Part 4: Before C4AIK — Marketsphere9ja: Making the Development Sector Better Understood

The idea for Marketsphere9ja began in 2017, while I was travelling by road to Biu during my time working with Mercy Corps Nigeria.

During that period, I heard the then Governor of Borno State had said that people did not really know what some NGOs were doing; they simply saw large vehicles. That statement stayed with me because it reflected a wider gap in understanding between development organisations and the communities they serve.

At INGOsphere9ja training sessions, whenever I asked some trainees what they knew about NGOs and the development sector, some had little or no knowledge, while others held negative views. I began to understand that better information and clearer communication were needed.

Different expectations and limited understanding

In 2018, while travelling to Adamawa as a staff of Search For Common Ground, I overheard a conversation at the airport between two development-sector staff members. Their discussion suggested that they did not clearly understand the difference between international NGOs and development consultants. They appeared to have expectations about the ethics and working style of their organisation that did not match its role as a development consultant implementing a project in the North-East.

During a project-management conversation with a colleague in the sector, I also realised that some beneficiaries did not fully understand the development sector. Some believed that the interventions they received came directly from the Federal Government and that NGOs were simply disguised intermediaries.

These experiences made me reflect on the need for a platform that could explain what development organisations do, how they work, and how communities and stakeholders can better understand their roles.

Listening before speaking

In 2017, I reached out to the two major management organisations of markets in Abuja—AMML and Urban Shelter. I then had the opportunity to speak with some of the traders in the marketplaces so I could understand their perspectives and how they went about their daily business.

This was important because markets are places where people from different backgrounds meet. They are visited regularly by many members of the community, especially on Saturdays. I wanted to understand the questions people had and find a practical way to share useful information with them.

Marketsphere9ja takes to the radio

In 2018, with the approval of my then Country Director at Search for Common Ground, Rajendra Mulmi, I began the Marketsphere9ja phone-in radio programme.

The programme gave development-sector organisations an opportunity to speak about their activities and impact. It also gave listeners the opportunity to ask questions, seek clarification and obtain information directly from the people implementing development projects.

To gain the trust and participation of listeners, we invited the chairpersons of market places across the Federal Capital Territory; the market leaders and managers, including women leaders, were invited to participate.

Their involvement helped make the programme more connected to everyday community life. The market was not only the inspiration for the name; it was also a place where people could be reached, heard and included in conversations about development.

Many listeners gained a better understanding of what NGOs actually do. For example, SOS Children’s Villages was able to clarify what it does—and does not do—after a caller asked a question about its work. Street Child also learned about other areas where its intervention could be useful when a caller mentioned needs and concerns that aligned with the organisation’s work. These moments showed the value of creating a direct conversation between development organisations and the communities they serve.

Christian Broadcasting Network was also able to share insights into how it began, where it was at the time, and where it was headed, following an enquiry from a caller. This showed how the programme could help organisations explain their journey and future direction in their own words.

Mercy Corps also shed light on a recently concluded project and its impact on girls in schools. MSI, DKT, NRC, Cuso International and many other organisations were able to give callers clear explanations that addressed their doubts about the development sector.

These conversations undoubtedly helped listeners develop a better understanding and a more positive perception of what NGOs do.

One of the key takeaways from the programme was hearing callers say, in one way or another, that they now understood better what NGOs do in Nigeria. That simple feedback confirmed that Marketsphere9ja was helping to close an important information gap and improve public understanding of the development sector.

Including market traders in the programme was also a welcome development. It helped people see that NGOs actually work with beneficiaries and do not segregate; they practise inclusion by engaging people from different backgrounds and communities. Their participation made the conversation more representative and showed that development work is ultimately about people.

A platform for clarity and dialogue

Marketsphere9ja was aired every Saturday afternoon from 2018 to 2020, first on HOT FM and later on Kiss FM. It became a platform for dialogue, helping development organisations explain their work while giving members of the public a chance to ask the questions that mattered to them.

The programme grew from a simple observation: people cannot fully value or participate in development interventions if they do not understand who is providing them, why they are being provided, and how the organisations involved operate.

Marketsphere9ja was another expression of my passion for knowledge, communication and positive impact. It was not about defending organisations or promoting them blindly. It was about creating space for better understanding between development actors and the communities they serve.

This work later became another important part of the journey that led to C4AIK—a journey built around making knowledge more accessible, practical and useful for people and organisations.

Today, our focus is evolving. We are working to make Marketsphere9ja a go-to source for impact stories from NGOs and development-sector organisations in Nigeria. We want people who are looking for credible stories about the work and impact of these organisations to come to the Marketsphere9ja page, rather than having to search through individual organisation websites one by one. Where a story about a particular organisation is not yet available, people can contact us, and we will help source it where it exists. In this way, Marketsphere9ja continues its original purpose: making the development sector more visible, understandable and connected to the public.

It is also important to state that the entire Marketsphere9ja project was fully funded by me personally through proceeds from the training work carried out under INGOsphere9ja..

I chose to reinvest those proceeds into Marketsphere9ja because I believed that improving public understanding of the development sector was an important extension of the same commitment to knowledge and impact.