit a Senior Communication Officer, train its communication, monitoring, and evaluation teams, and later serve

Not Every Advocacy Requires Media NoiseLast month, I was engaged by an organisation in Kaduna, North-Central Niger, which I will not disclose for professional reasons, to design advocacy strategies on the girl child and early marriage. The project was designed to cover six communities in Kaduna State.

Don’t mix them: Communication for Visibility and Communication for Social Change are not the same thingI have spent 16 years working actively in different NGOs. Therefore, I speak from lived experience, not assumption.

Power and Voice Shape Participatory DevelopmentA common mistake by governments, NGOs, and development partners is the assumption that communication is neutral. Too often, communication is treated as casual, forgetting that it is deeply linked to power—who controls the conversation, whose knowledge is recognized, and whose voice influences decisi

Indigenous Knowledge and Participatory Communication: The Communication Failure Behind Nigeria’s Banditry NegotiationsOver the past five years, Nigeria’s North-West and North-Central zones have experienced persistent and escalating insecurity linked to armed banditry. State responses have largely oscillated between military deployments, policing, and periodic negotiations with armed groups.

Participatory Development Lesson #2: Community Mapping for Women’s Empowerment and Policy Action in Kuje, AbujaThe Centre for Development Communication (CDC), through its Citizens’ Voices Project, applied community mapping as a participatory communication approach to engage women in the informal sector in Kuje Area Council, Abuja. The project was designed to enable women to articulate their lived economic re

Health Communication #1: Breastfeeding Messaging Without Community Ownership FailsField engagements conducted by the Centre for Development Communication (CDC) in the Zuma Community, Bwari Area Council, FCT, Abuja, show that persistent gaps in breastfeeding knowledge and widespread misinformation are largely due to the government’s over-reliance on mass media as the primary tool

Funding Does Not Determine Project Success — Communication DoesA common assumption among governments, funders, and development partners is that funding is the primary determinant of development and public policy success. Field evidence consistently challenges this belief.

Campaigns Are Not Media Noise: They Are About Policy Influence and ChangeIn the last two months, I began working with an NGO in Enugu, leading a collaborative process to design and implement effective communication strategies. The goal is to strengthen their communication systems, ensuring that communication campaigns are structured to influence policy, build coalitions,

Donor Compliance Is Administrative Capacity, Not Development CompetenceHaving worked in the development sector for over sixteen years — with grounding in both theory and practice in the design and implementation of development interventions — and with a clear understanding of donor compliance and how it relates to development outcomes, I believe this conversation is ne

Participatory Development Lesson #1: Listen to Farmers Before Designing PolicyThis field research was conducted to examine how participatory development influences policy formulation and implementation for farmers, using Lapai, Paiko, Wushishi, Gboko, Oshongo, and Otukpo Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Niger and Benue States as case studies. A total of 54 smallholder farmers

Communication in NGOs is Beyond Media MentionsIn the nonprofit sector, communication is often equated with media visibility, press releases, social media traffic, and brand awareness. While these are valuable, they only scratch the surface.

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