I Need to Know (TV series)

I Need to Know was a Nigerian family-oriented television series aired on the NTA network. It starred Funke Akindele as Bisi and was sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund.

As part of its support to the Federal Government’s effort to provide information, education and communication on adolescent health issues in the fourth Country Programme of Assistance (1997–2002), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) country office in Nigeria supported the production of a television series on adolescent reproductive health, titled I Need to Know.

The title of the series is taken from a sound track that was produced in Kenya by the music group Kalamashaka and other local Artistes with the support of the Kenyan Field Office of UNPFA. Originally conceived as part of the Composite Adolescent Reproductive Health in Nigeria (CARHIN) project, the television series revolves around the lives, adventures and misadventures of seven secondary school students who encounter the normal challenges of teenagers growing up in a fast changing world, the realities of HIV/AIDS, the tragedy of interrupted education. I Need to Know depicts young people actively grappling with these matters, sometimes getting the right information in time and sometimes suffering the consequences of ignorance or misinformation. The series was conceptualized with the objective of encouraging parent-child communication and open dialogue on adolescent sexual health issues. It aims through the many topics the series dealt with, to arm young people with the information they need to make informed and responsible choices. This in turn with help reduce their susceptibility to irresponsible and uninformed behavior that often results in teenage pregnancies, illegal and unsafe abortions, and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS.

It has been demonstrated by research that these incidents generally result from a lack of knowledge on reproductive health issues. Primarily targeting young adults (aged 10–24 years), the television series the promoters of the series also hoped that families would use I Need to Know as an ice-breaker to encourage young people to seek counseling from parents and guardians, and also encourage the parents and guardians to equip themselves with appropriate listening and counseling skills. It also targeted policy makers who have the ability to provide a favorable environment for adolescents to have access to reproductive health information and services that give them the power of knowledge. I Need to Know attempted to de-mystify the discussion of sexuality issues between Parents and Children, thus encouraging Parent-child communication during this important process of growing up. The Programme also illustrated vividly the consequences of poor or ignorant choices made by young persons and the disadvantage of yielding to peer pressure. A total of 91 episodes (7 quarters) of Television and 104 episodes (8 quarters) of the radio series were produced. The series was aired by television stations from 1998–2002. It continues to re-run on a few stations.

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