AN APPRAISAL OF NIGERIA MEDIA AS INSTRUMENT OF ERADICATING CORRUPTION IN NIGERIA (A CASE STUDY OF NTA EFFECT ON OBASANJO’S ANTI- CORRUPTION CRUSADE)
ABSTRACT
This research work has investigated the media as an instrument in eradicating corruption. Using Obasanjo’s anti-corruption crusade (a case study of the Nigeria television authority). The objectives of this work among other thing was to find out the problems that follow corruption and also to find out solution to the problems based upon which hypothesis were formulated. The research work was carried out by using primary and secondary data like interview method, questionnaire personal observation and the review of related literature. The literature reviewed include the journals, magazines, textbook periodical news papers lecturers, seminars. Response from the respondents show that the major problem in Nigeria is corruption like illegal ward of contracts, lobbying syndrome, indiscipline like brown envelope, godfathers, unpatriotic pracfraudster bad name and bloody practices etc. which promoted president Obascanjo to launch crusade against corruption after the military regime brining them to book for offence and punishment due for any offence committed without fear on favour of personality whereby he used Nigeria television authority for quick enhancement.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
It is necessary to glorify the minds that made ventures to the establishment of media. Media as a watch dog and the mirror of the nation perform crucial roles in the society media educate entertain analyses interpret ,motivate, create avenue, to failure and to success. Media as well monitor evaluate and correct al wrong activities concerning human existence. It executive and recommends, encodes and decodes and ensure feedback etc.
Media is metaphoric when we termed it to be a watchdog of eh nation and as well the mirror through which the nation see and recognize itself. it is the importance of the media that place it to that position in that somebody cannot just get up and started printing or criticizing a nation or society without having in mind any channel of dissemination of his information whether good or bad informational concern sense to the target audience . It is therefore at this junction that journalist uses media aid to bring the nation what their society is like and how their government is like and how good or bad the personalities involved are like, then it is through this means that they will know what the are and how their activities moves whether it encourages the audience or discourage them.
It was through this mirror media the news that exposed the forgery certificate of Alhaja Salisis Buhari which he did at the University of Toronto Canada . the made president Obasanjo after taken over the government to launch crusade that will redress what he saw in the mirror . this made Alhaja Salisu Buhari to be brought down from his position of speaker of house representative.
The media educate the ignorant it teaches them from known to unknown without it was when media publishes or air what people know that they will analyze was through media that people get to know what brought about the removal of Evans Ewerem from the position of senate president because of his falsification of age. The Nigerian media therefore exposes them, he evil operator of their evil deed and drag them down from the success to failure through mentoring of their movement and activities and evaluating and correcting their wrongs by disseminating it on air and preparing the audience to feedback recommending to the government the punishment that the deserve for the issue of awareness to be accomplished.
Furthermore, in Nigeria society, the role of broadcasters and the broadcast media, as agents of rural and motional development,, especially at the information dissemination, watchdog level, is now generally recognized and accepted by experts and policy maker alike. Also, a critical appraisal of the socio-economic development of he people of he world indicates that the sits a spectrum of levels of development of he people of the among he nation stake and that within a given country there also exist a spectrum of levels affluence poverty.
Importantly he development spectrum of the nations is demonstrably corrected with the amount of natural resources, indigenous technology and political stability whereas the affluence or poverty of individual within a nation, may be corrected with family background, ethnic origin, educational statement etc. depending on the character of the nation in question. Nigeria as a typical developing country to day has a citizenry with a multiplicity of ethnic groups, language, dialects, rural patterns, religious beliefs, and traditional institutes that lend to defy the best of intonations internal integration and development. usually only a small percentage of the people are literate in nay language, indigenous or foreign.
Meanwhile, the national government the enlightened segments of the society are aware of the need for wide spread education for both children and adults in order to achieve prescribed goals in economic growth, health care, political and special awareness, political stability, self reliance and nation identify, among other things for national development.
From the above points, broadcaster media is a powerful and effective instrument for achieving these national goals, it has been recognized all over the world and in Nigeria in particular as the role of broadcast media. In national development according to ADSDI, Uyo in the book the mass media and social change, he identified the functions performed by the media of mass communication especially broadcast media as , information, education, entertainment, persuasion which he referred to fondly as the media pile- an acronym derived from the four basic function,
Therefore this study is an attempt to discover how media as an instrument for eradicating corruption of Obasanjo’s anti—corruption crusade. A case study of NTA. Since assuming office in May, 1999 president Olusegun Obasanjo has never hidden his intention to fight corruption which has permitted the social fabric of Nigeria from the top to bottom.
In order to raise that goal, he set up the independent corrupt practices and other related offences commission, otherwise known as the ICPC, handed by justice Mustapha Akanbi, a retired judge of the court of appeal. But since then, the commission has remained a came dulk and toothless building until recently. In what observes sees a departure from the past and a renew vigor in the anti-graft campaign the ICPC in early December imitated the arrest of prominent politicians and former government officials. In one fell SWOAP a serving of corrupt was fired over allegations of corrupt practices. not only was former minister of labour and productively, Alhaji Hassani Akwanga sacked he was later arrested by security agencies for involvement in a $214m scan in the Jinx national identity card schema being handled by the minister of internal affairs. He was permanent secretary of that ministry before retiring and being appointed a minister.
The ICPC is currently prosecuting about sixty-two persons for various offense, these include politicians, judges, academic and members of the commission is said to have received over 942 petitions since inception out of which about 400 are still being investigated,. Firstly ,in view of this study.
STATEMENT OF THE RESEARCH PROBLEM
The problem of study is the effect of the media and instrument for eradicating corruption. A case study of Nigeria television authority inform of Obasanjo anti-corruption crusade. Opinion of the researcher to see if there is any significant effect on media being a powerful instrument to Obsanjo’s crusade against corruption. Truly, the has been series of struggle to attain this objective’s. Similarly, the legal philosophers and various notions of the nature, meaning and scope of corruption. Today the struggle to bring to the public the notification of their freedom from corruption by the media had been respected attempt done by the media for its is the obligation of he media to carry out government opinions, translate it and analyze it to layman’s understanding.
Today, it is a mater of a national and internal affairs or concern in that that the rule of law has no meaning as some government as some government in African countries are dictatorial in nature and operate above the law, thereby something or action that above he law of its laud is a problem and that is the statement of problem of corruption and Obsanjo crusade against instrument to enforce awareness and motivates actions which was achieve a last.
For instance late Abacha chose Bariabas Jabilla (Nick names Roger) as his killer squad leader who carryout a lot of assassination for him therefore instead of investing money on development be rather used the money to send segment Rogers to North Kores to learn self defense and assassination and as well was given asset to presidential jet and many carts of which was announced that Tell magazine describe his appearance as lefty bearded Rogers who always poses a deceptive look with his athletic physique and cherubic face who usually decked in a special black Arab captain when on a mission to kill, al enemy of evil like assassination of Kurdurat Abiloa late and other simply because of the interview grange to her by the British broadcasting separation where she exposed late Abacha she was killed because she vowed to fight Abachs’s corruption to the last. She was killed her husband Abiloa late won a free and fair election which was announced on June 12.
Problem are imminent in very aspect of human edeavour. As scholars researcher student are know that the Nigeria nation as Bedeviled with so much corruption which has hitherto been a constraint to national development. A category of corruption in synomious with Militaries, politicians, some are caused by employer government agencies, the common men, leader of thought the youths, the aged ad these are the component that make up the federation. A sample of corruption which this work tends to address is crime, drug abuse, juvenile delinquency, cultism, bribery and disobediences.
Therefore, in a situation like this, as the powerful instrument for reradicating corruption is at work but suffers in that there is no freedom of media activates yet that does not stop the media from motivation and action, through some personnel lost their lives in the process a good example is late Giwa founder of Newswatch, who was assassinated.
OBJECTIVES FO THE STUDY
The researcher intends at the end of this work to provide a lading solution of the problem of corruption in Nigeria. It also intends to asses the Obasanjo anti-corruption crusade to tell the public how far it has gone in trying to eradicating corruption in the society it also tends to form a frame work or basis for further research as far as corruption in concerned in Nigeria.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
The research work will go a long way toward using the media to address the issue of corruption practices in Nigeria. We must not fail to welcome the constitution democracy, be it as benevolent ad it may be a military regime still, falls short of the mark. It is a government that owes its origin and authority to sheer force and not to the people. we would like to have a government that will owe its origin and authority to the people and as well as give its accountability to the people and have an air of change in mind when he did not account to his people fine otherwise was promised by president Olusegun Obasanjo on the day of the launching on 9th September, 1999 at Bayalsa state in yewe gua, he promised to be cooperation with the staff and to work towards the upliftement of he standard of living of the people manifestoes. With that will be reduced and media will perform its roles effectively without hindrances.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Do media aid anti-corruption crusade?
To extent does anti-corruption crusade help to sustain Nigeria democratic growth?
To what extent ahs the ant-corruption crusade helped in eradicating corruption?
To what extent had NTA gone about the anti- corruption crusade?
RESEARCH HYPOTHESES
Hi: The media aid anti-corruption crusade
Ho: The media do not aid anti-corruption crusade
H2: Anti-corruption crusade help to a great extent in sustaining democracy in Nigeria
Ho: Anti-corruption crusade does not in any way help to a great extent in sustaining democracy in Nigeria
H3: Corruption poses serious problem to democratic growth in Nigeria.
Ho: Corruption does not poses serious problem to democratic growth in Nigeria.
H4: The anti-corruption crusade has to a great extent helped in ridding Nigeria of corrupt leaders
Ho: The anti-corruption crusade has not in anyway helped in ridding Nigeria of corrupt leaders
H5: NTA has been an affective instrument in the anti corruption crusade
Ho: NTA has not been an affective instrument in the anti corruption crusade
CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
In order to made far adequate clarity of purpose and presentation, such words will be defined in this section in accordance with the usage That will be made of them. In dong so the author hope to present an ideal aid towards the effective understanding of the day set up. Such worlds explained include:
Appraisal: This is the act of appraising valuation, especially official valuation eradication. Is the process of pulling up by the root or destroy thoroughly.
Media: This is usually with sign, mass communication examples are television, radio. Media is a medium of exchange of idea is it a channel by which messages or information and decoded to the final audience.
Corruption: This has been reviewed by oxford advanced learns dictionary of current English as an immoral actions depraved ailment dishonest through offering and accepting bribes impure through bloody practices debased by errors or alternation falsifying of age, embezzlement of or illegal passion of equitation of wealth
ASSUMPTION
In following the investigation, the researcher made the following assumption NTA Enugu is very active in championing anti- corruption crusade of government to its staff.
NTA carries programme aimd to create awareness to the public on the need for sanity in public office among political office holder.
This study will serve as platform for future researcher in this area
LIMITATION OF STUDY
In the course of this writing a lot of problems were encountered as in adequate material. Easy assess to materials for this work becomes difficult even in the school library, the ones been could not bring the demand of he study in the course of this, I had to travel far in obtaining materials that make this writing a reality.
