The Communication Imperative in Resolving Communal Clashes in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The media as the fourth estate of the realm is susceptible to manipulation; regardless of place and time. This is partly why media-conflict study is gaining currency, globally. The communication imperative in resolving communal clashes in Ebonyi State is now of concern to both peace and conflict scholars and public policy makers. The kind of information the media disseminate is critical to sustaining peace and harmony in the society. It is on this note that we examined the role of the communication imperative in resolving communal clashes in Ebonyi State. To what extent has the mainstream media shunned the principle of ‘who pays the piper dictates the tune’; a tendency that promotes and escalates conflict or communal clashes in the society, and concentrates on the issues fueling the conflict in order to get the government to respond to the grievances of the people before it degenerates into conflict? Using desk research, the paper argues that the communication imperative is vital in promoting peace and resolving communal clashes by embracing the principle of peaceful coexistence as against the policy of disseminating only the kind of information those who pay their wages want them to. The latter often tends to instigate and escalate conflicts, as empirical evidence has demonstrated in other parts of Nigeria and other flash-points across the globe.

Key words: Communal clashes, communication imperative, media-conflict study, flash-points

DOI: 10.7176/PPAR/9-6-12

Publication date:June 30^th 2019