The Niger Delta Crisis and Advocacy for Peace by the Nigerian Press: A Content Analysis of Three Nigerian Newspapers

Abstract

The Niger Delta region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has been embroiled in a protracted crisis over a decade now. The crisis is hinged on infrastructural deprivation of the people of the region by the Federal Government of Nigeria. As a result of the crisis, oil output dropped to 1.4mbpd as against 2.3mbpd in 2006 with the people of the region suffering untold socio-economic hardship. It is expected that the press could drive for peace through advocacy. To this end, therefore, this study set out to examine the editorial, advertorial and features content of three Nigerian newspapers The Guardian, The Punch and the  Niger Delta Standard – with a view to finding out if content was directed towards advocacy for peace in the region. The period of study was July 2008 to June 2009. Measurement of news space was done in centimeters. Analysis revealed that advocacy for peace in the Niger Delta by the newspapers studied was abysmally shrift. Analysis further revealed that the newspapers reported more of the macabre and drama of the crisis than advocacy for peace in the region. It was therefore recommended that Nigerian newspapers should embrace the ideology of advocacy and use its kit to point out problems and solutions in the socio-political milieu.

Key words: Advertorial, Crisis, Editorial, Media advocacy, Niger Delta, Nigerian Press