New Media and Democracy: Lessons from the 2015 Presidential Election in Nigeria
Abstract
Democracy provides the opportunity for the people to decide who governs them. It is a government wherein the people have a say in rule-making, implementation, and adjudication and has several pillars. One important tenet of democracy is the media. Therefore, this essay explores how the New Media affected Nigeria’s 2015 presidential election. The paper used content analysis as a method of data analysis, adopting secondary data. Findings showed that due to the uncensored nature of messages and videos posted frequently, it sends dangerous signals to the underage users, and this impacts trust in morality, especially in a democratic state. Citizen journalism continues to thrill the internet with defamatory statements and posts just to either gain attention or damage the reputation of a person or a country. The paper, among others, recommends that the censorship of the New Media by the state be abhorred.
References
Egobueze A. Perspectives on African politics. 2nd ed. Port Harcourt, Nigeria: A & G Hildian Ltd; 2021.
The Sunday Times. (Sunday July 12, 2009). Africa doesn’t need strongmen, it needs strong institutions: Obama. [online] The Sunday Times. Available from:https://www.sundaytimes.lk/090712/International/sundaytimesinternational-03.html
Galadima D, Goshit R. The mass media and the challenges of Institutionalizing the culture of dialogue in Nigerian democracy. In: Pate U, Nwabueze C, Idiong I, editors. Politic, culture and the media in Nigeria. Oyo, Nigeria: Stirling Horden Publishers; 2013. pp. 157–168.
Gambo D. Media ethics, professionalism and the reportage of the electoral reform process in Nigeria. In: Pate U, Nwabueze C, Idiong I, editors. Politic, culture and the media in Nigeria. Oyo, Nigeria: Stirling Horden Publishers; 2013. pp. 101-122.
Bratton M, Mattes R, Gyimah-Boadi E. Public opinion, democracy, and market reform in Africa. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press; 2005.
Egobueze A, Ojirika CU. Ethnicity, religion and voter’s behaviour: the experience of the 2015 presidential election in Nigeria. Glob J Hum Soc Sci. 2017;17(4):25-36.
Okafor M. (2013). Press freedom and the challenging of online media in Nigeria. [Online] Sahara Reporter. Available at https://saharareporters.com/2013/05/05/press-freedom-and-challenge- online-media-nigeria-mark-okafor [Accessed on June 2023]
Uzochukwu CE, Ekwugha UP, Ukwueze CA. Harnessing social media tools in the fight against corruption in Nigeria: challenges and prospects. Int J Soc Relevance Concern. 2014; 2 (11): 2–5.
Hassid J. Safety valve or pressure cooker? Blogs in Chinese political life. J Commun. 2012; 62 (2): 212–230. DOI: 10.1111/j.1460-2466.2012.01634.x.
Agbedo C. Placards as a language of civil protest in Nigeria: A systemic-functional analysis of the fuel subsidy crisis. Proceedings of the 1st International Conference & Chinua Achebe Lecture Series; Nigeria: Faculty of Arts, University of Nigeria; 2012. [Online] Available at http://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jhss/papers/Vol6-issue2/C0621726.pdf [Accessed on June 2023]
Amaefule E. (2017). 75% of Nigeria’s online population use social media—Minister. [Online] Punch newspaper. Available at https://punchng.com/75-of-nigerias-online-population-use-social- media-minister/ [Accessed on June 2023]
Amadi CD, Obayi PM, Onyebuchi CA. Social media coverage of big brother Naija show of 2018: A content analysis of Facebook, Twitter and Instagram fan pages. Int J Soc Sci. 2019; 23 (4): 23–45.
Agbaje A, Adejumobi S. Do vote count? The travails of electoral politics in Nigeria. Afr Dev. 2006; 31 (3): 25–44.
Orji N. The 2015 Nigerian general elections. Afr Spec. 2015 Aug;50(2):73-85. DOI: 10.1177/000203971505000204.
Bandipo AO. The role of the new media in the electioneering process of developing nations: a case study of Nigeria 2015 [master’s thesis]. [Nigeria]: University of Malta, Diplomacy and Internet Governance; 2016.
Emetumah FI. Social media as a factor for increased frontiers of democracy in Nigeria’s 2015 Presidential Election. BJESBS. 2016; 17 (4): 1–9. DOI: 10.9734/BJESBS/2016/27403.
Department for International Development (DFID). An agenda of reform: Trading for Peace. Achieving security and poverty reduction through trade in natural resources in the Great Lakes area. United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: Department for International Development. March 2009.
Adeyanju B, Haruna D. Uses of SMS in campaigns: an assessment of the 2011 general elections and postelection violence in northern Nigeria. In: Wilson D, editor. The media, terrorism and political communication in Nigeria. Bangalore, India: ACCE; 2012. pp. 32–34.
Ibrahim I, Pate U, Pereira C, Ya’u YZ, Agbanyin BO, Bagu C. The escalation of hate and dangerous speech in the build up to the 2015 election and the imperative of strengthening the broadcasting code [master’s thesis]. [Nigeria]: NBC Stakeholders Forum on Political Broadcasts; 2017.
Banda F, Mudhai O, Tettey W. Introduction: new media and democracy in Africa: a critical interjection. In: Mudhai O, Banda F, Tettey W, editors. African media and the digital sphere. New York, NY, USA: Palgrave Macmillan; 2009. pp. 1–20.
