Mass Media and the Security Question in Nigeria

Abstract

The security question in Nigeria today has curiously engendered heated debates as various individuals, groups and organizations have voiced their opinions on what measures to be taken to draw Nigeria out of the seeming doldrums occasioned by incessant and mindless kidnapping and killing of innocent people in cold blood. The situation is made more poignant and doleful when such pogrom is mischievously carried out via organized bombing of churches, mosques, police stations, government buildings, etc., which is quite strange and condemnable in a democratic dispensation. Taking note of the various suggestions already proffered in this regard, the paper intends to critically examine how we can utilize the enormous benefits of mass media for saving the country from its disastrous security problem by dispelling and quelling this gruesome killing that has become endemic in Nigeria. The choice of mass media is predicated upon the overweening ambition that they have overwhelming power to address this all-important national issue.

Keywords: Mass media, Nigeria, national security, security question,