BY: IFEDAYO AKINWALERE
INTRODUCTION
As
has been observed by some political analysts, Nigerians have for long aspired
for democracy and they have been repeatedly frustrated. For nearly 30years out
of Nigeria’s 50 years of independence from colonial rule, the frustration of
Nigerians with shattered democratic aspirations were caused by authoritarian military
regimes, which engineered transition to civil rule programmes to gain
legitimacy but then systematically subverted these to continue to hold onto
power by military fiat.
…since
return to civil rule in May 1999 the frustration of Nigerians with the subversion
of their democratic aspirations has largely been occasioned by civilians in
power; essentially reckless politicians or ‘Militicians’ who, possessed by a
‘do or die’ mindset in politics, abused, misused and generally undermined the
political and electoral processes to hold on to power arbitrarily, but hiding
under periodic, procedural electoral ‘victories’ to ‘legitimize’ their actions.
Indeed, in no sector has the frustration of Nigerians been as manifest as in
the electoral process in the past decade, Jega (2011).
Jega
defined election as avenues which offer opportunities to citizens in
democracies to exercise choices of candidates and policies to govern their
polities and satisfy their needs and aspirations. He stated further that how elections
are conducted, and how citizens manage to utilize them to exercise real,
substantive, choices, to qualitatively influence politics and governance, to a
large extent determine the phase, tempo and direction of democratization and
democratic consolidation, or lack of it. Jega added that if elections are
conducted properly and managed well, with greater enlightened participation by
citizens and good conduct by all ranges of stakeholders, especially the politicians/contestants,
elections catalyze good governance and facilitate democratic development and consolidation,
more so in countries said to be in transition to democracy.
He
posited that if elections are poorly managed, fraudulently conducted and characterized
by intense conflicts and violence, they become more procedural ‘democratic’
rituals of consequence insofar as good
governance and democratic consolidation are concerned. He stated that the more
fraudulent and conflict-ridden elections are, the higher the chances of such
elections merely perpetuating arbitrary rule and undermining transition to democracy
and creating instability in the polity.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
There
is no doubt that the media’s role as the agenda setting for the society at
large. Agenda setting theory explains that the mass media, through the
particular news stories and other kinds of information selected for publication
as well as the prominence or emphasis ascribed to such stories and information,
do predetermine which public issues are important and which are less important
in the society at any given time.
The
critical question begging for answer, however, remains whose agenda does the
media in Nigeria set for the public? Especially during election and electioneering,
is it the agenda of the rich and the powerful or that of the common man?
An
application of this theory by media professionals implies that frequent
selection and prominent display of stories on election will provoke public discussion
on them, which will invariably influence the people decision to vote for one candidate,
panty or the other.
The
Nigerian press has come of age. As such, one of its daunting challenges is to
strive to live above board and up to the expectations of the society. The press
must avoid being manipulated by the power of incumbency or the powerful to the
detriment of the entire society.
METHODOLOGY
This
paper adopted Content Analysis method of carryout research in the behavioural Sciences.
HISTORICAL SURVEY OF ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA
Nigerians
have been voting since 1922 when the first opportunity was offered for
nationalist leaders to participate in colonial governments. Though the
franchise was restricted and representation was very limited, it was a victory
for the nationalist leaders who were agitating for the enthronement of a democratic
order in which the people would participate in running their own affairs. However,
the struggle for democratic ideas of freedom equally and inherent right of the
people to govern themselves started long before the country was created in 1914.
The 1922 election encouraged persistence. It was not until the 1950s that the
struggle began to yield substantive democratic results; in the form of elections.
Since 1954 election, several elections have been held in different parts of the
country to elect people into local, regional (states) and national political
offices, Ologbenla (2011)
Elections
were conducted in Nigeria in 1954, 1959, 1964, 1979, 1983, 1993, 1999, 2003,
2007 and 2011. The 1954 and 1959 elections were conducted by colonial masters
and 1979, 1993 and 1999 were conducted by military regimes. The ones organized by
civilian governments were the 1964, 1983, 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections.
The
most controversial of the elections organized by the military was the June 12,
1993 presidential elections. Each of the stated elections was marred with one
fraud or the other. However, the April 2011 presidential election was adjudged to
be free, fair, credible and internationally recognized and commended as such.
That communication is crucial to the survival and success of any democratic
experiment is a known fact. Political parties play significant roles in
political development of any nations, especially in nations where membership of
a political party is a prerequisite for contesting elections.
The
handling of their communication portfolio by political parties could have a significant
impact on the ability or mobility of the mass media to discharge their social
responsibilities functions creditably because the political parties are highly influential.
The mass media also do not operate in a vacuum but are influenced by the socio-political
configurations of the society in which they operate, among other things, Enemaku
(2003).
FINDINGS
ON MEDIA, ELECTIONS AND ELECTIONEERING
An
election can be defined as a process of choosing one or more persons for
identified position or positions out of the more than the required number of
persons that are interested in and who have submitted themselves to judgments
on the scale of preference of others who equally have right to the position or
office but are not ready or interested in occupying it, at least for the
defined period of time. In nutshell election is the process of choosing candidate(s)
for an elective position. This can take place among family, group, community,
nation, region organization among others.
On
the other hand, electioneering is made up of the entire or series of a
activities engaged in by the persons who have agreed to submit themselves to
the elections, their political parties, groups, communities, political
associations, friends, families and others in order to influence the
anticipated preference of the electorate or choosers positively. Electioneering
encompasses all the activities that ginger electorates to support candidates in
election.
The
government of the people by the people in Nigeria dates back to the colonial
period. Since 1960, notwithstanding, Nigeria has had other democratically
elected government:
Tafawa
Balewa - 1960 -
1966
Shehu
Shagari - 1979 -
1983
Olusegun
Obasanjo - 1999 -
2007
Umaru
Yar’Adua - 2007 -
2010
Goodluck
Jonathan - 2010 -
Till-Date
Democracy
involves a government in which the ultimate power is vested in the people and
exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually
involving periodically held elections. When elections are free and fair, the
outcome will reflect the choice of the majority. According to Lawal (2006) a
free and fair election entails that:
a. Voters
freely choose among alternatives, those persons who will represent them in
various organs of the government.
b. Voters
can make informed choices among various ideological policies, programmes and
persons presented by different political parties.
c. Elected
officials are accountable to the voters for their actions in office.
The
role of the media in any democratic process cannot be downplayed. Journalists are
the trustees of the public trust in any sustainable democracy. Information is
power. Information is an accelerator for any meaningful development and it is adequate
information that can propel or bring about sustainable democracy.
The
mass media are usually regarded as those technologies of communication which
have, over time, bring about a sphere of exchange of information and ideas.
They are channels which are characteristically designed to reach a heterogeneous
and large audience simultaneously using technological devices. Today, forms of
mass media are newspapers, magazines, journals, radio, television, internet,
films, handsets and news agencies.
People
depend largely on the mass media to create image and form opinions on issues,
programmes, leaders, parties, groups, communities and so on. Media should be
taken seriously. Many studies have concluded that the instruments of mass
communication are useful vehicles with the potential to bring about social
change and, consequently development in societies where it exists.
The
amount of resources expended by political aspirants on advertisement in both
the print and electronic media bears sufficient testimony to the importance of
the media in any democratic setting. Mass media are the products of society in
which they operate.
…Nigeria
is still a society with great internal cleavages. An empirical analysis will
show the existence of different localized cultures, different value system,
different level of access to authoritative decision-making, which are not only quantitative
but also qualitative in kind. And although it may be argued that this obtains in
almost any society in varied degrees, the difference here is that there is some
co-ordination among the various units. This is lacking in Nigeria. It is this
lack of coordination, among other things which categorizes the country as “underdeveloped”,
Abiola MKO (1986)
Balarabe
Musa (2005) observed media’s overall handling of political and, especially,
electoral issues in the past. He stated five features that are unmistakably stand
out begging for attention the first and, perhaps, the most glaring aspect of
the media’s reporting of political and electoral issues is its superficiality.
This superciality is manifested in many ways, but it receives its clearest
expression in the media’s undue attention to, and pre-occupation with, personalities
rather than issues. It is also exhibited in the media’s virtual neglect of
fundamental political and electoral matters, such as the frequent breaches of
constitutional provisions by key executive and legislative functionaries at
both federal and state levels. These instances of legislative and executive
impunity are more often than not glossed over by the media and generally
handled as if they are trivial improprieties. The media seems unaware, also of
the role of the judiciary in a class society, like Nigeria, particularly on
issues like democratic elections and legitimacy of government. Where issues are
dealt with, this is not done from their roots or essence.
The
second major feature of the media’s coverage of electoral and political matters
has to do with its lack of sustainability. Few practitioners and media organs report
electoral matters from the beginning to their logical conclusion. After a few
days reporting of breaking electoral news most of the media turn their
attention to other issues leaving the stories to begun half-reported. How these
events or stories are concluded is generally left to the creative imagination
of rumormongers and other political speculators. This is obviously
unsatisfactory.
Then
there is the vexed tendency of the media to pander to the wishes and political
agenda of the moneybags only. These days anyone with any story to tell the media
who has no money to dish out might as well forget it. Indeed, things have become
so bad that even prime time news on the nation electronic media is now for the highest
bidder all in the name of commercialization and deregulation.
Fourthly,
we have the media’s current urban bias and near- total neglect of the rural areas
in its reporting of politics and election matters. This is in spite of the fact
that over 70% of the electorate live, work and die in these rural areas. This neglect
of rural communities can handily ever promote credible electoral practices!
Fifthly,
ideological difference in Nigerian politics is another issue. The media does not
seem to realize that…. Is distinctly a socialist party, and has been so since 1950
or 1978. The media always says that Nigeria political parties do not differ in
ideology.
According
to Lawal (2005), the media need to reposition themselves to meet their social responsibility
of ensuring a conducive atmosphere of fair coverage. They should equally ensure
a fair coverage of political parties’ primaries. In short, if the press
observes the following suggestion, we should have a secured and conducive environment
for…. Elections, Balarabe Musa, Loc.Cit.
-
The media should set
for themselves the obligation of illuminating the political process and set
agenda for the political class.
-
Journalists must avoid
any conduct in their relationship with political aspirants that would
compromise their integrity and professional ethics.
-
The press should also
resist the temptation to be used to fan embers of ethno-religious crisis.
-
While the clamour for free press is
understandable, it is advised that the press should not lose sight of their social
responsibility.
-
The announcement of
election results is the prerogative of INEC. Hence, they should refuse the
temptation to speculate or announce election results, until authorized by INEC.
-
The media should initiate
and sustain columns and programmes to educate and inform Nigerians on how to cope
with present-day economic and social realities.
-
The media should display
originality and creativity in assisting the public cope with economic,
political and social exigencies.
Finally,
the media and the public at large must renew their patriotic commitment to our
collection national ideals… as long as the politicians, media and the public
are ready to play the game according to the rules; the police are ever prepared
to discharge their responsibility of ensuring a safe and secured environment.
THE
PRIVATE SECTOR IN ELECTIONEERING
Access
to a potential public policy maker is much easier during the period of
electioneering than after the elections. Candidates easily grant requests for
exclusive discussions at specially arranged dinner or lunch’s. The candidates
can be educated on the peculiarities or intricacies of the business of the
particular group or groups during the period of electioneering. It may take
four times that effort to pass such information to the same person after assuming
office, Alaba (2005).
During
the electioneering period for the annulled 1993 presidential election, the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) organized a private dinner for the candidate of
the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief M.K.O Abiola to identify with him in
his aspirations. Though, Chief Abiola was a past president of the NSE, the NSE
still though it fit to endear its corporate interest to the heart of a
president in the making Alaba, Loc.Cit.
Alaba
stated that it is important for the private sector to organize seminars and
lectures adverts and jingles to enlighten the general public on the need and
reason to shun violence, acts of thuggery, vandalism and total social disorder,
since political disorder will lead to socio-economic starvation not to talk of
negative international publicity and their private sector may have to count its
losses thereafter.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Political
parties must realize the transient nature of power and the more permanent nature
of the larger society. Political party interests should be subordinated to the greater
good of the larger society (Enemaku: 2003).
The
press as a major factor in this direction should take the issue of national
unity and security with importance and fight to sustain Nigeria’s corporate existence.
Journalists should cross check their facts and figures. There should be
difference between national interest and economic interest. Making profit at
the expense of the unity of the nation should be shunned by all.
It
is the role of the press to educate, investigate and keep members of the public
informed. In carrying out this function, objectivity in reporting should be the
fulcrum of its master piece. It should be noted that because of the strategic
role of the media in any society, the media can be dysfunctional. As a result
of this, the press is expected to handle with care all issues of national
importance. It is also expected to identify those and handle them with maturity
and utmost care no matter how tempting the economic gains could be Lawal (2005).
Men
of the press are advised to exploit the freedom of information act to erect out
facts and intensify more on investigative journalism. The act is there for use
when the situation entails it. Nigerians clamored for the passage of the Act
for years. Now that the Act is available, it should not be set aside for pecuniary
gains. A great percentage of the Nigerian working class is employed in the
private sector. This figure is sure to increase as the Federal government
divests itself from investments thereby throwing a lot of people into the
labour market. It is important for the private
sector to organize seminars and lectures, advents and jingles to enlighten the
general public on the need and reason to shun violence, acts of thuggery,
vandalism and total social disorder, since political will lead to socio-economic
stagnation not to talk of negative international publicity and the private
sector may have to count its losses thereafter, Lawson (2005).
Introduction
of communication-Education- in order to offset the influence of those who use
the broadcast media to fool, deceive and manipulate the public, our government
could consider the introduction of communication education into our secondary
school curriculum. Such courses should be designed to serve as a defense
against political deceit or manipulation Akpan (1986)
Political
parties should see their roles beyond merely canvassing for votes and winning
elections. The true test of their success is the quality of their contribution
to entrenching a culture of accountability, transparency, good governance, and
ultimately, the entrenchment of a true and virile democratic culture. An
enlightened electorate is an asset to democracy. Voter education is an
important element that guarantees the success of electoral process and the
press must be seen to be doing this in many part of Nigeria today, people still
exhibit apathy towards elections, mostly because they do not understand why
they must participate in such exercise, and perhaps because they do not know their
rights as citizens. Evidence has shown that, during the 2003 elections, well
over eight million votes were voided in the five elections. This could be
avoided if there was adequate enlightenment, particularly in remote areas.
Accordingly, the electorate should be educated on how, where, when and why they
should vote. Posters, leaflets jingles in local dialects as well as traditional
methods of information dissemination could be used in raising political
awareness. As part of their social responsibility, both the print and
electronic media play a significant role in this regard, (Bafawara: 2005)
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