Town Crying and the Gale of Sensitising Nigerian Rural Communities in the Face of a Pandemic: A Case of Corona Virus

"An attempt to use core mass media to pass health-related information to the rural dwellers may be compared to fishing in the desert."

Most rural communities lack modern communication signals; therefore, they depend on traditional media for messages, especially during pandemics. Town crying is a form of traditional communication in which a communicator known as a town crier/ messenger/reporter disseminates information in his immediate community. This study assesses town crying and its role in sensitising Nigerian rural communities in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Among other things, it seeks to ascertain if town criers informed rural people about the coronavirus and the COVID-19 vaccine.

As outlined here, town criers are messengers of the people and for the people. As rural reporters, they disseminate news but do not produce news. They are appointed by the community based on some pedigree; since they emanate from the people, they understand the culture; therefore, rural people attach relevance to them. They are the information symbols of their various communities. Their place in most African societies remains invaluable.

In this context, a literature review examines the topics of: sources of health information available to town criers; town criers and health information dissemination; responsiveness of rural people to town crier information; and challenges of town criers in disseminating health-related messages.

A survey research design with a questionnaire as the instrument of data collection was adopted to elicit data from 60 town criers selected across Benue State, Nigeria, through the use of purposive sampling. The town criers were interviewed face to face.

Findings reveal:

• Town criers' sources of information were mostly community leaders, private persons, and primary health workers. Participant 18 specifically said primary health workers "send me a paper containing what I should pass on to the people especially during immunisation. The Chief of the community, youths and women leaders send me [information] on various issues they would like the community members to be aware of."
• Twenty-five out of the 60 participants attested to the fact they cried about COVID-19. Eighteen out of these 25 participants said they informed their people about the virus as sent by health workers; the other seven out of the 25 testified they only told their people when the vaccines had arrived and they needed to advise them to go out and take them. Participant 18 said he informed his people about coronavirus' mode of transmission and prevention "and when they brought the medicine (vaccines) I also informed my people." On the basis of these data, too few town criers passed information about the outbreak of the disease to create widespread awareness about it.
• When asked about the responsiveness of rural people to hearing information about COVID-19, participants described mixed reactions. According to Participant 1, "When I told them about the disease as instructed by those I work with (primary health workers), many people didn't believe it. Some told me that the sickness was not in the country or was not a poor man's sickness; very few believed. The following Sunday, I saw some people going to churches with their face masks as I told them." But the seven criers who informed the people about the arrival of the vaccines confirmed the positive response of people to this news.
• Town criers in the state faced a lot of challenges, the most pronounced of which was the lack of megaphones to propel their voices. Other challenges mentioned included interruption by people and lack of financial recognition by the government.

Thus, this study found that, although town criers have a potent potential to disseminate news about COVID-19 to rural people, many of them did not disseminate information about the pandemic because health workers and others did not make full use of them. Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that:

• Healthcare providers should always make use of town criers to pass health information to the people. Rural people understand the language of town criers and can ask for clarification where necessary.
• The community Council of Elders should back the information it sends out through town criers for effective action, especially in the face of the pandemic. That means, for example, providing town criers with megaphones to boost their voice and other aids to help them in their duty.
• Considering the good work they do by relaying information to the community, the government should collaborate, through the National Orientation Agency, with town criers to inform the rural people about an outbreak of a pandemic. The government should also be supportive of them financially.