Political Advertising Practices in Nigeria

Function of Peace or Anarchy?

Abstract

Reporting events is one of the major functions of the communication industry that has tended to shape both the character and development of Nigeria's political culture. Thus, the protagonists of development journalism stand vindicated. The events before, during and after colonialism orchestrated both the establishment of medial communication industries in Nigeria and the character/ natu re of the information disseminated. It is the central focus of this paper to review the historical antecedents of the communication industry in Nigeria and therefore determine their ownership and implications of their operations in the society. In this, the influence of their proprietors on the profession that manifests itself in the character, style and manner of information dissemination as it relates to political activities is our focus. Thus, using the Relativist Theory, this paper WIshes to assess the impact of this out-put on the political culture of Nigeria, that is. whether they serve as agents for peaceful co-existence or anarchy .It is the observation of this research that the content of communication has always turned out to be the wishes of their controllers or proprietors. Thus, the multi-faceted character of both the Nigerian people and proprietors of these industries has made the contents of communication not only different but also antagonistic, subjective and anarchical. As a panacea to this problem, we wish to recommend that a central appraisal and disciplinaru committee be set up by the federal government and a law establishing the principles of national integration cohesion be enacted by the legislature.