Political conflict in Nigeria and role of the media

What became Nigeria was a conglomeration of independently existing nations with their political-cum-economic structures. Against this backdrop, it became difficult for a very long time to talk about Nigerians, even with the socio-political entity called Nigeria.

The ethnic and linguistic plurality of the country has resulted in many political crises in the country, especially during electioneering. In the face of this reality, this piece will discuss political conflict and the causes of political conflicts in Nigeria, media reportage of political conflicts in Nigeria and the role of the media in curtailing political conflicts in Nigeria.

Vecchio (1991), for starters, explains conflict as the process that results when a person (or a group of people) perceives that another person or group is frustrating, or about to frustrate, an important concern. Conflict can also be explained as a clash of interests resulting in confrontations.

Political conflicts result in societal unrest and destruction. In the words of Ekeanyanwu and Ajakaye (2020), political conflicts and crises, by their nature, raise tempers and build barriers to communal understanding which is needed for any type or level of development.

Many factors are responsible for political unrest in Nigeria, and the first among them is ethnicity-cum-nepotism. Ethnicity is a large group of people with a shared culture, language, history, set of traditions, etc., or the fact of belonging to one of these groups.

Ethnic sentiments often result in nepotism which is undue favouritism in the distribution of works. This eventually engenders a situation where square pegs are found in round holes. A person in a position or situation for which he or she is unsuited or unqualified is a square peg in a round hole. The end result of this is lack of development due to inefficiency.

Next, political leadership has been identified as another major factor necessitating political conflict in Nigeria. There is always the issue of who is from where every time national leaders are to emerge. Electing or selecting Nigerians into offices has always resulted in uproar, given the assumption that each person pursues the interest of his or her tribe rather than the advancement of the country as a whole.

Having survived this uproar in the 2023 presidential election, the president-elect and members of the national legislative bodies are hereby urged to pursue the general interest of the country in order to foster unity in the country.

On top of that, the fear of domination is another cause of political conflicts in Nigeria. There is the assumption that anyone in power will promote the interest of their tribespeople. This results in everyone wanting to get power by all means, thereby leading to an unhealthy struggle for power through the deployment of hoodlums and malicious fabrications in the media.

The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution summarised other factors responsible for political conflicts in a 2003 publication thus: feelings of alienation and the struggle for recognition; fear of domination of one ethnic group over another; state formation, delineation and contestation of borders; and access to political power. There is, undoubtedly, the need for us as a nation to look into all of these factors towards ensuring true national development.

Instructively, the media has a vital role to play in curtailing political conflicts in Nigeria, but a good way to begin the discussion is to first understand the media’s involvement in political crises in the country in times past. The submission of Galadima and Enighe in 2001 is succinct on how the media has not lived up to expectations in the face of political crises in Nigeria.

In their words, “The Nigerian press are always used by their owners — private party or government — for the purpose of propagation of the interests of such owners, especially in the struggle to gain power or monopolize the same. There is recklessness and partisanship on the part of the press during elections and transition to the civil rule programmes instead of restraint and responsible reporting of events.”

Sadly, when Galadima and Enighe reported the foregoing in 2001, the situation had not been as terrible as it is now. The advent of blogs which are even more than professional media outlets has worsened the situation, considering the proliferation of fake news in a bid to gain followership.

Social media has also made everyone a producer of information which is accessible to thousands of people, resulting in the easy spread of unfounded news and fabrications. The media has also been reported as involving in ethnic sentiments and personality attacks during reportage. The question that, therefore, follows is: what can the media do differently to curb political conflicts in Nigeria?

Read also: How old is too old in Nigerian politics?

Scholars have provided peace journalism as a succour to political conflicts in Nigeria. Peace journalism has been explained as conflict free journalism. Ekeanyanwu and Ajakaiye submit that the underlying argument of peace journalism is the emphasis on media coverage of issues that tend to promote the resolve for peace rather than coverage that may escalate a conflict situation.

Essentially, peace journalism shows backgrounds and contexts of conflicts; hears from all sides; explores hidden agendas; highlights peace ideas and initiatives from anywhere at anytime (Lynch and McGoldrick 2005). Journalists should also promote peace through their language.

As disclosed by a renowned peace linguist and vice-chancellor in Nigeria, Professor Mahfouz Adedimeji, language forms, informs, reforms and transforms us. This means that a conflict situation can be arrested if the right choice of words is deployed by the media practitioners.

In conclusion, political conflict is an expectation in a country with different ethnic groups that speak over 500 languages. Essentially, those elected and appointed into offices at the national level have a major role to play in creating national consciousness among the citizens by ensuring fairness in the discharge of their duties. Also, the media can help forestall and tackle political conflicts through peace journalism.