Towards The 2023 Nigerian Elections: What Can The Media Offer?

The media has always been an integral part of every democracy. It has been described by many as the fourth tier of government besides the executive, legislature and judiciary. The media is greatly instrumental in the decisions of the government and in the realisation of good governance. It is equally the face of the nation; hence, it represents a country to the outer world and influences its global image.

Oso (2016) holds that the newspapers of a country (and, by extension, other forms of the media) are very important symbols of the identity of that country, just like its flag, currency, national anthem or the face of its head of state. Newspapers record daily happenings and, thus, write the first draft of the nation’s history. Along these lines, the media has an important role to play towards ensuring a peaceful electoral process in a country. This piece, therefore, explores the expected roles of the Nigerian media towards achieving peaceful elections in 2023.

First off, conflict is sometimes experienced during electioneering and on election days. This could be caused by candidates who are desperate to assume various offices and/or their supporters. Against this backdrop, the media houses can decide to partake in either peace promotion or conflict escalation. Considering the foregoing, strong adherence to the ethics of journalism can be one way to help promote peace during electioneering and elections. The ethics of the media profession demand transparency and sincerity in the report of events and happenings. As a consequence, the media will be doing its level best to help the democratic process if events and happenings are justly reported.

Also, the media is expected to be actively involved in the election by keeping an eagle eye on the electoral process. This will help it inform the citizens correctly in the wake of electoral crises such as rigging. Next, the media can create a platform for public opinion through call-in programmes and the comment sections of their electronic versions. Such public opinions can come in handy for election tribunals when there are petitions after elections.

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Through the instrumentality of the new media, media houses can help promote political cohesion and caution against unhealthy political rivalry among the citizenry. For political reasons, many Nigerians have had to engage in word combats, resulting in enmity.

The media, in view of the foregoing, can help promote the need for mutual respect in the face of political affiliation. Citizens should be sensitised that preferences should not warrant hatred. In other words, you can support your candidate without becoming an enemy of the supporter of another standard-bearer.

What is more, the media must foreground the fact that the citizens have a common goal of choosing the best persons to govern the country. This common goal must keep the citizens in unity even if they see hope becoming a reality through different persons. More than that, the media is not to be exempted from the activities preceding the actual voting such as voter and civic education, registration of voters, nominations within political parties and even campaigns by political parties. Monitoring all of these should constitute the fulfilment of the media as the gatekeeper of democracy in Nigeria.

The media equally has a critical role to play in voter education and correcting political apathy. Especially in many Third-World countries where the governments seem to have betrayed the people, culminating with political apathy, the media has the role of informing the citizens that taking part in the election by voting is the only way to correct the awful political-cum-economic situation of the country.

Similarly, given the illiteracy rate in the country, the media should enlighten the citizens on how to make their votes count through a demonstration of how to thumbprint and other activities relating to casting their votes. Not only that, the media must keep an eye on the electoral committee to ensure that their workers are not bought over by politicians. This is essential towards achieving a transparent and credible election.

Instructively, this piece should not be silent on the challenges confronting the media in playing all of the aforementioned roles. Some of such challenges may include poor remuneration, political influence and ownership of the media houses, unguaranteed safety, threats from politicians and their loyalists, and several others. It, nevertheless, behoves the media to remain firm in the discharge of its duties towards achieving a credible election.

In conclusion, like Oso (2016) opined that newspapers are mirrors of the historic, ideological and political conditions of their respective societies, recording as it were, the spirit of the times, the media as a whole must fervently contribute towards the actualisation of a free, fair and credible election in Nigeria. God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!

(c) 2023 Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Department of English,
Lagos State University