Abstract

Radio is a primary communication medium to reach out to a largest segment of the population in Africa and in Nigeria in particular due to its flexibility. It is argued that radio constantly present on the streets, in the homes, market places and workplaces. it is one of the reasons for packaging abule-oloke merin soap opera in radio format to reach wider audience, however, one can conclude that Abule Oloke Merin soap opera has gone a long way in influencing the attitude and behaviour of people towards HIV/AIDS while various preventive measures are introduced in the cause of presenting the drama. Therefore, the study examines the influence of Abule Oloke Merin audio drama in educating youths on HIV/AIDS and sex with a case study of Osun State Polytechnic, students. The researcher used perception theory, uses and gratification theory and host of others in buttressing Abule-Oloke Merin edutainment programme. The researcher adopted survey research method with distribution of questionnaire to elicit data from the selected respondents who were drawn through simple random sampling technique within Osun State Polytechnic, Iree campus. One hundred (100) copies of questionnaires were administered and 90 copies were retrieved. The data collected were analysed and interpreted using frequency and percentage method. Findings revealed that, the radio drama helps to educate and enlighten the public on HIV/AIDS and how to curb it. It is recommended that special presenter should be groomed on health and education programmes while regular training and seminars should also be done for presenters on health drama.