By Nkechi Eze
Ten years after it first crackled to life on Nigeria’s FM dial, the Armed Forces Radio 107.7 FM has grown from a fledgling broadcast experiment into a powerful national voice for security, service, and unity. From barracks to border towns, from IDP camps to diplomatic missions, the station has become a trusted source of information, a guardian against misinformation, and a vital link between the Armed Forces of Nigeria and the people it serves.
This evolution was celebrated in style at the Armed Forces Radio’s 10th Anniversary Celebration, held in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. The commemorative event gathered top defence and media stakeholders, military personnel, scholars, and broadcasting professionals to reflect on the journey so far and chart a bold course into the future.
Representing the Minister of Defence, Mohammed Badaru, at the occasion was the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Ambassador Gabriel Aduda, who delivered a keynote message of transformation, urging the station to deepen its digital footprint, broaden its linguistic inclusion, and build stronger engagement with citizens, particularly security-conscious communities, veterans, and frontline personnel whose voices are too often unheard.
“There is a need to amplify the voices of ordinary Nigerians whose security concerns deserve to be heard and addressed,” the Minister stated, “and ensure that from the cities to the most remote villages, no voice is lost and no signal is out of reach.”
Commending the Armed Forces Radio team and its leadership, the Minister described the station as “indispensable” and lauded the Chief of Defence Staff, the Service Chiefs, the Defence Department of Civil and Military Affairs, and the dedicated broadcasters behind the microphone. “You have taken this platform from a transmitter to a whole movement,” he said, praising the station’s embrace of livestreaming, podcasting, and social media as critical innovations that have brought the military’s voice to a wider and younger audience.
“I wish to salute the broadcasters who blend creativity with discipline, mastering the evolving tools of communication while remaining rooted in the ethos of military professionalism,” he added. “You have proven that innovation, when anchored in purpose, can transform public service broadcasting into a force for national unity.”
As the Armed Forces Radio looks ahead to its next decade, the message from the nation’s defence leadership is clear: build on the legacy, embrace innovation, and remain the voice of a people bound together by courage, truth, and patriotism.
