Political Scientist Urges Mass Media To Project Nigeria’s Good Image
A political scientist ,Prof. Abdur-Rahman Olayiwola ,has called on the media to continue to project the correct image of Nigeria and help promote the country’s security and development.
Olayiwola, a former Head of Department of Political Science,Lagos State University (LASU) ,Ojo ,made the call at the 98th inaugural lecture of the institution on Tuesday, in Lagos.
The theme of the inaugural lecture was : “Political Communication and Political Complications in Nigeria: Analysis and Action.”
The professor said that the mass media should never be used as a divisive tool, but as an instrument for the promotion and consolidation of national unity and integration.
“The present concentration of mass media in the urban areas and the focus on security matters in one part of the country should be de-emphasised.
“Local language media should be developed and also the utilisation of local indigenous languages should be encouraged in media communication and information dissemination.
“After all, there is a Nigeria-French Language Village in Badagry, Lagos and Arabic Language Village in northern Nigeria,”he said.
Olayiwola said that literacy and linguistic barriers affect Nigeria’s political communication.
“Literacy is defined as the ability to read, write, and understand short statements.
“The inability to read in English alienates a majority of the Nigerian people, especially the rural dwellers, from the print media.
“These factors affect the circulation of newspapers and the audience reach by the electronic media.
“Other problems include a lack of low-cost and rapid transportation, prohibitive costs of purchasing and maintaining vehicles, as well as abject poverty, all of which affect distribution,”he said.
Olayiwola said that the employment of effective political communication to address the issues of political complications was very important.
“It is no exaggeration that there are political complications in Nigeria that make existing conditions bad,these complications include immobilism, malaise, and socio-political-economic morass ”he said.
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