UYO RESIDENTS’ ASSESSMENT OF NATIONAL ORIENTATION AGENCY’S POLITICAL ENLIGHTENMENT PROGRAMMES DURING 2015 GENERAL ELECTIONS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was preparing to deliver the 2015 general elections which were made up of the presidential election and the gubernational poll, there were greater needs to sensitize and educate Nigerian eligible voters. The electoral bodies could not have performed such electoral task alone. It is on this aspect that staff of the national orientation agency were to be alerted in training its personnel in order to affect the process of enlightenment campaign so as to conduct a successful and credible general election which took place in the year 2015.
The need for Nigerian to shun violence and embrace peace was to be emphasized by different political stakeholders and security agencies. The effective method was undertaken by the National Orientation Agency (NOA). The National Orientation Agency (NOA) ensured that its duty was to enlighten Nigerian voters on the way they could conduct themselves and dissociate with violent acts.
It would be recalled that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) made much efforts to achieve its goal which was efforts to achieve its goal which was base on the necessity for the realization of democracy and for an actualisation of a credible elections and active participation of a greater percentage of Nigerians.
Communication on its own part was necessary because there was a need to use basic channels to reach out to Nigerians of different walks of life. The National Orientation Agency (NOA) needed also to be assisted by the media.
In other to realize successful general elections which took place in 2015, several bodies were involved into enlightenment programmed during the said presidential and gubernational pools. These bodies were:
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Orientation Agency (NOA), News Agency of Nigerian(NAN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Labor Congress (NLC), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Federal ministry of information (FMI), among others. These bodies were to ensure effective dissemination of information and enlightenment of the electorate for credible elections in 2015. As the study indicates, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in a bid to educate Nigerians during the 2015 general elections added its partnership with INEC to ensure free and fair elections.
In Nigeria, since the environment of democracy practice on fourth republic May 29, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015 several criticisms have been leveled against NAO in terms of strategic enlightenment.
Despite the fact that elections are more regular in Nigeria, the quality of these elections is a matter of grave concern to both the actors and observers. 2003 and 2007 elections were particularly marked by dissatisfaction by candidates, voters and observers. The flows that characterized the conduct of 2007 elected integrity. In a similar vein, could it be said that NOA did not partake in the enlightenment programme of the electorate during these periods under review? Does it mean that elections frauds which took place within these period could have not been averted by the NOA in terms of enlightenment programme during the elections of the reviewed periods?
In this connection, it is appropriate to recall that NOA exhibited enough competence during the electrons within these periods. But 2015 general elections had it own criticism because despite the effort of enlightenment programme conducted by NOA, the Nigerian masses became totally marginalized. In reality Nigerians needs political education in order to improve in their electoral system and democratic practice in subsequent general elections. This is the study’s focus.
National Orientation Agency (NOA) has a lot to do. Well co-ordinate strategies for the awareness of the people’s right effectively utilized to promote democracy in Nigeria. However, since the present political scenario in Nigeria is such that political party because of their lack of focus on the masses has not been able to effectively perform the functions of political socialization, and political communication.
The aims and objectives of this study were to:
- Find out the extent to which the National Orientation Agency was involved in enlightenment programme during 2015 general elections.
- Find out the relationship between National Orientation Agency and enlightenment programme during the 2015 general elections.
- Appraise the role of National Orientation Agency during the 2015 general elections.
- Find out the views of Akwa Ibomites on the enlightenment programme of the NOA during the 2015 general elections.
The research questions formulated were:
- How was the NOA involved in enlightenment programme during the 2015 general elections?
- What is the relationship between the National Orientation Agency (NOA) and enlightenment programme during the 2015 general elections?
- What was the role of the NOA during the 2015 general elections?
- What were the views of Akwa Ibomites on the enlightenment programme of the NOA during the 2015 general elections?
- Significance of the Study
The study is significant because it is going to expose most reader and students on the enlightenment programme of the NOA during the general elections in Nigeria.
Secondly, the study is significant because it will highlight more on the significance of enlightenment programme by an agency that focuses on sensitization of the masses on electoral issues. In addition, this study shall be significant to researchers that wish to further their researches in the area of political communication. The work shall equally be relevant to reporters and editors of both the print and the electronic media. Then students in the department of Mass Communication, Uyo City Polytechnic and the Nigerian masses shall benefit from this study. Lastly, the study shall act as reference materials to journalists and other researchers.
- Delimitations of the Study
The study’s scope is Uyo metropolis. The respondents of the metropolis shall be interviewed on NOA and enlightenment programme during the 2015 general elections.
In the course of executing the research, the researcher encountered financial difficulty where she was unable to obtain all the reference materials due to high cost of transportation. Secondly, the researcher was unable to distribute the copies of questionnaire as it could have been because of her inability to locate most at times the respondents. Writing on the research topic smoothly was another hindrance because locating the correct research materials was another difficulty.
Key terms have been defined. They are:
- National Orientation Agency (NOA): An institution saddled with the responsibility of creating awareness mobilization and promoting peace during elections and other national programmes.
- Enlightenment programme: ensuring that programmes and policies related to the general public are better understood through effective communication channels.
- 2015 general elections: these are presidential, legislative and gubernational elections which took place on 11th March and 31st April 2015.
