Abstract                                                                                                                   

There is an explosion of interest in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) globally. Overloaded court dockets, increasing cost of litigation and desire to empower citizens in non-adversarial techniques are partially responsible for the interest in promoting ADR methods. In Nigeria, electronic media have been engaged in non-adversarial dispute resolution techniques in the last four decades. Using the social responsibility theory, a content analysis of twenty episodes of So daa bee was carried out, interviews were conducted on 10 stakeholders and a set of questionnaire was administered on 100 members of the audience to examine the features and effectiveness of So daa bee of the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State Television. In the cultural context, So daa bee promotes African judicial system and tribunal scenarios that emphasise compromise, give and take, and reconciliation. It contributes to the positive transformation, de-escalation and resolution of social conflicts. However, it lacks legal backing for its operation and sometimes over-hypes its importance by recourse to on- air blackmail of non-conformists. It is, thus, suggested that government needs to give it legal muscle through appropriate legislation and expose panelists to regular trainings, workshops and symposia on alternative dispute resolution techniques.

Key Words: Alternative Dispute Resolution, Electronic Media, So Daa Bee, Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS), Television.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, April 2015, 233 – 246 

©Delmas Communications Ltd.

About the author

*Dr. Musibau Olabamiji Oyebode, Ph.D., is a Lecturer in the Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution Unit, School of Arts and Social Sciences, National Open University of Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria.

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