The omnipotency of communication

BY PRISCILLA CHRISTOPHER

Communication is the giving and receiving of understandable information. It is the process by which one person (or group) shares and imparts information to another person (or group) so that both persons (or group) clearly understand one another (Rita and Sheila Udah, 1979). Thus, communication is the exchange of meaning among people. Communication as an act represents an essential and very important human need and is a basic human right. Without having the possibility to communicate and talk to other people, no individual, community, group or any institution would be able to exist or prosper. 

Strictly speaking, the ability to communicate or the general right of communication makes it possible to exchange opinions, thoughts and meanings. So it enables people to express themselves and show their own points of view.  

Consequently, communication makes people who and what they are and particularly strengthens human dignity. By having the right to communicate and express personal thoughts, ideas and opinions, people feel themselves treated equally. In other words, communication validates human equality. 

Communication is meant to inspire and inform. We usually communicate evidence, information and knowledge in order to inspire and inform development policy and practice.  To improve our communication, there are several steps we can take to make it more inspirational and informative. The first step is simply to think through why we are communicating in the first place. We communicate to learn. Communication, when it is well done does not only benefit the recipients. It also benefits the senders. This aspect of communication is often overlooked. We tend to think of communication as a process of teaching others-or of telling others everything we know. But communication is also a process whereby the senders themselves can learn a lot. If we think strategically about the communication process, we can maximise our own benefits too. 

It is difficult to imagine a society without the means communication given the fact that the society itself came to be through communication. The invention of language and speech is an exceptional creation used by every human on planet earth and from time immemorial; it has been used to exchange meaning. Hence, without the means of communication, millions of generation world over would have to learn absolutely everything from the grassroots. Following this, there will be no transfer of knowledge. How would we transfer all of our knowledge to the next person, better yet, how would we improve our capacity of knowledge as a whole without a medium to transfer it. We simply would not be able to learn if we cannot share any of our experiences. We will not be able to create a flourishing adaptive society if everything we want to create cannot be expressed through our thoughts and via a channel.  We could still accomplish great individual feats, but it yields no value if we cannot share it with the next person. 

Another observation is that people will not be selective. This is very true since there will be no knowledge about new inventions. For instance, if a society uses a manual typewriter for typing and does not have any means of communicating to know the trends in typesetting, such society will never be selective. The reason is because reasonable people let go of good options when they see better ones. But in this case, the unavailability of other options will result in the continuous use of one available option.  

Fourthly, there would be no creation of awareness without the means of communication. Awareness stands for technological and economic advancement. A society confined to ancient ways of intelligence will not advance. When no information is acquired on changes in the academic, social and developmental state of such society, it remains stagnant. In other words, there would be a high level of illiteracy. Information educates and transforms a person from illiteracy to literacy in a million ways. 

Similarly, the spate of crime can only be minimised when the means of communication in a society are virile and effective. The use of mobile phones for communicating has curbed the rate of lawlessness to some extent. Sometimes back, a gang of armed robbers were intercepted by men of the Nigerian Armed force at Kaduna state through a phone call from one of the residents of the locality. But when a society is lacking in such Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities, it stands a risk of harbouring criminals and living in fear. Alerting security agents can as well be done through publication on local tabloids and national dailies or through any mass media of communication. 

Furthermore, a society without the means of communication will never have evidence for its inventions. It is unarguable that inventions are made by gathering information. Michael Faraday who invented electricity only did that after gathering facts and information from different sources. With the means of communication such as books and publications, he announced his findings to the world and documented same to other scientists who verified and confirmed his discovery. Scientists therefore, testify that their inventions were successful through their communication with other scientists. 

Finally, means of communication creates employment opportunities for the unemployed. So a society without the means of communication is prone to high rate of unemployment since the means of communication can only be manipulated by humans. The use of ICTs also is a platform which can be utilised by a society to engage the youths and divert their attention from crime. 

Communication is crucial in development-whether in the form of dissemination, guidelines, prescriptions, recommendations, advocacy, promotion, persuasion, education, conversation, roundtables, dialogue, counselling or entertainment when the means are well utilised. 

Whether through the local or enlightened channel, communication is the lever that people need to hold government accountable and to ensure transparency in participative and empowering processes. But communication is often more than providing information. It is about fostering social awareness and facilitating public democratic dialogue. It is about contributing to evidence-based policy, and about building a shared understanding which can lead to social change. The means of communication is therefore the agent through which changes can be effected in the society.