The Dynamics of Interpersonal Communication System in Political Campaign and Election Process

Abstract

Communication is the most vital phenomenon in the human existence. Man himself is a product of communication, he lives with and by it and his survival is emphatically dependent on it. Communication has been variously likened to ‘Oxygen’ by scholars, which sustains human life. In other words, communication makes and sustains human society. According to Aina (2006) the indispensability of communication is aptly described thus:

Without it (communication), no society can progress and survive. It is a tool for social interaction, since it helps to promote collective actions and other social behaviors that make life meaningful and interesting  for most of us.

Interestingly, man and the society evolved from communication. This is biologically proven that man evolved from communication through copulation between a matured, healthy male and female during which the sperm fertilizes (communicates with the egg) resulting into pregnancy. At various stages of the pregnancy, the foetus communicates life by kicking and turning (Oloyode, 1990:10). More interestingly, the first ever activity of men on getting to this world is communication through babyish cries and soft kicks. He naturally begins to send and receive messages through any or a combination of certain channels cited in Kunczik (1991:27) and quoted by Aina (2003). These channels are:

1. The auditive and vocal channel (spoken language-verbal and paralinguistic communication).
2. The visual channel (facial expression, exchange of glances, gestures and body movements, interpersonal distances and or/ making use of space to communicate distancing or approach).
3. The tactile channel (touching and stroking)
4. The olfactory channel (sensing another person’s bodily warmth)
5. The gustatory channel(sense of taste)

Also, the gregarious nature of man (cannot do without relating with others) has made communication inevitable and a nucleus to his existence. He must express, relate, share ideas, habituate, socialize, influence, build and maintain social order. According to the classical submission of Otite and Ogionwo (1979) as cited by Aina (2003:9), “it is only through communication that people develop consensus  and  that people are able to act together. This is further stressed by the popular American slang, “Man cannot but communicate”.