Abstract

This paper analyses the covert influence of ethnicity and religion on the media and voting in Nigerian elections and demonstrates how previous Nigerian Republics have been hindered because of the impact of ethnic disservice and election crises, thereby providing opportunities for the military to topple each of those failed civilian administrations. Unfortunately, the press could not play a meaningful role in the 1964/65 election crises because the leaders of the factional groups in those conflicts were equally the owners of the early newspapers. So, they simply converted their papers into channels for fighting wars of personal vendetta. In fact, ethnic rivalry and religious intolerance are today the two major sources of conflict in Nigerian politics. For these reasons we advised the media to avoid playing the role of an advocate in the support of individuals and governmental agencies as well as ethnic nationality whose aims and objectives are inimical to the national interest and religious tolerance among the Nigerian public.

Key Words:  Media, Ethnic nationality, Election crisis, Religious intolerance,

                      Advocacy journalism.

^JCMRJournal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 2, No. 2, October  2010, 155 – 165 .

About the author

Godwin Ehiarekhian Oboh, Doctoral Research Student in Media Studies, Identity, Conflict and Representation Research Centre, University of Derby, England and Lecturer, Department of Mass Communication, Benson Idahosa University, Benin-City, Edo State, Nigeria.

Full Article

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Pages: 11

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Article Citation

Oboh, G. E. (2010): The media, ethnicity and religion as determinants of failed republics in Nigeria. Journal of Communication and Media Research 2(2): 155 – 165.