Women's Political Visibility and Media Access : The Case of Nigeria [1 ed.] 9781443861564, 9781443856591

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Women’s Political Visibility and Media Access: The Case of Nigeria

Women’s Political Visibility and Media Access: The Case of Nigeria

Edited by

Oladokun Omojola

Women's Political Visibility and Media Access: The Case of Nigeria, Edited by Oladokun Omojola This book first published 2014 Cambridge Scholars Publishing 12 Back Chapman Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE6 2XX, UK British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Copyright © 2014 by Oladokun Omojola and contributors All rights for this book reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. ISBN (10): 1-4438-5659-2, ISBN (13): 978-1-4438-5659-1

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables ............................................................................................. vii List of Figures............................................................................................. ix Acknowledgments ...................................................................................... xi Introduction .............................................................................................. xiii Chapter One ................................................................................................. 1 Media Content Consumption and Influence on Women’s Political Visibility Oladokun Omojola and Ngozi Morah Chapter Two .............................................................................................. 29 Television Influence and Political Participation of Nigeria’s Unseen Minorities Stella Aririguzoh Chapter Three ............................................................................................ 53 Exploring the Indifference of Women and Minorities in Nigeria’s Politics Victoria Ajala Chapter Four .............................................................................................. 73 Media Access as Barrier to Women’s Political Emergence in Nigeria Ibitayo Popoola Chapter Five .............................................................................................. 89 Muted Gender: How Nigerian Press portrays Female Politicians Ganiyat Tijani Adenle and Lai Oso Chapter Six .............................................................................................. 109 Women’s Political Invisibility in Nigeria and the Imperative of Deliberate Media Agenda Kehinde Oyesomi and Olusola Oyero

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Table of Contents

Chapter Seven.......................................................................................... 127 African Women and Socio-Political Imperatives of ICTs Wilson Joseph, Nuhu Gapsiso and Musa Usman Chapter Eight ........................................................................................... 143 Communication Strategies for Nigerian Women’s Participation in Politics Chijioke Odii and Luke Anorue Contributors ............................................................................................. 159

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1-1: Stories according to the 12 policy areas Table 1-2: Total number of stories according to policy areas Table 1-3: Total number of stories published between 1999 and 2003 Table 1-4: Percentage of political stories for each medium relative to other areas Table 1-5: Percentage of Politics stories published on women Table 1- 6: Lagos State citizens’ rating of their access to the political contents of the four publishers Table 1-7: Lagos State citizens’ rating of the reading of press contents medium-bymedium Table 1-8: The descriptive statistics of Lagos State citizens’ reading of press contents medium-by-medium Table 1-9: The descriptive statistics of the six groups’ access to the contents of the press Table 1-10: The descriptive statistics of the six groups’ actual reading of the contents of the press Table 1-11a: Percentage differential in men and women’s consumption of Eko Today contents Table 1-11b: Percentage differential in men and women’s consumption of Vanguard contents Table 1-11c: Percentage differential in men and women’s consumption of Punch contents Table 1-11d: Percentage differential in men and women’s consumption of Tell contents Table 1-12: Cumulative gender differential in actual consumption of press contents Table 2-1: Description of voters’ location Table 2-2: Description of voters’ literacy level Table 2-3: Description of voters’ skill level Table 2-4: Description of voters’ party membership Table 2-5: Responses on the influence of television broadcasts on respondents’ participation in the presidential election Table 2-6: Literacy level of respondents Table 2-7: Descriptive statistics of no/low skilled respondents Table 2-8: Descriptive statistics of non-party member respondents Table 2-9: Descriptive statistics of the responses of respondents based on location Table 2-10: Correlation coefficients between exposures to television broadcast and rural respondents Table 2-11: Correlation variables based on literacy level

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List of Tables

Table 2-12: Correlation coefficients between exposures to television broadcast and respondents’ job skill level Table 2-13: Correlation coefficients between exposure to television broadcast and respondents’ non-party membership Table 3-1: Data of Male/Female Bowen University’s registered students in 2010/2011 Table 3-2: Respondents’ intention to contest in the 2015 elections and beyond Table 3-3: Respondents who would not contest in the 2015 elections and beyond Table 3-4: Opinions of respondents who would and would not contest in the 2015 elections and beyond Table 4-1: Major appointments made by the Executive at the federal level between May, 1999 and May, 2003 Table 5-1: Number of items published about female politicians Table 5-2: Direction of story and space used Table 5-3: Position of story and form of identification Table 5-4: Form of publication Table 5-5: Source of publication Table 5-6: Tone of story Table 5-7: Subject matter Table 5-8: Dateline of story Table 6-1: Frequency distribution of the newspaper coverage of the 2011 general elections Table 6-2: Coverage of men/women in 2011 general elections Table 6-3: Distribution of women in the coverage of the 2011 general election according to genres Table 6-4: Distribution of women’s participation in the 2011 general elections according to slant given Table 6-5: Distribution of women’s participation in the 2011 general elections according to prominence Table 6-6: Distribution of women’s participation in the 2011 general elections according to the quality of report Table 8-1: Applied communication for development model Table 8-2: Problem behavior, behavior to promote and communication objectives Table 8-3: Monitoring and evaluation indicators for Objective 5

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 3-1: Media Role in the Adoption Process Figure 8- 2: The ACADA Communication Model

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Many thanks go to the following contributors for making this book a success: Professor Lai Oso, who is the Dean of the Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication at Lagos State University; Associate Professor Victoria Ajala of Bowen University; Dr. Stella Aririguzoh, Dr. Olusola Oyero and Dr. kehinde Oyesomi of Covenant University; Mr Ibitayo Popoola of the University of Lagos; Messrs Joseph Wilson, Nuhu Gapsiso and Musa Usman of the University of Maiduguri; Ganiyat Tijani Adenle also of the Lagos State University; Chijioke Odii of Samuel Adegboyega University and Luke Ifeanyi Anorue of the University of Nigeria. Appreciation is extended to the Managing Director of Newswatch Communications, Lagos, Nigeria, Dr. Bolu John Folayan and Professor Abiodun Salawu of the University of Fort Hare, South Africa, for their support. I express sincere gratitude for the contributions of Ms. Carol Koulikourdi of the Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, who provided the environment conducive for us to work with her colleagues. I also thank my older brother, Olabode Omojola, of Five Colleges (Western Massachusetts) in the United States for his advice. His professorial advice is deeply appreciated. On a personal note, I thank my wife, Omotola, and my children, Olagoriola, Ayoola and Adeola, who always give the space when I need time alone to work. Their company anytime I desire to relax and play is awesome.

INTRODUCTION

The audience, media channel, message and message speed are all important aspects of a mass communication system. But more important is the appeal of the message. Is the message useful to the audience but a loss to media owners or workers? Is it significant to media owners but not of any profit to the audience? Is the message in the public interest? Does it promote development? Questions about the communication situation of a message have remained due to their social significance. Media scholars, professional communicators and sociologists have endeavoured to proffer answers, judging from the numerous studies that have been carried out. Women’s involvement in politics at all levels and its coverage in the media is an area that makes the situation of communication messages a big issue. It appears that news about women is hardly news for many media houses in terms of coverage the women get and with regard to the amount of news content they access and consume. The preponderance of men in the news, and in many cases to the detriment of women, requires a reexamination. Nigeria has been selected as a case study for this reexamination, having exhibited the requisite characteristics – democratic regime, vibrant media, women advocacy, etc. Chapter One of this book – Women’s Political Visibility and Media Access: The Case of Nigeria - exposes the connection between the logic of commercialism and its influence on the visibility of the politically active women. This logic restricts the diversity of news content in favour of those who have the means of purchase, which are mostly men. Focus group evaluations of the situation show a connection between women’s low visibility in the news and their inconsequential access to content. One surprising evaluation attributes the connection to unconscious reporting! That brings to the fore journalistic consciousness-raising as an issue in media responsibility. In Chapter Two, significant relationships are found between citizens’ exposure to television broadcasts and political participation. The broadcasts encourage them to seek more information about political parties and election candidates. However, it turns out that the influences of television on participation of the residents are affected by citizens’ own inadequacies.

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Introduction

Chapter Three traces women’s political participation in Nigeria and advises the womenfolk to avoid a reoccurrence of dismal outings in the previous elections and be strategic about the future. It finds that 79 percent of respondents do not want to contest elections because “contesting is not for poor women” and of sheer disinterestedness, among other reasons. The chapter adds these are political diseases that are curable through increased media socialization, persuasive communication and elimination of violence at campaign rallies. Chapter Four contends that inadequate media access is a major barrier to the realization of women’s political aspirations in Nigeria. Notwithstanding the fact that women constitute 49.96 percent of the country’s population, their political involvement is very low, hovering around 2 percent. Surprisingly, the Nigerian media have been found to contribute to this scenario as demonstrated in their discriminatory advertisement rates for electioneering communications. This chapter advocates the removal of all barriers militating against women’s political visibility. Chapter Five reiterates the poor showing of the media in their coverage of women as politicians. Besides that, the photographs published about them do not add any significant value. Surprisingly, wives of male politicians are found to take the shine away from professional female politicians! It submits that until women make bold moves and adopt the transformative approach which involves substantial risk-taking in politics, the constant media focus on their male counterparts and their families may remain for a long time. The assertion of lack of exposure of female politicians is proved again in Chapter Six, with only 13 percent of stories on politics devoted to women. The chapter reports that 90 percent of stories on women were published inside the pages. This may not be unconnected with the general problem of women’s invisibility. Deliberate media agenda for women offers a possible solution to this challenge. Chapter Seven emphasizes information and communication technologies (ICTs) as a critical tool needed by women to enhance their socio-political and economic visibility. This can be achieved through the collaborative efforts of stakeholders which should be strategically articulated and harnessed. Chapter Eight discusses two adapted strategies for increasing women participation in the Nigerian political arena. First is the Applied Communication for Development (ACD) Model, which involves advocacy, social mobilization and programme communication. Second is the Assessment, Communication, Analysis, Design and Action (ACADA)

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xv

Model, which involves situation evaluation, behaviour scrutiny, social mobilization and communication analysis. These models entail cyclical actions that can reverse the subjugation of Nigeria women in politics. The reader can come to his or her conclusion after going through the book. But one thing stands clear: women are a critical part of development that must be cherished and appreciated. However, the onus is on them to do everything humanly and legally possible to firm up their political vitality in order to be relevant in the development process and become visible targets of media coverage. The world can hardly wait.

CHAPTER ONE MEDIA CONTENT CONSUMPTION AND INFLUENCE ON WOMEN’S POLITICAL VISIBILITY OLADOKUN OMOJOLA AND NGOZI MORAH

Abstract The general patriarchal character of the media aligns with the logic of commercialism which prioritizes profit and restricts the diversity of news content in favour of those who have the means of purchase. It explains why there is a male preponderance in media ownership, staffing and content consumption especially in Nigeria where women have access to, and appear in, the news far fewer times than men. This provokes a question: Does low content consumption by women influence the way media report them? This paper unravels these two variables within a political context. Content assessment and respondents’ rating of Nigeria’s dominant print media (1999-2003) shows a robust political reporting but with a gender differential that is heavily skewed towards men. Focus group evaluations of the situation show a connection between women’s low visibility in the news and inconsequential access to content. One evaluation attributes the scenario to unconscious reporting! That brings to the fore journalistic consciousness-raising as a critical factor, among others, in media performance. Keywords: consciousness-raising, gender, media, political reporting, visibility, women.

2

Chapter One

Introduction Strong relationships exist between the media and politics. Mass media contents have been found to influence party politics and political knowledge (Shields et al, 1995; McLeod et al, 1968; Wattenberg, 1982; Norpoth and Baker, 1980). Governments of democratic countries appreciate the tremendous impact of communication before and after elections. The convergence of political leadership and communication, through mass media contents, has been found to impact the socioeconomic lives of citizens (Adebanwi, 2000). Political communication has become a viable field of theoretical exploration, characterized by constant revisiting in order to appreciate its conceptual foundation (Blumler and Gurevitch, 2000). For instance, the Social Responsibility Media Theory1 (Siebert et al, 1956), in its original form, emphasizes that the media have certain obligations to the society within the context of the liberty that they possess. The theory’s basics, according to McQuail (1987), are that the media should be able to service the political system by making information accessible to all, inform the public to enable self-determined actions, protect the rights of the individual by acting as watchdog over the government and bring together buyers and sellers through the medium of advertising. This theory has been a subject of several censures and victim of countless criticisms which have resulted in a myriad of reconceptualizations and scholarly u-turns. The situation is such that many of its advocates turned out to be its opponents. According to Soola (2002), in the vanguard of this rethinking and re-conceptualization were the foremost scholars of the dominant paradigm – Everett Rogers and Wilbur Schramm. The reason for this rethinking is obvious. The Schramm and Rogers’ school inappropriately exalted the pervasive and diffusion power of the media and mistakenly downplayed the various complex variables of development which include news consumption pattern, tradition, cultural orientation, local participation and other peculiarities of the people. This paper identifies the variable of news consumption and how that affects women’s political visibility in the media. For centuries, women have been dubbed the “weaker vessels”2 in most political systems around the world. One of the reasons adduced for the women’s low profile in politics is the unappreciable media access that women, especially female politicians, have - a situation blamed on the deliberate policy of exclusion, which gives prominence to men but makes women only theoretically relevant.

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The media are usually blamed for the low visibility of women, without adequately taking into cognizance the various complex intervening variables of development just listed above. For instance, one of these variables – an audience’s news consumption pattern - could directly influence the coverage that a news medium gives that audience. The question arises: Is low visibility of female politicians in the media connected to their inability to fit in the logic of media commercialism which prioritizes profit and access to those with the means of purchase and who are mostly men? This logic is a critical characteristic that drives media operations and performance in a capitalist economy. Though several articles have castigated the media for abetting women’s low visibility, yet others have countered, stressing other factors. These include a high level of illiteracy among women, colonial legacy interference and cultural practices which are issues that are not easily traceable to the media. However, no study has been seen in Nigeria to capture media content consumption as a possible factor responsible for women’s palpable invisibility in the political media. This paper attempts to show that the low capacity of female politicians in terms of news content consumption affects their visibility in the media.

Media and Development: The Optimistic and Pessimistic Perspectives Over the years, there have been recurring questions about the relationship between mass media communication and development. One is: Do the media promote development? For instance, how does a news story, an editorial opinion or advertisement in a national newspaper enhance the socio-economic conditions of the citizens? How does a popular television drama or musical programme on radio contribute to a nation’s development? Some perspectives proffer answers. Several studies (Shields et al, 1995; Watenberg, 1982; Norpoth and Baker, 1980; Westoff and Rodriguez, 1995; Schramm, 1964; Rogers, 1965; Lerner and Schramm, 1967; Salawu, 2002; Gupta et al, 2003, and Abu-Lughod, 1963) have sshown that media contents do affect development and that, according to Alao (2003), “communication and civilization go together.” Some also opine that though communication is a relevant factor in development, it is, however, complementary and that certain structural changes in the society must take place before this complementary role can be played (Grunig, 1971). The foregoing works reflect the optimist perspective, which stresses that the media do not exist for themselves but are established to carry out

4

Chapter One

some responsibilities towards the society. Oduko (1985) asserts that one of the underlying reasons why political leaders set up a radio or television station or newspaper house is to promote development. A development task could be in the form of facilitating understanding between leaders and policy makers, on the one hand, and leaders and citizens on the other. The optimists agree that the media help in conveying programmes, actions and decisions of leaders to citizens and sending feedback from these citizens. The media assist tremendously in spreading the useful information that supports the socio-economic development of the land. On the contrary, the pessimistic observers believe that the media constitute a factor in the breakdown of social control (Janowitz, 1981) and have expressed their reservation about the ability of the press to fulfill its appointed roles as watchdogs, protectors and facilitators of peaceful democratic politics in Africa. The argument here is that severe financial constraints, continuing government interference, widespread illiteracy, poor transportation infrastructure, sparse electrification, weak distribution networks and a paucity of qualified media professionals have limited the reach, effectiveness and professionalism of the media especially those owned by private investors. The effect of this limitation is the failure of the media to be relevant to the lives of their audience. Government officials and media practitioners are also worried about the harmful influences of inaccurate and sensationalist media contents on uneducated, ignorant, naïve or inexperienced listeners or readers who easily give in to propaganda. Moreover, it is believed that even when the media are not deliberately out to manipulate the public, harmful consequences are also possible even in the absence of malicious intent (Frohardt and Temin, 2007). But one thing stands sure: the media can only impact positively or negatively when its target audience has consumed media contents. The critical questions are: What happens if the audience does not buy into the contents? How do the media react to such “anticommercial” behaviour? This article attempts an investigation.

Stakeholder Theory, Media Commercialism and Media Content Consumption In order to survive or break even in the competitive media market, many publishers often align themselves with wealthy customers in return for the coverage that can only promote the narrow interests of these patrons but neglect those of the greater public.3 Thus, media commercialism is considered antithetical to a socially responsible reporting.

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The obsession with commercialism can be explained in the context of the massively declining newspaper readership, which is an experience that is commonplace in both developed (Bogart, 1989) and developing countries.4 The rising inflation, ever-increasing costs of newsprint and the drive to make more profit have been advanced as factors that make newspaper and magazine publishers cut their print run and aggressively emphasize the value chain with regards to advertising, news supplements and on-line edition. The stockholder theory (Friedman, 1962) explains why commercialism has continued to drive away eligible print media readers, thereby nullifying the significant media impact which the optimists have enthused about. In its original form, the theory asserts that as long as they operate by the rules, stockholders, as a way of increasing profits, can deploy capital through company managers who act as agents to achieve that goal. This implies that corporate responsibility is the use of scarce resources to do business that guarantees good profits, as long as you follow due process. Here, the profit motive is higher than social responsibility and morals. Morality is more than just acting within the rules. For instance, do you refuse to cover a secondary school or university’s activities because its students cannot afford to buy your paper? Critics of the stockholder perspective like to blame media owners for the woes in the industry, stressing that readers are alienated because media such as newspapers have slashed quality and raised price, all in the pursuit of short-term profits. Unlike the stockholder system which prioritizes the interest of the founder and funder of an organization, the stakeholder theory obligatorily promotes corporate social responsibility and an environment bound up by a fair distribution of dividend among the stakeholders - big or small. According to Kaler (2003), the stakeholder theory promotes a reformist stance with regards to capitalism, thereby moving it in the “direction of greater equity and a less single-minded concentration on owner’s interests…”5 In this respect, the media content consumers and the media channel users who place advertisements are critical stakeholders. In fact, they could be regarded as indispensable to the business as the media critically rely on income from their direction. The implication of this is that such stakeholders do have enormous power. The question at this point is: What happens if the critical stakeholder decides to reduce or cut his input from the business? In such a scenario, many things are possible. But the one that may easily come to mind is that the profile of engagement will wane as the role of the stakeholder has entered the domain of generic definition (Carroll, 1996), which simply means that his contribution to the survival of the organization is no longer

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Chapter One

strategically significant. The organization concerned will no longer prioritize the stakeholder as the attention will now shift to other stakeholders who make more meaningful contributions. The continued functionality of media audience, made manifest in sustained content consumption and regular placement of advertisements, is a crucial criterion for the perpetuation of media commercialism. Once this is missing, a re-assessment occurs and attention shifts away to the beneficial contributors. This study tries to establish if the constant neglect of women, especially female politicians in media coverage, exists as a result of their inability to align with the commercial tendencies which respect mainly those who contribute to the financial wellbeing of the media through content purchase and consumption.

Objectives The main objective of this study is to determine how the women’s consumption of news content affects their coverage in the media. It is broken into the following sub-objectives: x To ascertain the magnitude of media coverage of politics compared to other areas; x To establish the gender differential in that coverage; x To determine audience’s rating of access and actual audience’s consumption of media content; x To discover the gender differential in access and audience’s actual consumption of published content; x To find out how the gender differential in access and consumption of political stories affect the coverage of women.

Research Questions The study was carried out in Lagos State of Nigeria.6 Study period was between 1999 and 2003. The country returned to democracy in 1999 after several years of military dictatorship which was characterized by ruthlessness and decadence. Lagos State had exhibited the characteristics necessary to conduct the study, including having the requisite respondents as explained under the method of study. The objectives of the study are transposed into the following questions: x What was the volume of political stories published between 1999 and 2003 relative to other areas (finance, education, etc)?

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x What was the gender differential in the volume of political stories published between 1999 and 2003? x What was the citizens’ rate of consumption (access to and reading) of political stories in Lagos State between 1999 and 2003? x What was the gender differential in the consumption of political stories in Lagos State between1999 and 2003? x How did gender differential in the consumption of political stories affect media coverage of female politicians in Lagos State between 1999 and 2003?

Methods of Study Three methods - content analysis, survey and focus group discussion, were adopted in the study. Content of the dominant media were evaluated to determine how much of political stories were published and how many on women. During the period under investigation - May 29, 1999 to May 28, 2003 - the press was expected to perform its responsibilities in an atmosphere of freedom, unlike during the military regime that preceded this period.

Content Analysis Four Lagos State-based dominant publications – Punch, Vanguard, Eko Today and Tell – were studied. Vanguard, a national newspaper established in 1985, had its daily circulation at 100,000 copies during the period of investigation. The Punch, also a national newspaper and privately owned, was established in 1973. Punch prided itself as the largest circulating national newspaper in Nigeria, a disguised assertion that it circulated more than the 100,000 copies claimed by Vanguard. Eko Today was a weekly newspaper backed by the Lagos State government. The paper, located in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, devoted its coverage to the affairs of Lagos State. One of the librarians at the Lagos State library, who supplied the bound copies that were used for this study, put its circulation at between 30,000 and 50,000 copies. Tell, a general interest (but largely political) magazine, was first published in 1991. It had a nationwide circulation with an average weekly distribution of 80,000 copies at the time of the study. Only the hardcopy editions of the publications were investigated as none of the three newspapers and magazine had on-line editions that were functional enough for a proper assessment.

Chapter One

8

The contents evaluated were in 12 categories namely, security, agriculture, land and housing, education, politics, morals, environment, transportation, health, general, financial and personnel in line with the policy schedules of Lagos State government at the time of the investigation. The “general” covers those areas that could not easily be categorized. All the newspapers were visible on the newsstands and published throughout the period of evaluation. The four publications were randomly selected from a list except Eko Today which was the only functional state-owned newspaper that existed then.

Survey Research The survey research was carried out in all the 40 constituencies of Lagos State. A constituency was categorized into six social strata comprising the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

market men and women; professionals, who worked independently of government e.g. bankers, engineers, lawyers, architects, teachers; skilled labour, namely, welders, furniture makers, motor mechanics, tailors, drivers, etc; public servants; students; unemployed people (This group included disabled persons who had been grounded. The magnitude of disability was not made relevant in this study. The qualifying criterion was that the respondent in this category suffered some kind of disability. This group also included pensioners.)

Gender was equalized in each category. Categorization into six groups constrained the aspect of this investigation to stratified quota sampling. In each constituency, a quota of three randomly selected respondents was allotted each of the six strata in order to generate a total population of 18 respondents. This was done in each of the 40 constituencies in the State, thereby giving a total sample of 720 respondents for investigation.

Focus Group Discussion This study also explored the degree of consensus (Morgan and Krueger, 1993) and extent of divergence among members of two focus groups of top editors and media business managers on the issue at stake. After each

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person spoke, he/she was asked to reword his/her statement in a short sentence or phrase.7 This meant less note-taking as it made the transcribing of the recorded audio less cumbersome. The first group had five discussants while the second had seven. Both sexes were fairly represented in the two groups. Most of the discussants had the requisite experience in newspaper production and management. This also meant that an informed response was expected. The first and second groups discussed for 37 and 41 minutes respectively. All discussants in both groups said their views did not represent any official position. The topic of discussion - news consumption and its effect on coverage of women - was further broken into the following three questions: x Are you aware that women accessed and read less political content than men in Nigeria’s dominant media? x Why do female politicians have low visibility in your political reporting compared to men? x Is there any link between women’s low consumption of content and their low visibility in political reporting?

Data Analysis and Presentation Research Question 1(RQ1): What is the volume of political stories published between 1999 and 2003 relative to other areas? One additional coder was asked to analyze the target content, thereby making a total of three coders (including these two authors). Table 1-1 shows the frequency of stories in all the 12 policy areas. It also shows that political stories had the highest frequency in each of the three columns. In order to demonstrate the authenticity of the generated data, intra-class correlation (ICC) was deployed to measure their reliability and consistency. The intra-class correlation, a variant of analysis of variance (Shrout and Fleiss, 1999; Fleiss, 1981; Griffin and Gonzalez, 1995), is computed on the platform of two-way mixed effect model. It calculates the internal reliability of each coder’s count (single measures) as well as the reliability across the counts of all the coders.8 The singles measures correlation is shortened to SMC. The benchmark for reliability set for this study was 0.6000 (or 0.6) percentage point.9

Chapter One

10

Table 1-1: Stories according to the 12 policy areas Policy Area Security Agriculture Land and housing Education Politics Morals Environment Transportation Infant mortality General Financial Personal Total

Coder A* 272 91 166 252 648 149 211 189 228 330 301 122 2959

Frequency Coder B 238 109 152 251 616 127 237 187 239 359 296 93 2904

Coder C 180 160 192 171 850 267 52 115 158 381 590 207 3323

* The lead researcher’s coding.

The composite reliability computation shows the lower point of the singles measure at .5555 and the upper point at .9289, with the correlation standing at .7941. The lower point of the average measure is .7894 and the upper point at .9751, with coefficient alpha still on the high side at .9205. The alpha here, computed at 95 percent confidence interval (CI), is presented across the three coders: When this dichotomous computation was carried out across the three columns using KR2010 coefficient, it yielded the same results. Since the researchers’ evaluation is contiguous to those of Coders B and C, that makes the researchers evaluation acceptable. Table 1-2 presents the distribution of stories according to the policy areas and sizes (in mean inches). Table 1-2 shows that Politics policy area has the highest frequency with 648 (21.89 percent) stories. This is followed by General, which is a distant second with 330 (11.16 percent) stories while Finance is third with 301 (10.18 percent) stories. The count regresses until it gets to Agriculture which is the lowest with 91 (3.07 percent) stories. This means that the press published more stories to inform people about politics than agriculture or any other area. Table 1-2 also shows that the policy area with the highest number of inches (one inch contained between 28 and 35 words) is General as it has a mean value of 25.61, followed by Finance with 14.24 inches and then by Politics with 13.90 inches. The least in Table 1-2 is Land and Housing with 9.29 inches.

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Table 1-2: Total number of stories according to policy areas Policy Area Security Agriculture Land and Housing Education Politics Morals Environment/Pollution Transportation/Traffic Infant mortality/Health General Finance Personal Total

%

Mean(in inches)

9.19 3.07 5.62 8.52 21.89 5.03 7.14 6.38 7.70 11.16 10.18 4.12 100 (n = 2959)

Std. Deviation

13.16 11.67 9.29 11.45 13.90 12.33 9.72 10.17 12.76 25.61 14.28 11.35 14.01

8.006 8.109 4.349 5.059 11.468 8.330 4.704 6.880 11.278 23.819 15.577 6.604 12.943

Table 1-3: Total number of stories published between 1999 and 2003 Media Eko Today Vanguard Punch Tell

Stories (per cent) 22.82 29.70 46.09 1.39

Total

100 (n = 2959)

Table 1-3 shows a total of 2,959 stories published by the press, with Punch publishing the highest of 46.09 percent and Tell carrying only 1.39 percent which is the lowest. Table 1-4 presents the spread of political stories relative to all stories published across the four evaluated media. Table 1-4: Percentage of political stories for each medium relative to other areas Variables All Stories Politics %

Total 2959 648 21.89

The Punch 1364 233 17.1

Vanguard

Eko Today

Tell

879 199 22.6

675 186 27.6

41 30 73.1

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Chapter One

Table 1-4 shows that all the media published more political stories than every other area. The total 648 political stories translate to 21.89 per cent of all the stories published, far ahead of General, which is next with 11.16 per cent. The trend is replicated across the four media and is particularly made more manifest in Tell which had 73.1 percent of its stories made up of politics. This prioritization of politics succinctly answers RQ 1. Research Question 2 (RQ2): What is the gender differential in the volume of political stories published between 1999 and 2003? Table 1-5 displays the magnitude of political stories published on women. The total number of all stories and the total number of political stories are also displayed in order to appreciate how the political stories published on women compare. Table 1-5: Percentage of politics stories published on women

All Stories Politics Stories (A) Politics Stories on women (B) % of (B) to (A)

All Stories 2,959 648 131 20.2

Eko Today

Tell

879 199 31

675 186 39

41 30 5

15.6

20.9

16.6

Punch

Vanguard

1,364 233 56 24.0

In Table 1-5, it is assumed that the political stories are about men and women. Therefore, it is obvious that the political stories published on women are far lower than those published on men by all the media. At a glance, each of the figures is in tandem with the total published by all the four media houses. Women had 20.2 percent of all the stories published. This trend is simulated in each medium. Punch had the highest 24.0 percent while Eko Today came next with 20.9 percent. This is followed by Tell with 16.6 percent while Vanguard had the lowest with 15.6 percent. This is a clear demonstration that more stories were published on men than on women.

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Research Question 3 (RQ3): What is the citizens’ rate of consumption (access to and reading) of political stories in Lagos State between 1999 and 2003? A close look at RQ3 shows that the expected answer is beyond access. After access, then what? That one is supplied with a newspaper is not the same as reading it. Access to a newspaper becomes stronger if it is read. This is also buttressed by McNelly’s (1966) assertion on what a mass medium must fulfill before it can contribute to development:11 that it must have the attention of the reader or listener. Therefore, the answer to this research question also encompasses the rate at which the newspapers and magazine were read by the various segments of the population. RQ3 is then rephrased in the following manner: x Do the various segments of Lagos State’s population have access to the press? x Do they read the contents of the press? The questionnaire items are the following: x Rate your access generally into the contents of Punch, Vanguard, Eko Today newspapers and Tell magazine between 1999 and 2003. x Can you recall how often you read the contents of Punch, Vanguard, Eko Today newspapers and Tell magazine between 1999 and 2003? The two items were inserted to further raise the profile of finding, bearing in mind the long period of assessment of four years. The response was on a five-point score, with the most positive (very high or very often) scoring five and the least positive (very low or never) attracting one. For a more reliable answer to RQ3, the researchers also raised two hypotheses in respect of the two questions: x There was a significant access of the six segments of Lagos State citizens to the contents of the press. x The reading of the press contents among the six segments of Lagos State citizens was significant. The analysis proceeds with the description of the findings from the rating of the access to press contents as presented in Table 1-6.

Chapter One

14

Table 1- 6: Lagos State citizens’ rating of their access to the political contents of the four publications Rating %

Very Low 3.4

Low 7.0

Fair 21.0

High 59.9

Very High 8.7

Total 100 (n = 586)

According to Table 1-6, the six segments of Lagos State citizens generally had access to the contents of the press. A total of 586 persons responded to the item out of the total 720. Of these 586 respondents, 68.6 percent had high or very high access, 21 percent had fair access while 10.4 percent of the respondents had a low or very low access. Table 1-7 shows the rating of how often the citizens read the contents of the press. According to Table 1-7, Punch is the most read newspaper. A total of 718 from 720 responded to the item, amounting to a response rate of more than 99 per cent. One major reason responsible for the high rate of response was that the researchers and their assistants were strongly instructed to stay by each respondent while he or she completed the questionnaire and collect it back. Out of the 718 respondents, only a minute 10 percent, which translates to one respondent, said he or she never read the newspaper. Table 1-7: Lagos State citizens’ rating of the reading of press contents medium-by-medium Media Eko Today Vanguard Punch Tell

Nev -er 46.4 7.2 0.1 12.6

Frequency of Reading Press Contents in % Less Very Rarely Often Often Often Total 7.7 9.4 3.5 21.8

15.0 31.8 14.8 26.1

9.8 32.1 43.2 33.0

21.1 19.5 38.4 6.5

100 (n = 673) 100 (n =711) 100 (n =718) 100 (n =660)

An extremely high 96.4 percent read the paper either less often, often or very often. This trend was also noticed in Vanguard but in a weaker proportion. Out of the 711 who responded, 7.2 percent never read it while 9.4 percent hardly read it. A high 83.4 percent also read the newspaper in one way or the other. Tell, which had the least number of respondents (660), also showed a similar trend but with the weakest proportion when compared to Punch and Vanguard.

Media Content Consumption and Influence on Women’s Political Visibility

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However, the story is different for Eko Today. The newspaper turned out to be the one most people never read. Out of the 673 who responded, 46.4 percent said they never read it. When this figure combines with the 7.7 percent who rarely read it, more than 50 percent agreed it was not a newspaper of note to them. Of the remaining 45.9 percent who said they read it, 15 percent read it less often while the remaining 30.9 percent read it often or very often. Table 1-8 of descriptive statistics puts the reading rate aptly. Table 1-8: The descriptive statistics of Lagos State citizens’ reading of press contents medium-by-medium Media Eko Today Vanguard Punch Tell

n

Mean

Mode

673 711 718 660

2.52 3.47 4.16 2.99

2.00 4.00 4.00 3.00

Standard Deviation 1.62 1.12 .81 3.00

According to Table 1-8, Punch had the highest mean of 4.16 and mode of 4.0. This means that most of those who read the newspaper did it often (4.0 on the scale) or very often (5.0 on the scale) while those who read it often were in the majority (mode = 4.0). Vanguard also had a mode of 4.0 while Tell had 3.0. Eko Today was less than average, i.e. 2.0. With these figures, it is clear that the various segments of Lagos State citizens had access to and read the contents of the press with Punch being the most accessible and read. Eko Today was the least read and least accessible. Hypothesis 1a: There is a significant access of the six segments of Lagos State citizens to the contents of the press. Having provided the raw scores for the access of the citizens of Lagos State citizens as a group, it is necessary to determine the profile of access of each of the six segments of the citizens’ population. This is shown in Table 1-9 which contains the descriptive statistics for each segment. Table 1-9 shows that the Civil Service segment had the highest access while Market Men and Women had the smallest. However, the total group’s access to the press is significant with 3.63 mean score. Mean scores comparison test (conducted at 0.05 significance level) also corroborates this (F (6, 580) = 5.132, p < 0.0005). Therefore, Hypothesis 1a,

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Chapter One

that there was a significant access of the six segments of Lagos State citizens to the contents of the press, is accepted. Table 1-9: The descriptive statistics of the six groups’ access to the contents of the press Segments Skilled Labor Students Civil Servants Unemployed Professionals Market Men/Women Total (Group)

Frequency 104 111 90 106 106 69 586

Mean 3.63 3.57 3.97 3.64 3.64 3.29 3.63

Hypothesis 1b: The reading of the press contents among the six segments of Lagos State citizens was significant The results obtained for each of the six segments of the citizens’ population are presented in a descriptive form in Table 1-10. Table 1-10: The descriptive statistics of the six groups’ actual reading of the contents of the press Segments Skilled Labor Students Civil Servants Unemployed Professionals Market Men /Women Total (Group)

Mean 3.01 3.20 3.74 3.11 3.28 3.38 3.27

N 116 118 120 117 119 69 659

According to Table 1-10, the mean scores for the actual reading of press contents are higher than 3, which is the average. This is significant. The comparisons of the mean scores also support this: (F (5, 653) = 16.162, p < 0.0005). Therefore, Hypothesis 1b, that the reading of the press contents among the six segments of Lagos State citizens was significant, is accepted.

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Research Question 4 (RQ4): What is the gender differential in the consumption of political stories in Lagos State between1999 and 2003? One of the crucial demographic data request included in the questionnaire was on gender. It allowed the determination of the number of women and men who responded to the items on the actual reading (or consumption) of press contents. Cumulatively, 370 women said they never read any of the publications compared to 76 men. This is in trend with 229 women who said they rarely read press contents compared to 50 men. Women who read less often were 415 while the men were 190. Men read more often than women (536 and 196 respectively) while 536 men read very often compared to 80 women. The results show that women read newspapers far less than men did. Tables 1-11(a-d) are presented in order to determine the male/female differential of this content consumption. Table 1-11a: Percentage differential consumption of Eko Today contents Eko Today Option Never Rarely Less Often Often Very Often

% for Men & Women 46.4 7.7 15.0 9.8 21.1

%for Men 9.7 1.7 3.0 7.1 18.0

Table 1-11b: Percentage differential consumption of Vanguard contents Vanguard Option Never Rarely Less Often Often Very Often

% For Men & Women 7.2 9.4 31.8 32.1 19.5

in

in

%For Men 0.2 2.1 16.0 23.9 18.0

men

and

% for Women 36.7 6.0 12.0 2.7 3.1

men

and

% For Women 7.0 7.3 15.8 8.2 1.5

women’s n =? 312 52 101 66 142 n = 673 women’s n =? 51 68 226 228 138 n = 711

Chapter One

18

Table 1-11c: Percentage differential consumption of Punch contents The Punch Option Never Rarely Less Often Often Very Often

% For Men & Women 0.1 3.5 14.8 43.2 38.4

% for Men & Women 12.6 21.8 26.1 33.0 6.5

men

% For Men 0.0 0.2 4.8 30.1 31.9

Table 1-11d: Percentage differential consumption of Tell contents TELL Option Never Rarely Less Often Often Very Often

in

in

% for Men 1.5 4.5 3.3 28.1 6.4

and

women’s

% For Women 0.1 3.3 10.0 13.1 6.5 men

and

n =? 1 25 106 310 276 n=718 women’s

% for Women 11.1 17.3 22.8 3.9 0.1

n =? 83 144 172 218 43 n=660

Table 1-12: Cumulative gender differentials in actual consumption of press contents Never

Rarely

Medium W M W Eko Today 246 65 40 Vanguard 50 1 52 Punch 1 0 23 Never 73 10 114 Total 370 76 229 Key: W=Women, M=Men

M 2 16 2 30 50

Less Often W M 81 20 112 114 72 34 150 22 415 190

Often W 18 58 94 26 196

M 48 80 216 192 536

Very Often W 21 11 47 1 80

M 121 127 229 42 519

The figures on gender differentials presented in the foregoing tables bring up a critical question: What does a firm do to an audience that does not buy or consume its products? The next research question addresses this issue.

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Research Question 5 (RQ5): How does gender differential in the consumption of political stories affect media coverage of female politicians in Lagos State between 1999 and 2003? Resolution of RQ5 is contained in the responses of the members of the two focus groups. The five members of the first group were serially numbered FG1 to FG5 while the seven members of second group were listed SG1 to SG7. The response of each participant is paraphrased and summarized as follows. First Group FG 1: Women read less content than men, but it is close-mindedness of observers to restrict it to political stories. Women consume less newspaper content than men do. Women are responsible for their low visibility in the media. If they are loud, news content will also be loud about them. It makes no sense to discriminate against women on the account of their low consumption of political stories. Any newspaper that has that policy will have a reduced readership. FG 2: Less education, low income and colonial legacy intrusion naturally make women less empowered to consume media content except probably that of television. Women have low visibility because politics is not their area of specialization yet. If you evaluate the stories about the beauty industry, there is no doubt that women will have more stories than men in Nigeria. This is because they do more beauty business than men. The newspaper industry is dominated by men. Little wonder men consume more contents than women. FG 3: A recent study conducted by a newspaper house on female readership of its newspaper showed that men read their newspaper more than the women and patronized the newspaper more. An attempt to increase the coverage of women in order to boost coverage did not succeed as a subsequent study showed that it was futile. High or low consumption of content by women would always result in their low coverage. FG 4: It is not news that women consume less content and that trend will continue for some time. If you check out the history of the print journalism in Nigeria of over 150 years, women are less visible in terms of ownership, professional input and editorial positions. The situation is somehow different in the broadcast arena. Women appear less because of the psychological working of the minds of journalists which confines the

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mainstream politicking to the domain of men. This psychological mindset makes women less attractive in terms of coverage. FG 5: One can say from the perspective of a media professional that women are not yet cut out for journalism. Even in the broadcast area where they are seen more frequently, they are limited to the showbiz arena (as newscasters, talk show hostesses, etc.) and the studio. Nearly all the technical areas are handled by men. Without prejudice, news content will always feature fewer women than men. Second Group SG 1: Women do not access media contents as frequently as men do and this situation is as old as the profession of journalism. It is not totally correct as claimed by some observers that women are not as politically active as men. The problem is that women’s civic engagement is directed towards men’s political ends. What this means is that women’s activities such as voting, campaigning at political rallies, etc., are directed at installing a male politician into a position of authority. This situation puts media in such a position that makes them see men as the necessary personality to include in their reports. Can you then see how low media access and unprofitable civic engagement make media turn away from women? SG 2: The reason why the media report less on women is that gender solidarity is either non-existent or very weak among women unlike men. During the PDP’s [Peoples Democratic Party’s] primaries for the 2011 presidential elections, the only woman who contested had only one vote while other contestants who were men shared all the remaining votes cast by women. How then do you expect the media to give continued attention to women? Lack of gender solidarity among women greatly affects the way they reach out to people and the media. It will surprise you to know that women read more news stories about men than women! SG 3: Women do not buy newspapers and magazines like men do. But the reason why women have low visibility in the media is because they are yet to discover themselves as powerful tools for political and socio-economic change. This results in less attention from journalists. That is why “to the best of my knowledge”, Eko Today has an impressive reporting profile on the empowerment of women and other disadvantaged demographics. If you shift the emphasis of your news evaluation on this area, you are going

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to find out that our reportage on women is impressive compared to other areas. I support my friend’s point on gender solidarity. SG 4: Women consume less content than men but this occurs mainly with news magazines and newspapers. The same cannot always be said of human interest publications which actually enjoy substantial readership from women. Though people do not always regard the human angle magazines as responsible due to their high level of one-way and unbalanced reporting, they are well accessed and read by women. My verdict is that publishers discriminate with regards to their readers. Papers such as Punch are probably read more by men so they publish more about men. But celebrity journals are well read by women so they give women more coverage. This I know as a practitioner. SG 5: In general, women consume fewer contents than men. Religion is to blame for this. Some religions teach that women cannot consume contents directly as their husbands have to do that on their behalf. This religious mentality pervades many homes where women think they are alright as long as their husbands hold brief for them. This is a big problem, bearing in mind the Marxist maxim that religion is the opium of the masses. The problem is compounded by the fact that even if women access contents first and then act as opinion leaders for the men folk, there is a problem, as the patriarchal nature of the Nigerian society does not accept the authenticity of that opinion. This greatly affects women’s visibility everywhere, the media inclusive. The patriarchal system, both consciously and unconsciously, gives less attention to women. This is common in politics. However, with regards to the media, it is more of unconscious than conscious. From my perspective, the media do not write less about women intentionally. They are doing so unconsciously! This Day can never, for instance, give less attention to women than to men. It is a case of unconscious reporting! SG 6: Women have less access to the media than men. The blame is at the doorstep of women. Life does not give you what you desire but what you demand. Women should start doing things that would make the media talk about them as men are not in a hurry to let go of the status quo. This problem is compounded by the fact that the government in Nigeria is still struggling to guarantee civil and political rights which means substantially that women are excluded from mainstream political leadership. Women should know that since all political, social and cultural structures are not gender-equitable, they have to get aggressive in dealing with their

22

Chapter One

visibility. For instance, they could sue a newspaper for not giving adequate publicity to women. Such arguments sound simplistic as there are several intervening variables that will play against them in court. However, a signal would have been sent to other media that women should be spared a thought in news coverage. From the media perspective, low consumption of content is the natural consequence of low coverage and low coverage naturally results in low visibility. SG 7: Women obviously have less access to all media than men. We should stop the opinion that women are now popular on television as this cannot be substantiated. In African Independent Television (AIT),12 for example, only about six out of about 40 personalities brought for discussion in one month on the popular programme called Focus Nigeria are women in 2011. The trend is also noticeable on radio. One good reason why they have low visibility is the unprofitable diversion of career. Nigerian tertiary institutions are graduating female journalism and mass communication students in their hundreds. But family pressure makes them end up in marriage instead. The result is that only a few are available to be employed. That is not the fault of the media.

Remarks One consensus that runs through all the findings is that women’s access to the print media is low compared to that of men. This easily corroborates what several studies have established. Low access is not limited to the print media or to Nigeria. Several studies have also demonstrated this in other countries. For instance, Study Reports (on) Sex Bias (1989)13 shows that in the United States males outnumber females two to one regarding children’s programmes while women make only 16 percent of newscasters. Basow (1992) also attests this, saying that men appear three times as many as women on the prime time television. In Nigeria, besides the fact that most (if not all) terrestrial broadcasting systems are owned by men, the staff who work in them are mostly men. Low media access of women is an established fact all over the world. The reasons why women, especially female politicians, are less visible in the media compared to men are multifarious. Colonial legacy interference, lack of financial empowerment, unemployment, patriarchal nature of the society etc. are common reasons as stated by the discussants. But one that is surprising is the comment that politics is not yet the women’s area of specialization. The discussant looked at politics as a specialty that women were not yet accustomed to, just like men were

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assumed not comfortable doing the beauty business. The logic in this argument is debatable. It seems that men are not found often in the beauty and make-up business the way women are simply because men are probably not interested. Also interesting is the religious perspective which makes men responsible for all that women need to know. Since religion is a very strong issue among the Nigerian women, this problem may persist for sometime as religious sentiments usually run deep. If the unprofitable diversion of academic career in favour of family life by women as claimed by one of the discussants is proved, then putting a stop to it can impact positively on the women’s visibility in the media with regards to those who are interested in politics. Opinions differ over the link between low media content consumption by women and why the media report women less frequently than men. If the opinion of a discussant that the media publish less on women when compared to men because the latter consume more content is considered, this may not be surprising as it is still in tandem with the commercialism tendencies of the media. But one astounding comment is that the media report women low unconsciously! This is astounding because being “unconscious” can be interpreted as being ignorant or unaware or better still, uninformed. This suggests that low reportage on women is not deliberate and that if media professionals become aware of this deficiency, then women may be reported more frequently than ever before. This sounds unsophisticated, but the proper solution to the problem could emerge through consciousness-raising strategies for journalists. If reporters pull out of the perceived ignorance, chances are they can get round most of the factors that impede the visibility of women.

Recommendations The unconsciousness dimension of media impropriety towards women demands a thorough investigation. This is because the possibility exists that most of the other reasons responsible for the low visibility of women in the media, earlier mentioned, could be as a result of this unconsciousness. For instance, if “consciousness” returns, the journalist can begin to see to it that the patriarchal nature of reporting, which makes men the cultural imperative, will need to be dealt with. The newshounds may also begin re-orientation efforts that could make women focus on their careers rather than the incurable desire to get married and raise children. This challenge of media unconsciousness, if well explored through research, is replete with possibilities that can demystify the media negligence of women.

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Chapter One

This paper recommends the following: x Researchers should begin and intensify research to determine the quantum of this ignorance or unconsciousness and proffer solution to it. x The Nigeria Guild of Editors and other professional bodies should raise a panel to investigate the perceived unconscious underreporting of women in all areas, politics inclusive. x Gender solidarity among women should be prioritized. Advocacy groups can champion this prioritization and should carry the media along in this pursuit. x If it turns out that lack of financial strength is working against women especially those in politics, the media should spare a thought for women by starting reportorial schedules that list the reporting of women in diverse fields. The logic of media commercialism which shapes market structure, emphasizes profit-making and restricts diversity in a capitalist-driven economy is problematic, especially from the perspective of democracy. Advertising pressure and income from contents have greatly influenced the magnitude and direction of reportage, which weigh against poor folks who cannot gain access to the media. In such a scenario, a functional media policy or government intervention to address the problem would not be out of place.

Notes 1

This is one of the four theories propounded by the authors. Others are authoritarian, soviet communist and libertarian media. 2 This phrase hailed from the New Testament of the Holy Bible (The King James Version). Men seem to use this expression more often than women. 3 This can be on account of revenue generated by the publishers from the distribution of contents and regular advertisements which these wealthy customers give. 4 Figures are not readily available to prove the falling readership figures. 5 It is basically a characteristic of a capitalist economy. 6 Lagos is one of the 36 political subdivisions of Nigeria. The state, which controls nearly 50 percent of the country’s economy, is concentrated in the southwestern part of the country. 7 The moderator tried to limit the paraphrases to 20 words but the discussants agreed that was difficult to achieve. They agreed to paraphrase “as best we can”, as two of them chorused.

Media Content Consumption and Influence on Women’s Political Visibility

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8

That is, average measures or Cronbach Alpha. 0.5 percentage point is standard in many social science research works. The Cronbach Alpha represents the inter-coder reliability. 10 Kuder-Richardson 20 Coefficient. 11 In McNelly’s words: … (a) mass communication media must be available; (b) they must contain content relevant to modernization; (c) they must have the attention of mass audiences; and (d) the content must have effects on the knowledge or attitudes of audiences, predisposing them to accept modern ideas, methods or products. See John T. McNelly. “Mass Communication and the Climate for Modernization in Latin America,” Journal of Inter-American Studies 8, no. 2 (1996): 346. 12 AIT is a privately owned television network in Nigeria. 13 The New York Times reported these findings in 1989. It is available on www.nytimes.com/1989/04/11/arts/study-reports-sex-bias-in-newsorganizations.html (accessed August 20, 2012). 9

References Abu-Lughod, Ibrahim. “The Mass Media and Egyptian Village Life.” Social forces 42, no.1 (1963): 97-104. Adebanwi, Adewale N. The Nation as Grand Narrative: The Nigerian Press and the Politics of Meaning. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, (May 2002). Alao, Dayo. Principles of News Reporting and Writers Language. Lagos: Polar Consult International, 2003. Basow, Susan A. Gender Stereotypes and Roles (3rd edn.) Pacific Grove, CA: Brooks/Cole, 1992. Blumler, Jay G., and Gurevitch, Michael. “Rethinking the Study of Political Communication.” In Mass Media and Society (3rd edn.) edited by James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, 194-215. London: Arnold Publishers, 2000. Bogart, Leo. Press and Public: Who Reads What, When, Where and Why in American Newspapers. New Jersey: Erlbaum, 1989. Carroll, Archie B. Business and Society: Ethics and Stakeholder management (3rd edn). Cincinnati: South-Western College Publishing, 1996. Fleiss, Joseph L. Statistical Methods for Rates and Proportions (2nd edn). New York: John Wiley, 1981. Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962. Frohardt, Mark and Temin, Jon. “Use and Abuse in Vulnerable Societies.” http://www.usip.org/pubs/special reports, 2008/sr110.html (accessed July, 10, 2008).

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Griffin Dale and Gonzalez, Richard. “Correlational Analysis of DyadLevel Data in the Exchangeable Case.” Psychological Bulletin 118 (1995): 430-439. Grunig, James E. “Communication and the Economic Decision-making Processes of Colombian Peasants.” Economic Development and Cultural Change 19 no. 4 (1971): 580-597. Janowitz, Morris. “Mass media: institutional trends and their consequences.” In Reader in Public Opinion and Mass Communication, edited by Janowitz, M. and Hirsh, P.M. 303-322. New York: Free Press, 1981. Kaler, John. “Differentiating Stakeholder Theories.” Journal of Business Ethics 46, no.1 (2003): 71-83. Lerner, Daniel and Schramm, Wilbur. Communication and Change in the Developing Countries. Honolulu: East-West Centre Press, 1967. McLeod, Jack; Rush, Ramona and Friedrich, K. “The Mass Media and Political Legitimation in Quito, Ecuador.” Public Opinion Quarterly 32, no.4 (1968): 575-587. McNelly, John T. “Mass Communication and the Climate for Modernization in Latin America.” Journal of Inter-American Studies 8, no.3 (1966): 345-357. McQuail, Denis. Mass Communication Theory (2nd edn). London: Sage, 1987. Morgan, David L. and Krueger Richard A. When to Use Focus Groups and Why. In Successful Focus Groups edited by D. L. Morgan, 123186. London: Sage, 1993. Neeru Gupta, Katende Charles and Bessinger Ruth. “Associations of Mass Media Exposure with Family Planning Attitudes and Practices in Uganda.” Studies in Family Planning 3, no.1 (2003): 19-31. Norpoth, Helmut and Baker, Kendall. “Mass Media Use and Electoral Choice in West Germany.” Comparative Politics 13, no.1 (1980): 114. Oduko, Olusegun A. Television Drama in a Developing Society: The Case of Nigeria. Ph.D Thesis, University of Leicester, England, 1985. Rogers, Everett. M. “Mass Media Exposure and Modernization Among Colombian peasants.” Public Opinion Quarterly 29, no.4 (1965): 614625. Salawu, Abiodun. “Development communication in Yoruba newspapers.” In Communication for development purposes, edited by E.O. Soola, 172-184. Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2002. Schramm, Wilbur. Mass media and national development, Stanford (California): Stanford University Press, 1964.

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Shields, Todd G., Goidel Robert K. and Tadlock Barry. “The Net Impact of Media Exposure on Individual Voting Decisions in United States Senate and House elections.” Legislative Studies Quarterly 20, no. 3 (1995): 415-430. Shrout, Patrick E., and Fleiss Joseph L. “Interclass Correlations: Uses in Assessing Rater Reliability.” Psychological Bulletin no. 86 (1979): 420-428. Siebert, Friedrich S., Peterson Theodore and Schramm Wilbur. Four Theories of the Press. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press, 1956. Soola, Ebenezer O. “Development Journalism for Print and Electronic Media Journalists in Nigeria.” In Communicating for Development Purposes, edited by E.O. Soola, 115-125. Ibadan: Kraft Books, 2002. Wattenberg, Martin. “From Parties to Candidate: Examining the Role of the Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly 46, no. 2 (1982): 216-227.

CHAPTER TWO TELEVISION INFLUENCE AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION OF NIGERIA’S UNSEEN MINORITIES STELLA A. ARIRIGUZOH

Abstract Civic vitality is a crucial aspect of a healthy democracy. From the mundane monitoring of electioneering campaigns to voting and contesting during elections, citizens get involved to register their presence as an obligation. In the emerging democracy of Nigeria, political participation has a significant consequence, shaped substantially by television broadcasts. This study investigated the involvement of the residents of Ado-Odo/Ota, a semi-urban local government area of Ogun State, in the 2007 presidential election. Positive and statistically significant relationships were found between citizens’ exposure to broadcasts and active political participation, as news and other stories encouraged them to seek more information about political parties and election candidates. However, it turned out that the influence of television on participation was affected by several inadequacies, including illiteracy. Keywords: Ado-Odo/Ota, minorities, Nigeria, political participation, television.

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Chapter Two

Introduction Political participation is the bedrock of democracy. It includes involvement in, and contributions to, such exercises as running for an election, voting, campaigning, party membership, election funding and so forth as participants attempt to influence the political processes through the acceptable forms of persuasion. Active political participants register to vote, actually vote and vigorously talk to others to take the same steps. Democracy, as a system of government, gives citizens the right of mass participation. The mass media1 are strategic stakeholders in any democratic election as reflected in the news they transmit about political parties and their manifestoes, contestants and the general electoral processes, which assist voters in making informed choices. Television in particular has proved to be immensely popular in enhancing political education and participation. The government, non-governmental organizations, political parties, contestants and voters all recognize that television broadcasts2 can be powerful tools of electioneering campaigns. What television chooses to show or not to show about the candidates or the electoral processes affects citizens’ participation and may help determine election results. Although many countries have taken steps to improve the chances of women and those described as minorities3 in politics, a large number of citizens seem to be lethargic about contributing meaningfully to election processes. This paper investigated if television broadcasts encouraged the illiterate, non-skilled, non-party members who were residents in the semiurban areas in the Ado-Odo/Ota local government area of Ogun State, to take part in the 2007 presidential election.4

Statement of the Problem and Hypothesis Television has glamourised elections by reporting the thrills and frills. With its power of sound and pictures, it has brought into millions of citizens’ homes the events happening in and outside the country. Television images give the viewers the opportunity to have first-hand impressions of contestants. Citizens need the knowledge, as packaged by the media, to actively engage in the election process (McLeod et al, 2002). Unimpressively, however, many citizens still do not participate in politics. Some feel that their votes do not count. Others would rather watch the electoral processes from the sidelines. This paper investigated the conjecture that exposure to television broadcasts could compel the

TV Influence and Political Participation of Nigeria’s Unseen Minorities

31

illiterate, low skilled, non-party members to participate in a general election.

Literature Review Democracy Democratisation, according to Nwabueze (1993) involves political parties, change of guards at the installation of a new government and genuine popular participation in politics and government. Modern representative democracy has some positive traits, e.g. accountability in government, political competition, popular representation, majority decision, right of dissent or disobedience, political equality, popular consultation and a free press (Roskin et al, 2006). The institutional features of democracy include the provision of equal or universal suffrage, the balancing of majority rule with the protection of the minority, the rule of law, freedom of expression and freedom of dissent (Bobbio, 1987). This explains why, according to Aristotle (1958), a democratic state aims at being as fair as it can be and endeavours to be a society composed of equals and peers. A democratic society offers regular opportunities for individuals to determine who will rule by voting. The major reason for the selection of leaders through rule-based elections is to create political and social stability. The people accept any winner that emerges from the process as they see themselves as contributors to the selection process (Omotoso, 2002). A democratic government must of necessity embrace popular participation in politics. There must be periodic elections to fill the vacant positions, independent political opposition that the incumbents are not permitted to suppress and opportunities for significant upward or downward mobility (Oyero, 2008). The core of democracy has been regular competitive elections for the following reasons: as a means of holding politicians accountable, expressing discontent, pointing to the route that citizens want policies to take, placing issues on the public agenda, occasioning public debates and choosing delegates or trustees (Powell, 2000). Powell further describes elections as instruments of democracy. Elections are fundamental to democracy because they allow citizens to take the decisions of selecting who the officeholders will be (Bianco, 2001).

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Voting The vote is the foundation of political equality and the avenue through which ordinary members in a political system attempt to influence others. Voting in an election is the most important political decision that resolves the issue of who rules (Berman and Murphy, 1996). According to Ethrigde and Handelman (2008), the act of voting occupies a central place in political behaviour, adding that elections are a direct and generally accepted approach in a democracy. They stress that by selecting one candidate or party over another, citizens express their freedom of choice regarding who should govern and which government’s policies should be adopted or changed. The right to choose not to vote is also essential to a successful democracy (Piven and Cloward, 1988; Wolfinger and Rosenstone, 1980). Some people do not vote because they are satisfied with the ways things are and see no particular reason to become politically involved. Others say that their votes do not count or the voting process is difficult or the parties are not differentiated from one another (Berman and Murphy, 1996) ideologically. Additional reasons include lack of interest in both politics and in the elections, lack of time, voters travelling at the time of the elections and hindering medical problems (Ross, 1996). Those who have no stake in public business do not consider it necessary to participate in political activities (Schattschneider, 1960).

Political Participation Political participation means taking part in activities associated with governance. It makes the citizens responsible for choosing their representatives and goes a long way in empowering the people (Eveland, 1993). These are activities by private citizens that are more or less directly aimed at influencing the selection of governmental personnel and the actions they take (Verba and Nie, 1972). It is a voluntary activity or a concern with doing politics, rather than being attentive to politics (Verba et al, 1995). According to them, participation is influenced by three factors: motivation, capacity and recruitment networks. Social norms and availability of online technology also influence participation (GarciaCastanon et al, 2011; Shulman et al, 2012). Verba and Nie, (1972) have identified seven classes of political participants, namely, the unclassifieds, inactives, voting specialists, parochials, communalists, campaigners and complete activists. The unclassifieds are unknown. The inactives lack political vigour. The voting

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specialists only vote and do not get involved in other political activities. The parochials communicate with public officials in order to take care of their individual problems. The communalists work in volunteer groups, interact with party officials on a variety of issues but avoid campaign work. The campaigners attend to political campaigns and vote. The complete activists are fully involved in all aspects of political life. All these are repackaged into four broad categories: the apathetics, the spectators, the transitionals and the gladiators (Milbrath, 1982). The apathetics neither vote nor get involved in politics. The spectators may wear party buttons, put stickers on their cars and try persuading others to vote in a pre-arranged way. The transitionals appear at political meetings, make donations and contact public leaders. The gladiators run and assume public offices, solicit funds for their parties, attend caucus meetings and are active during political campaigns. Milbrath adds that the apathetics and the spectators are political inactives while the transitionals and gladiators are actives. He concludes that most citizens are inactives. As observed by Berman and Murphy, (1996) voting is central to participation. They remark that if all citizens easily register to vote and then actually vote, then the candidates they vote for will be representative of the population. They add that democratic involvement through voting and other acts of participation usually result in political stability because the citizens show greater level of contentment in the political system. Some scholars have found that citizens are increasingly reducing their civic and political participation. Such reductions are manifested in various forms such as lower voter turnout (Putnam, 2000), increased distrust of political parties and governmental institutions (Inglehart, 1997) and political cynicism (Cappella and Jamieson, 1997). It is important that citizens participate politically. Participation enhances their democratic citizenship (Putnam, 2000). Those who participate determine public policy outcomes (Hill and Leighley, 1992; DeLuca, 1995).

Theoretical Framework The media agenda-setting theory of McCombs and Shaw (1972) establishes that the mass media could influence their audiences. They analyzed the contents of newspapers, magazines and television newscasts that 100 undecided Chapel Hill voters were exposed to during the 1968 Presidential election in the United States. They found that the media agenda influenced the public agenda. The media agenda were the issues regarded as important on account of their prominence, length and position.

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The public agenda were the things that the public thought, discussed or worried about. Voters’ judgment of what they considered the major issues of the presidential campaign were greatly influenced by the salience of media reports. McCombs and Shaw call this influence agenda setting and conclude that the mass media set the agenda for each political campaign by influencing citizens’ attitudes toward political issues. They later define agenda setting as the impact the mass media have in shaping the cognitive changes in individuals. Thus, the stories that the media emphasize in their reporting are also seen as important by voters reading them (McCombs and Shaw, 1974). Strong relationships have been established between the media and public priorities (Rogers, 1996; Ghanem, 1996; Newbold, 1995; Weaver et al, 1981). The media agenda have strong influence on top decision makers too (Rogers and Dearing, 2010). However, the media’s political agenda setting impact is limited except for some uncommon and non-routine crises (Walker, 1977; Wood and Peake, 1998). The media do not only tell people what to do, but they can also influence what they think or hold opinion about by what they chose to report. The media transfer the salience of items on their news agenda to the public agenda by assigning specific attributes to the objects, issues, events or persons of interest. If the media assign some qualities to someone, the media content consumers assign same to that person (McCombs, 2002). Cohen (1963) points out in the following popular statement that: the media may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about. And it follows from this that the world looks different to different people, depending not only on their personal interests, but also on the map that is drawn for them by the writers, editors and publishers of the papers that they read.

The four elements involved in agenda setting are the frequency of reporting, its prominence, degree of conflict the reports generate and the cumulative specific effects over time (Folarin, 2002). Some authors think that the mass media do not reflect social realities because news items are chosen and shaped by the newsroom staff; that people get their news from limited sources and the few news items chosen by these professional gatekeepers tip people to think of them as important. Thus, what the people get to know are what the mass media present to them (Anaeto et al, 2008). This means that:

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In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position... The mass media may well determine the important issues - that is, the media may set the agenda (McCombs and Shaw, 1972).

The agenda-setting power of journalists during elections is in their discretion to include or exclude information for publication about political actors (Butler, 1998; Van Praag and Brants, 1999). The media gatekeepers do not only select which messages to publish, but also actively construct such to emphasize certain aspects (Kosicki, 1993). The press can even colour the events by the way they are presented (McLuhan, 1968). The agenda-setting theory hinges on the premise that if the same people are exposed to the same media, they will place the same importance on the same issues (Barker and Kibler, 1971). In other words, if people are not exposed to the same media covering the same things, they will not see the same issues as important. For the media to have any strong impact on politics, different media outlets must concentrate on the same issues (Eilders, 2000). The media agenda-setting process works because of the credibility assigned to the media, reliance on the news media for information and exposure to media messages (Wanta and Hu, 1994). People who trust the media and know a lot about politics suffer the strongest effect from agenda setting because high media credibility leads to high media reliance and exposure (Miller and Krosnick, 2000).

Method The survey method was adopted in this study since a large human population was under observation. A sample of 3,635 respondents was randomly drawn from the 187, 391 registered voters in Ado-Odo/Ota local government representing 5 percent of the population. Only 3,064 returned their copies of the questionnaire. This large sample was stratified as illiterate (268), non-skilled (561), non-political party members (1,727) and residents in the rural areas of Ado-Odo/Ota (698). The sub-sampling was carried out to test if access to television broadcasts enhanced or hindered their political participation in this particular election. The questionnaire was close-ended. The questions follow a Likert-like pattern to elicit responses from the respondents on their pre-election political participation. The questions sought to find out if their exposure to television broadcasts stimulated their interest in knowing more about the

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political parties and contestants; increase their level of political participation; make them join political parties and campaign teams, and get others to join too. They were to indicate if they strongly disagreed, disagreed, did not know, agreed or strongly agreed, with the questions. The resulting numerical data were organized and analyzed statistically. The Pearson bivariate two-tailed correlation tests measured the precise linear association between the independent variable, i.e., respondents’ exposure to television and the dependent variable or their consequent political participation.

Results The following data are responses to the questionnaire items. They are tabulated to create room for meaningful interpretation. The analysis begins with the description of voters’ location as shown in Table 2-1. Table 2-1: Description of voters’ location Location Rural Urban Suburban n = 3,064

% 22.8 60.1 17.1 100.0

The description of the location of the respondents falls into three categories: rural, urban or suburban. Table 2-1 shows that most of the respondents are urban-based. More than half of the respondents live or are located in the urbanized areas of Ado-Odo/Ota. They are distantly followed by those living in the rural and suburban areas. As Table 2-2 shows, most of the respondents are literate with the bulk of them having post-secondary school diplomas, certificates and degrees. A few have basic education that terminated at the primary school level. The rest have no formal education and, therefore, are illiterates.

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Table 2- 2: Description of voters’ literacy level Literacy Level Illiterates Primary Secondary Diploma/Certificate in Education Degree n = 3064 100.0

% 8.8 16.8 23.4 26.8 24.2

Table 2-3: Description of voters’ skill level Skill level High Skilled Low Skilled n = 3064

% 81.7 18.3 100.0

Table 2-3 describes the skill. About four out of five respondents are engaged in jobs that demand one form of skill or the other. The rest are involved in low-skilled employment. In other words, their jobs do not demand high proficiency, expertise or competencies gained through training. Table 2-4: Description of voters’ party membership Party membership Yes No n = 3064

% 43.6 56.4 100

Table 2-4 shows that most of the respondents are not registered party members. They do not have membership in any of the political parties that registered for the general elections of 2007.

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Table 2-5: Responses on the influence of television broadcasts on respondents’ participation in the presidential election Variable Interest to find out more about contestants Interest to find out more about political parties Increasing level of political involvement Voluntarily joining political campaign teams Voluntarily joining political parties Voluntarily getting others to join political parties Raising topics for discussion Total = 100.0

SA 28.7

A 36.8

SD 13.6

D 16.8

DK 4.1

26.6

37.6

15.5

16.5

3.8

21.1

30.0

19.6

24.4

5.3

13.6

19.5

32.6

5.4

15.7

17.6

30.3

30.6

5.8

14.6

21.0

29.9

29.0

5.5

27.8 33.7 N = 3,064

17.0

17.3

4.2

28.9

Key: (Strongly Agree = SA, Agree=A, Strongly Disagree = SD, Disagree = D, Don’t Know = DK) in percentages

As figures in Table 2-5 show, most of the respondents were strongly encouraged through television broadcasts to find out more about the presidential contestants running for the presidential election and the political parties fielding them. More than half of the total number of respondents claimed that what they watched on television made them increase their level of involvement in political activities as a build up to the election. Did what respondents watch on television make them join political campaign teams voluntarily? Six in ten persons disagreed. Television broadcasts did not create the desire in most of the respondents to willingly join political campaign teams or political parties. This is in contradistinction to its role in stimulating the interests of the voters. The broadcasts also did not inspire most of these respondents into getting other persons to join these same parties. However, television broadcasts slightly encouraged more than a third of the total respondents to get others to join political parties. Possibly, these are the party stalwarts bent on getting other people to be more politically active during the election. More than six out of every ten respondents affirmed that what they watched on television helped to raise issues for discussion between them, their family members and friends. Table 2-5 also shows that television

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broadcasts generated topics for discussion for most of the respondents and those that were close to them. This lends credence to Cohen’s (1963) argument that although the media may not tell us what to think, they are stunningly successful in telling us what to think about. This is also in conformity with the insight of agenda-setting scholars (McCombs, 2002; McCombs and Shaw, 1974) that the media, in this case television, do set the agenda of salient issues to be discussed.

Analysis of Responses The responses of illiterates, those who engaged in no or low skilled jobs, those who had no party affiliations and those who lived in the rural areas in Ado-Odo/Ota - were analyzed with the objective of gaining insight into the characteristics of the respondents’ exposure to television broadcasts. The broadcasts encouraged their political participation during the Nigerian 2007 presidential election. The descriptive statistics in the tables below indicate the mean, standard deviation, skewness and Kurtosis values of the variables of interest. The mean is the intermediate value between the highest and lowest variables. The standard deviation measures the amount by which a set of values shift from the mean. The skewness indicates the lack of uniformity in the frequency distribution. The values might skew to the left or right. The Kurtosis is the measure of the magnitude of the frequency distribution concentration around the mean. Responses are categorized from 1 to 5; 1 and 2 are seen as strong and mild agreement with the opinion that television broadcasts did boost respondents’ political participation. Responses 4 and 5 are seen as mild disagreement and strong disagreement with the opinion that television broadcasts did actually encourage political participation. Those respondents who neither agreed nor disagreed are scaled 3. Table 2-6 shows that all the mean values are more than 2. This means that the respondents agreed that television broadcasts possibly stimulated them to overtly participate in the 2007 election. The respondents tacitly confirmed that television broadcasts stirred up their interests enough to voluntarily join political parties (A5, mean 2.7799), get other people to join the political parties (A6, mean 2.7910) and join the political campaign teams (A4, mean 2.8433). Television broadcasts stimulated their interests enough to increase their level of political participation in the election (A3, mean 2.6716), find out more about the contestants running for this election (A2, mean 2.5299) and the political parties that fielded them (A1, mean 2.4701). In addition, television broadcasts also raised the topics that the respondents discussed with members of their families, friends and those

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that are important to them (A7, mean 2.6231). These illiterate respondents could understand electoral programmes, commercials, jingles and other similar messages transmitted in their local dialects. Television is a sight and sound channel. All that these respondents had to do was to listen and watch. Table 2-6: Literacy level of respondents Skewness Variable A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7

Mean Statistic ( ) 2.4701 2.5299 2.6716 2.8433 2.7799 2.7910 2.6231

Standard Deviation (ı) 1.17840 1.26130 1.24988 1.16345 1.33241 1.16165 1.24962

Statistic .376 .378 .179 -.050 .037 .054 .187

Standard Error (SE) .149 .149 .149 .149 .149 .149 .149

Kurtosis Statistic Standard Error (SE) -.789 .297 -.967 .297 -1.028 .297 -.924 .297 -1.200 .297 -.872 .297 -1.111 .297 n = 268

Key: A1= Television stimulating interest to find out more about the political parties A2 = Television stimulating interest to find out more about the contestants A3 = Television stimulating interest to increase their level of involvement A4= Television stimulating interest to voluntarily join political campaign teams A5= Television stimulating interest to join political parties A6= Television stimulating interest to get others to join political parties A7 = Raising topics for discussion.

The values (B4, 3.1194), (B5, 3.0196) and (B6, 3.0196) in Table 2-7 are above 3 but less than 4. These show that the respondents who engaged in no - or low-skilled jobs did not know if their exposure to television broadcasts enhanced their political participation or not. Thus, they were ignorant of the fact that their watching telecasts on the election stimulated their interests to voluntarily join political campaign teams, join political parties and get others to join these same parties. The other values (B1, mean 2.3672); (B2, mean 2.2638); and (B7, mean 2.3012) are closer to 2. This suggests that the respondents with no- or low-skill demanding jobs agreed that their watching television broadcasts on the election made them political participants in the presidential election by stimulating their interests to find out more about the rival political parties and their candidates. What they apparently found out and later saw on television

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raised fresh topics for discussion between them, their families and friends. Finally, their watching developments on the election on television (B3, mean 2.6649) inspired them enough to increase their level of political participation. Table 2-7: Descriptive statistics of no/low skilled respondents Variable

B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7

Mean Statistic ( ) 2.3672 2.2638 2.6649 3.1194 3.0196 3.0196 2.3012

Standard Deviation (ı) 1.16063 1.16416 1.20638 1.07487 1.11226 1.09119 1.18328

Skewness Statistic .503 .667 .084 -.499 -.492 -.436 .529

Standard Error (SE) .103 .103 .103 .103 .103 .103 .103

Kurtosis Statistic -.800 -.643 -1.206 -.554 -.694 -.732 -.889

Standard Error(SE) .206 .206 .206 .206 .206 .206 .206 n= 561

Key: B1= Television stimulating interest to find out more about the political parties B2 = Television stimulating interest to find out more about the contestants B3 = Television stimulating interest to increase their level of involvement B4= Television stimulating interest to voluntarily join political campaign teams B5= Television stimulating interest to join political parties B6= Television stimulating interest to get others to join political parties B7 = Raising topics for discussion

In Table 2-8, three out of the seven variables (C4, mean 3.1824), (C5, mean 3.1598) and (C6, mean 3.1112) cluster around 3, thereby suggesting that respondents who were not registered party members did not know if their exposure to television broadcasts made them participate more or not in that election. Hence, they could not say if their exposure to television encouraged them to voluntarily join political campaign teams, join political parties or even get others to join political parties. This was not surprising since they were not party members and logically lacked the zeal to evangelize others into membership of their political parties or their political campaign teams. However, the variables (C1, mean 2.4007), (C2, mean 2.3596) and (C7, 2.3868) tell us that the political participation of the respondents who were not party members were enhanced by their exposure to television broadcasts on the election. Hence, television broadcasts stimulated their interest to find out more about the political parties and

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their contesting candidates. These same broadcasts also raised topics that they discussed with their relations and friends. Lastly (C3, mean 2.8054) television broadcasts encouraged their political participation. Table 2- 8: Descriptive statistics of non-party member respondents

Variable

C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7

Mean Statisti c ( ) 2.4007 2.3596 2.8054 3.1824 3.1598 3.1112 2.3868

Standard Skewness Kurtosis Deviation (ı) Statistic Standard Statistic Standard Error Error (SE) (SE) 1.17000 .533 .059 -.749 .118 1.19474 .580 .059 -.749 .118 1.20894 -.009 .059 -1.131 .118 1.03349 -.553 .059 -.280 .118 1.05137 -.544 .059 -.263 .118 1.05048 -.400 .059 -.442 .118 1.16725 .516 .059 -.728 .118 n= 172

Key: C1= Television stimulating interest to find out more about the political parties C2 =Television stimulating interest to find out more about the contestants C3 =Television stimulating interest to increase their level of involvement C4= Television stimulating interest to voluntarily join political campaign teams C5= Television stimulating interest to join political parties C6= Television stimulating interest to get others to join political parties C7 = Raising topics for discussion.

Has location any influence on the political participation of the respondents? The mean values as presented in Table 2-9 indicate that the respondents in the rural areas seem to agree that their locations influenced their political participation. Thus, (D1, mean 2.3553) and (D2, mean 2.4140) show that television broadcasts stimulated the respondents’ interests to find out more about the political parties and their various presidential contestants. What respondents saw on television on the elections generated topics for discussion between them, their family members and friends (D7, mean 2.4756). (D3, mean 2.5430), (D4, mean 2.8123) and (D5, mean 2.7937).

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Table 2-9: Descriptive statistics of the responses of respondents based on location Variable

D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7

Mean Statistic ( ) 2.3553 2.4140 2.5430 2.8123 2.7937 2.7521 2.4756

Standard Skewness Deviation Statistic Standard (ı) Error(SE) 1.14882 1.19019 1.19252 1.12517 1.17010 1.15146 1.18823

.437 .417 .308 -.135 -.062 -.094 .308

.093 .093 .093 .093 .093 .093 .093

Kurtosis Statistic Standard Error(SE) -.934 .185 -1.002 .185 -1.021 .185 -.980 .185 -1.051 .185 -1.079 .185 -1.053 .185 n = 698

Key: D1= Television stimulating interest to find out more about the political parties D2 = Television stimulating interest to find out more about the contestants D3 = Television stimulating interest to increase their level of involvement D4= Television stimulating interest to voluntarily join political campaign teams D5= Television stimulating interest to join political parties D6= Television stimulating interest to get others to join political parties D7 = Television stimulating interest to raise topics for discussion

Possibly, these discussions buttressed the need for them to increase their political participation. Hence, their watching telecasts not only raised topics for discussion between them, their family members and their friends, but also heaved up their levels of involvement in political participation by making them to voluntarily join political party campaign teams and political parties.

Relationship between Exposure to Television and Political Participation Pearson bivariate, correlation tests measured respondents’ exposure to television and their political participation. After running the tests, all the values were significant** at the 0.01 level (2-tailed), significance level = .000.

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Table 2-10: Correlation coefficients between exposures to television broadcast and rural respondents Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1 2 1 .616** 1 .417** .400** .387** .462** .325** .255** .445** .406** .489** .435**

3

4

5

1 .335** .469** .321** .299**

1 .458** .578** .341**

1 .449** .387**

6

7

1 .389** 1 n=698

Key: 1= Television stimulating interest to find out more about the political parties 2 =Television stimulating interest to find out more about the contestants 3 =Television stimulating interest to increase their level of involvement 4= Television stimulating interest to voluntarily join political campaign teams 5= Television stimulating interest to join political parties 6= Television stimulating interest to get others to join political parties 7 = Raising topics for discussion

According to Table 2-10, there are significant and positive relationships between what the voters in the rural areas watched on television and their political participation in the Nigerian presidential election of 2007. Television broadcasts stimulated their interest enough to find out more about the presidential election contestants and the political parties. The correlation values of .616 and .578 tell us so. Even though the respondents lived in rural communities, this did not hinder them from seeking more information about the political parties and the contestants. The correlation values for other variables are low, fluctuating between .255 and .489 to show weak relationships involving the voters’ location and their participation in the election. Their countryside locations did not encourage them to effectively participate in the election. Some of them might not even have seen the need to subject themselves to the rigours of voting, especially against a widespread belief that their votes may neither be counted nor make any impressive change in the result of the election. Some of them thought that the electoral exercise was not transparent and could be easily hijacked by moneybags.

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Table 2-11: Correlation variables based on literacy level Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1

2

3

4

5

1 .459** .451** .267** .245** .272** .312**

1 .465** .470** .261** .352** .286**

1 .562** .354** .275** .268**

1 .388** .477** .266**

1 .425** .377**

6

7

1 1 .402** n = 268

The education level of a voter may affect his or her level of participation. Education affects political participation (Henderson and Chatfield, 2011; Mayer, 2011) even though some other scholars do not think so (Kam and Palmer, 2008). The voters studied here had no formal education and, therefore, were illiterates. As Table 2-11 shows, education and literacy matter in political schemes. The test shows a positive and significant correlation. What respondents watched on television made them join political campaign teams and increase their levels of political involvement before the presidential election (r = 0.562). It is possible that these illiterates were enticed to join campaign teams because of the shortterm employment, free food and drinks, gifts and money that they were offered by the political parties and the contestants or their local representatives. Correlation values for the other variables range from .245 to.477 displaying weak relationships between respondents’ literacy level and their subsequent political participation. Although the illiterate voters were exposed to television broadcasts, yet their political participation in the presidential election was low. There are significant and positive relationships between exposure to television broadcasts on the election and the political participation of the respondents engaged in no or low skilled jobs. The respondents studied were not engaged in high skill-demanding jobs owing to their illiteracy. According to Table 2-12, what they saw on television motivated them to find out more about the presidential election contestants and their political parties (r =.585); voluntarily get other people to join political parties and political campaign teams(r =.561); and voluntarily join political parties themselves, (r =.576).

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Table 2-12: Correlation coefficients between exposures to television broadcast and respondents’ job skill level Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1

2

3

1 .585** .444** .255** .225** .265** .339**

1 .474** .237** .219** .290** .404**

1 .364** .308** .348** .286**

4

5

6

1 .476** 1 .561** .576** .170** .301**

7

1 .280** 1 n = 561

If these respondents were engaged in high skill demanding jobs, they might not have the desire to join political campaign teams or parties or even to try to persuade other people to follow their examples because their jobs would engage more of their attention. However, the other variables are low, implying that their low skill affected their level of political participation. Table 2-13: Correlation coefficients between exposure to television broadcast and respondents’ non-party membership Variables 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1

2

3

4

5

1 .546** .400** .213** .219** .220** .284**

1 .397** .261** .163** .208** .307**

1 .313** .272** .273** .250**

1 .553** .513** .162**

1 .534** .229**

6

7

1 .183** 1 n = 1727

Following the established trend, all the correlation coefficients are positive and significant. These respondents were not registered members of any of the political parties. However, their non-partisanship did not hinder their political participation, even though the correlation coefficients are not too high as shown in Table 2-13. What these non-party members saw on television motivated their interests to find out more about the political parties and the, contestants (.546); join political parties and their campaign teams (.553); persuade others to join the political campaign

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teams too (.513); and finally lure others to join political parties (.534). Television broadcasts did raise topics for discussion between these nonpartisans and their friends or family members.

Major Findings All the variables tested for political participation were positive and statistically significant, implying that what the voters in the rural areas watched on television about the election influenced their political participation in the Nigerian presidential election of 2007. Television broadcasts enhanced and increased the participation of those voters who were domiciled on the fringes of modern societies. Unimpressively, however, most of these indices are low and below average, indicating that their level of political participation was low. Importantly, the respondents wanted to know more about the presidential election contestants and the political parties to improve their cognition. This may not be surprising as 51 political parties and 25 presidential contestants were registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to run in this election. For the voters who had no formal education, this may be confusing. Hence, they sought to improve their knowledge about the people running for the exalted office. They tuned to television broadcasts to reduce their ignorance. They also had interpersonal discussions on what they saw on television on the election with members of their families, their friends, peers and relations. These discussions created a commonality in decision on whether to further participate in politics or not. It is assumed that those who engaged in more meaningful interpersonal discussions on political issues participated in more political activities when compared to those who did not. The television broadcasts were sufficiently motivating to make the respondents take specific actions such as joining political parties and voluntarily becoming part of political campaign teams. They also took steps to make others toe the same line. This is in line with the finding of Verba et al (1995) that the social environment contributes in promoting participation by recruiting those not ordinarily interested in politics. Residents who were not in campaign teams were recruited through their social networks. These personal contacts appeared more effective in drawing the minority voters into participation since the mega-parties did not give them much attention. However, political strategists and media planners should not be carried away by these facts. Rural communities are not as influenced by television broadcasts as the urban areas because the rural residents are

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more closely knit and communalistic than their urban counterparts. The low correlation indices confirm the weak relationships between the voters’ rural locations and their effective participation in the election. Thus, strategists must use different methods to attract voters with perceived differences to participate more. The poor literacy level of the respondents did not hinder these respondents from political participation. Television is a visual medium and pictures at times talk louder than words. The respondents could see the pictures of the contestants and the emblems of their parties on their television screens. Some television broadcasts are also presented in Yoruba language and Pidgin English. These two are the most popular languages used in communicating in Ado-Odo/Ota communities and effectively combined to reduce the deficiencies in not being formally schooled.

Conclusion Television broadcasts aided the participation of residents of Ado-Odo/Ota in the politics of the 2007 Nigerian presidential election. Despite being limited by such factors as lack of specific job skills, illiteracy, being residents of the backsides of the society by reason of living in the rural areas and not even being party members, yet these voters from AdoOdo/Ota participated visibly in the Nigerian presidential election of 2007. The level of visibility could have been higher but for these deficiencies.

Notes 1

The mass media traditionally include the print and broadcast media. Today, the Internet has been added. However, this paper focuses attention on television. 2 Television broadcasts include news, commentaries, spots, commercials and whatever story that contains information about the presidential election. 3 Minorities are relatively sizeable numbers of people with distinguishable characteristics living within a larger group. In this paper, they are citizens who may be hindered from political participation because of illiteracy, lack of skilled jobs, non-partisanship and rural residencies. The illiterates have no basic formal education. The non-skilled voters are those engaged in non professional jobs or engaged in jobs that do not need appreciable formal training and skills in their performance. They are not graduates of higher institutions of learning. Non-party members are not registered with or affiliated to any of the political parties. Voters who are residents in the rural areas are surrounded by nature’s landscapes. They are communalistic in behaviour. The rural areas used in this study are Iju Ibiye,

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Obere, Osuke, Idanyi, Ajerogun,Odugbe, Egun Tedo, Edu, Ipatira, Imose, Odan Abuja and Igbo Odo. 4 The 2007 Nigerian presidential election held on April 21, 2007.

References Anaeto, Solomon., Onabajo, Olufemi and Osifeso, James. Models and Theories of Communication. Bowie, Maryland: African Renaissance Books Inc, 2008. Aristotle. Politics [translated by Ernest Baker]. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1958. Barker, Larry Lee, and Kibler, Robert J. “Communication hypothesis.” In Speech Communication Behaviour, edited by Larry Lee Barker and Robert Kibler, 193-205. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, NJ: Prentice/Hall, 1971. Berman, Larry and Murphy, Bruce Allen. Approaching Democracy. New Jersey, NJ: Prentice/Hall, 1996. Bianco, William T. American Politics: Strategy and Choices. New York, NY/London: W.W. Norton & Company Inc, 2001. Bobbio, Norberto. Which Socialism? Minneapolis: University of Minneapolis, 1987. Butler, Barbara-Ann. “Information Subsidies, Journalism Routines and the Australian Media: Market Liberalization versus Market Place of Ideas.” Prometheus 16, no.1(1998): 27-45. Cappella, Joseph N. and Jamieson, Kathleen H. Spiral of Cynicism: The Press and the Public Good. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997. Cohen, Bernard Cecil. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton, New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963. Dearing, James W., and Rogers, Everett. Communication Concepts 6: Agenda-Setting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1996. DeLuca, Tom. The Two Faces of Political Apathy. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1995. Eilders, Christiane. “Media as Political Actors? Issue Focusing and Selective Emphasis in the German Quality Press.” German Politics 9, no. 3 (2000):181 - 206. Ethridge, Marcus A., and Handelman, Howard. Politics in a Changing World: A Comparative Introduction to Political Science. Belmont CA: Thomas Wadsworth, 2008. Folarin, Babatunde. Theories of Mass Communication: An Introductory Text. 2nd. ed., Abeokuta: Link Publication, 2002.

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Garcia-Castanon, Marcela., Rank, Alison D., and Barreto, Matt A. “Plugged in or Tuned Out? Youth, Race, and Internet Usage in the 2008 Election.” Journal of Political Marketing 10 (2011): 115-138. Ghanem, Salma. Media Coverage of Crime and Public Opinion: An Exploration of the Second Level of Agenda Setting. Austin: University of Texas at Austin, 1996. Henderson, John and Chatfield, Sara. “Who Matches? Propensity Scores and Bias in the Causal Effects of Education on Participation.” Journal of Politics 73, no. 3 (2011): 646-658. Hill, Kim Quaile and Leighley, Jan. “The Policy Consequences of Class Bias in State Electorates.” American Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 351-365. Inglehart, Ronald. Modernization and Post-Modernization: Cultural, Economic, and Political Change in 43 Countries. Princeton, New Jersey, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1997. Kam, Cindy D., and Palmer, Carl L. “Reconsidering the Effects of Education on Political Participation.” Journal of Politics 70, no. 3(2008): 612 - 631. Kosicki, Gerard. “Problems and Opportunities in Agenda-Setting Research.” Journal of Communication 43, no. 2 (1993): 100 - 127. Mayer, Alexander K. “Does Education Increase Participation.” Journal of Politics 73, no. 3 (2011): 633 - 645. McCombs, Maxwell. “News Influence on our Pictures of the World.” In Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, (2nd edn.), edited by J. Bryant and D. Zillman, 1-18. Hillsdale, New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002. McCombs, Maxwell and Shaw, Donald. “A Progress Report on Agenda Setting Research,” Paper Presented to the Association for Education in Journalism Theory and Methodology Division, San Diego, CA, April 18-27, 1974. McCombs, Maxwell and Shaw, Donald. “The Agenda Setting Function of Mass Media.” Public Opinion Quarterly no.36 (1972): 176-187. McLeod, Douglas M., Kosicki, Gerald M., and McLeod, Jack M. “Resurveying the Boundaries of Political Communication Effects.” In Media Effects: Advances in Theory and Research, edited by J. Bryant and D. Zillman, 215-268. Hillsdale, New Jersey, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002. McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding the Media: The Extensions of Man. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Book Co, 1968. Milbrath, Lester W. Political Participation. Lanham, M.D: University Press of America, 1982.

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Miller, Joanne., and Krosnick, Jon A. “News Media Impact on the Ingredients of Presidential Evaluations: Politically Knowledgeable Citizens are Guided by a Trusted Source.” American Journal of Political Science no. 44 (2000): 301-315. Newbold, Chris. “The Media Effect Tradition.” In Approaches to Media: A Reader, edited by O. Boyd-Barrett and C. Newbold, 118-123. London: Arnold Publishers, 1995. Nwabueze, Ben O. Democratization. Ibadan: Spectrum Books, 1993. Omotoso, Femi. “Electoral Politics Under the Abacha Regime.” In Political Democratization and Economic De-regulation in Nigeria Under the Abacha Administration (1993-1998), edited by D. Kolawole, and O. Mimiko. Ado-Ekiti: University of Ado-Ekiti Press, 2002. Oyero, Olusola Samuel. “Expansion of the Public Sphere in Nigerian Democracy: The Imperative of Media Pluralism”. In Mass Media in Nigerian Democracy, edited by F. Omu and G. Oboh, 33-45. Ibadan: Stirling-Horden Publishers, 2008. Piven, Francis Fox and Cloward, Richard A. Why Americans Don’t Vote. New York, NY: Pantheon, 1988. Powell, G. Bingham. Elections as Instruments of Democracy: Majoritarian and Proportional Visions. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. Putnam, Robert D. Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster, 2000. Rogers, Everett N., and Dearing, James W. “Agenda Setting Research: Where Has it Been, Where is it Going?” In Communication Yearbook 11, edited by J.A. Anderson, 555-594. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 2010. Roskin, Michael G. Political Science: An Introduction. 9th ed, New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Educational International/Prentice Hall, 2003. Ross, Roberts S. American National Government: Institutions, Policy and Participation. 4th ed., New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 1996. Schattschneider, Elmer E. The Semi-Sovereign People. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1960. Shulman, Hillary C., and Levine, Timothy R. “Exploring Social Norms as a Group-Level Phenomenon: Do Political Participation Norms Exist and Influence Political Participation on College Campuses?” Journal of Communication 62 (2012): 532-552. Van Praag, Philip and Brants, Kees. “The 1998 Campaign: An Interaction Approach’. Acta Politica 34 (1999): 179-199.

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Verba, Sidney and Nie, Normal H. Participation in America: Political Democracy and Social Equality. New York, NY: Harper & Row, 1972. Verba, Sidney., Schlozman, Kay Lehman and Brady, Henry E. Voice and Equality: Civic Volunteerism in American Politics. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995. Walker, Jack. “Setting the Agenda in the US Senate: A Theory of Problem Selection.” British Journal of Political Science 7 (1977): 423 - 445. Wanta, Wayne and Hu, Yu-Wei. “The Effects of Credibility, Reliance, and Exposure on Media Agenda-Setting: A Path Analysis Model.” Journalism Quarterly 71(1994): 90–98. Weaver, David., Graber A. Doris., McCombs E. Maxwell., and Chain H. Eyal. Media Agenda Setting in a Presidential Election: Issues, Images and Interest. New York, NY: Praeger, 1981. Woll, Peter and Binstock, Robert H. America’s Political System: A Text with Cases. 5th ed., New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Inc,1991. Wood, Dan and Peake, Jeffrey. “The Dynamics of Foreign Policy Agenda Setting.” American Political Science Review 92 no.1 (1998): 173-183.

CHAPTER THREE EXPLORING THE INDIFFERENCE OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN NIGERIA’S POLITICS VICTORIA AJALA

Abstract This paper traces women’s political participation in Nigeria from 2003 and advises that the country’s womenfolk should avoid a reoccurrence of their dismal outing during elections and be strategic about the future. The situation of widows and the physically challenged persons is worse because of the lack of financial resources, stigmatization, discrimination and absence of social support scheme, which undermine their vivacity in the electioneering system. Using a 23-item questionnaire completed by the female members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)1 deployed to Osun, one of Nigeria’s 36 states, findings show that 79 percent of respondents would not think of contesting for an election in 2015 and beyond. The paper concludes that this lacklustre attitude can be addressed through education and enlightenment programmes, increased media socialization, persuasive communication and elimination of violence at campaign rallies. Keywords: minorities, media, Nigeria, political participation, women.

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Introduction Nigeria returned to democratic rule in 1999. Since that year, several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) including Women in Nigeria (WIN), Women Consortium in Nigeria (WCN), Help-Line Foundation (HLF; for widows), More Women Movement (MWM), Gender and Affirmative Action (GAA) and 100 Women Group Platforms (100 WGP) have advocated more visible role for women in the nation’s political process. Strangely enough, situations have proved worse going by the results of the 2003, 2007 and 2011 elections. The history of women’s political participation, from the data made available by the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, reveals under-representation in governance in Nigeria since 1999.2 Only 2 percent of women were in government in 1999; 4 percent in 2003 and 6 percent in 2007. Before the 2011 election, organizations and individuals, including the wife of the Acting President of Nigeria,3 went all out to campaign for more women’s presence in elective positions but results from that election indicated even worse women’s participation. For example, in Osun State, the Independent National Electoral Commission (2011) records showed that no women won a seat in the three senatorial districts; no women won any of the 26 seats of that State’s House of Assembly and only one out of nine seats of the House of Representatives was won by a woman. At the end of the 2011 general elections in Nigeria, there were only seven female Senators out of 109 and 12 women out of the 360 House of Representatives members (Ricketts et al, 2011). This abysmal performance of women in politics, despite the spirited campaigns mounted for them before the elections by the NGOs, has been a source of concern. Women organizations have intensified pressure on the President of the nation to make good his promise to attain 35 percent of appointments for women in his cabinet. They also urged NGOs to re-strategize and plan ahead of 2015 elections.4 Many Nigerians agree that the greatest manifestation of women’s marginalization is in politics. In this respect, a respected Nigerian newspaper observes that despite… constitutional declaration of the equal status of both sexes in most countries of the world, gender discrimination remains fully entrenched in the power configuration of the society, with consequences of limiting women’s participation in the political process.5

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Minorities such as widows and physically challenged persons in various forms are now being assisted to agitate for their rights, hoping to be involved in politics as it obtains in many developed countries. In 2010, a Senator presented the case of minorities on the floor of the Senate, asking for legislation that guarantees the access of the physicallychallenged citizens to public buildings. This could be seen as a right step towards advancing their cause. Ajala et al (2011) and Adebimpe (2011) provide a number of factors promoting gender inequality in politics. These include cultural orientation and patriarchy, sex stereotyping, limited accessibility to wealth and financial resources, corruption, lack of political education, barefaced prejudice, morbid fear of personal safety during electioneering and perceived media apathy toward women. Furthermore, Adebimpe (2011) contends that women are marginalized by male political leaders, labeling them cultural deviants who would only waste their winning chances. Only very few rich women get nominated and usually as deputies. With the number of widows increasing as a result of violent crimes, armed robberies, organized political assassinations and deaths on the roads, there is more stigmatisation, discrimination, inability to access financial resources and other social support, thereby making political participation unattractive to minorities. Ironically, the reputation of Nigerian politicians generally has been dented over the glaring cases of corruption. Politicians’ outright disregard for quality service provision portrays them in bad light. Public opinion about politicians is far from being friendly. While commenting on the rush for elective posts, Okoye (2012) stresses that Nigerians seek political power not to serve their country and bring development to it, but for selfaggrandizement and to amass wealth. He adds that: Today’s (Nigerian) politicians engage in playing politics not of service but for personal well-being. Great and profound thoughts do not emanate from them. Their obsession is how to divert our collective financial resources into their private bank accounts.

This image dent could be a reason why women, widows and the physically-challenged persons who are aware of their limitations stay away from partisan politics. This is the critical issue examined in this article.

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Research Questions 1. Does the Nigerian university education system prepare women for active politics? 2. Why do women/minorities not want to contest for elective positions in Nigeria? 3. What are the perceptions and concerns of Nigerian women about political participation? 4. To what extent have cultural orientation, stereotyping, poverty and corruption militated against Nigerian women’s interest in contesting elective positions?

Theoretical Framework Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Psychologist Abraham Maslow, in his 1943 article titled “A Theory of Human Motivation”, introduced a model of hierarchy of needs which he presented as a pyramid. At the base are the most basic needs of food, water, etc. According to him, people move up the pyramid for more complex needs such as security, safety, etc. once the basic needs have been met. According to Newsom et al (2010), the principles of homeostasis and deprivation go along with the hierarchy of needs. Homeostasis principle posits that people frequently make an effort to maintain their own status quo. The deprivation principle is such that if people are deprived of a physiological goal, they will continue to ask for it. When deprivation involves social goals, however, it often retains its effectiveness as a motivation only up to a point. Beyond that point, it loses intensity and people may abandon a goal; they may resign themselves to a certain social class or status. These facts are relevant to whether or not women, widows and minorities show interest in politics. When a great barrier is placed between people and the fulfillment of their goals, a redirection may occur.

The Innovation-Diffusion Theory and Media Role Diffusion is the term given the process by which new ideas are spread to members of a social system. Getting new ideas accepted involves more than simply discovering an innovation and publicizing it. Cutlip et al (1985) explain that the acceptance of a new idea goes through five stages: awareness, interest, evaluation, trials and adoption.

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According to Anaeto et al (2008), the innovation-diffusion theory, propounded by Ryan and Gross in 1943 and remodeled by Rogers in 1960, becomes relevant in the attempt to explain why the Nigerian women are reluctant to engage in partisan politics. The five categories of adopters innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards – differ according to the rate of adoption. Cutlip et al (1985), in their presentation, describe the stages in the adoption process and stress that media or agencies have varying impact at each stage of the process as shown in Figure 3-1. Figure 3-1: Media role in the adoption process Awareness Learns about a new idea or practice

Interest Gets more information about it

Evaluation Tries it out mentally

Trial Uses or tries a little

Mass media Radio, TV Newspaper, friends and neighbours

Mass media, friends and neighbours

Friends and neighbours, mass media

Friends and neighbours, mass media

Adoption Accepts it for full-scale and continued use

Personal experience most important factor in continued use

Source: Adapted from Cutlip et al (1985), Stages of Adoption of New Ideas and Practices, Effective Public Relations (6th edn). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc. p. 271.

Cutlip et al also show that while the mass media have their greatest impact and usefulness in creating awareness and developing interest, they become less influential as the acceptance process advances toward adoption. This study believes that the Nigerian mass media have a greater duty at this period, now more than ever, to create the awareness to enable women and minorities engage in partisan politics as part of their political life.

Literature Review Gender Identity, Sex Roles and Sex Role Socialization Where exactly is the origin of gender identity and discrimination? Coon (1986) explains gender identity as one’s personal, private sense of maleness or femaleness and sex roles as observable traits, mannerisms, interests, and behaviours which define the person as “male” or “female”.

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Coon affirms that gender identity is acquired immediately after birth with such labeling as; “It’s a boy” or “It’s a girl”. Cultures have a big role to play in this gender stereotyping. According to Coon (1986): Sex role refers to the pattern of behaviour encouraged and expected of individuals on the basis of gender. In our (American) culture boys are usually encouraged to be strong, fast, aggressive, dominant, and achieving. Females have typically been expected to be sensitive, intuitive, passive, emotional and “naturally” interested in household tasks and childbearing.

Arguing that sex discrimination is man’s creation, Coon also confirms that infant girls are held more gently and treated more tenderly than infant boys are. Parents play more roughly with their sons than with their daughters who are considered more delicate: Daughters are told that they are pretty and that “nice girls don’t fight”. Boys are told to be strong and that “boys don’t cry”. Sons are more often urged to control emotions than are daughters, and parents tolerate aggression toward other children more in boys than in girls. The toys purchased for boys and girls are strongly sex-typed; dolls for girls, trucks and guns for boys. By the time children reach kindergarten, they have learned to think that doctors, fire fighters, and pilots are men, and that nurses, secretaries and hairdressers are women.

Coon summarizes that sex role socialization in his native American society prepares children for an adult world in which men are expected to be instrumental, conquering, controlling and unemotional, and in which women are expected to be expressive, emotional, passive and dependent. Coon’s description of “boys” and “girls”, “men” and “women” seems to be universal because it appears that many cultures find traditional sex roles comfortable and desirable. Thus, sex role socialization prepares us to be highly competent in some respects and handicapped in others.

Are Women “Naturally” Handicapped to Participate in Politics? According to Papalia and Olds (1987), women define themselves less in terms of their achievements and more in terms of relationship with people around them, and that women judge themselves on their responsibilities and ability to care for others as well as themselves. Does this not indicate that women are selfless, responsible, caring and would be more successful as politicians? This is a question for another day.

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Does Television Advertising Aggravate Gender Inequality? Ajilore and Oyelade (2009) claim that the campaign for the visibility of women and gender equality reached its heights with the Beijing Conference held in 1995. The authors monitored ten television stations and reported that the improper depiction of women in advertisements was detrimental to the society because it created and perpetuated misconceptions or stereotypes. Nigerian feminists have corroborated this and accused the media and advertisers of caustically undermining the philosophical base of their crusade. The authors also discovered that women have been portrayed preponderantly in home settings where they are traditionally perceived as more competent especially in the areas of culinary skills and domestic chores. They urged the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) to review and firm up its regulatory code to better protect women in line with the recommendations of the Beijing conference.

Education of Women in Nigeria Data obtained from the Academic Planning Unit of Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria, showed that young women, more than ever before, are seeking higher education especially in the south-western part of the country. The trend also manifests itself even in the number of National Youth Service Corps members deployed to Osun State of Nigeria in 2011/2012 service year. There were 588 female (53.7 percent) and 507 (46.3 percent) male corps members, the highest ever for the state. However, it seems that the curricula in colleges at the university have no strategic value in them for women. Using the National Universities Commission’s recommendations, an examination of the Political Science programme showed the following courses: Political Analysis; Nigerian Government and Politics; Political Ideas, Local Government in Nigeria; Comparative Politics; Political Behaviour; Politics of Development and Underdevelopment; Politics and Law in Africa; and Federalism and InterGovernmental Relations. These courses may not sufficiently prepare young women for any meaningful political participation.

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Table 3-1: Data of male/female Bowen University’s registered students in 2010/2011 Faculty

100 Level M F 40 54

200 Level M F 26 39

300 Level M F 23 32

400 Level M F 22 28

500 Level M F 16 38

Agriculture Science & Science 241 242 208 202 189 168 19 165 ---- ---Education Social & Management 224 347 249 350 215 384 273 448 ---- ---Sciences College of Health Sciences 15 29 14 23 11 17 ---- ------- ---Total 520 672 497 614 43 601 489 641 16 38 Grand total female students = 2,566 (56.7%) • Grand total male students = 1,958(43.3%). Source: Academic Planning Unit, Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria. June 27, 2012.

Women in Development Female politicians are very few among influential women in Nigeria. Nine of the 53 Nigeria’s most powerful women listed by The Guardian (Lagos, Nigeria) are either former or currently-serving federal ministers, while only five are senators or members of the House of Representatives. Nigeria’s first lady (wife of the President) is included in the list as a politician.6 All these represent 26.4 percent of Nigeria’s most powerful women. The rest are in the industries. Another interesting find by The Guardian from a detailed list of 14 Nigeria’s most powerful women is that majority of them are highly educated and have been significantly influenced by their fathers or husbands. None of them is reported as self made.

Poverty Level in Nigeria According to Osarenren (2012), while poverty is more endemic in the North West and the North East zones of Nigeria, there is hardly any part of the country without a pervasive effect of lack and want among the citizens. The popular view among Europeans and Americans is that one Nigerian lives on two dollars a day or less even though there is no convincingly documented statistics to support this assertion. In a country where about 50 percent of the population does not enjoy the basic necessities such as

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electricity and drinkable water and where life expectancy is 48.4 years, it has been acknowledged on several occasions that poverty in Nigeria is self-inflicted from corruption, greed and poor governance at all levels. Akhaine (2012) reports a warning from the opposition leader and chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) recently that unless the nation’s leaders, from the president to council officials, governed the nation with the public interest as the hallmark of governance, and self-interest secondary, the insecurity, poverty and decay in the economy would continue to prevail in Nigeria. Stressing the effect of poverty and corruption on governance, Akhaine further reports the CNPP leader as saying that in Nigeria there is no code of conduct that moderates political behaviour. This is why the country has a legislature that has not grown to a comparable standard with international practices. The high cost of governance which the nation faces currently is one of the consequences of corruption. It is also about wastage. The moment Nigeria can deal with the level of corruption in government, the better for the nation, the opposition leader added.

Organized Help to Reduce Poverty among Unemployed Persons Olayinka (2012) stresses that the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) plans to provide unemployment benefits for graduates of tertiary institutions while they seek full-time employment. Olayinka reports the Executive Director of the Fund as saying that: the provision of the stipends would enable the unemployed graduate fund his or her efforts at finding jobs …As soon as corps members finish their National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), they don’t have means of livelihood and this is a worry to us at the NSITF. To this end we are planning to establish a job seekers’ allowance package as part of the social security scheme. This will be linked with the individuals that are willing. Anybody that is seeking employment needs to move around from one office to the other, needs to access his electronic mails periodically to see if there is a correspondence that invites him for job interview, he also needs to surf the Internet from time to time among other needs. So we think that if there is something in place for them for a period of time, it will increase their chances of getting employment on time.

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Helping the Minorities The NSITF also plans to extend soft loans to the disabled individuals, especially those who are willing to engage in productive ventures. Olayinka (2012) further reports: We find on the streets physically challenged persons that are out to make a living for themselves and not begging for alms. But because they are physically challenged, the financial institutions will not even take them serious in terms of providing them with the necessary credit to start off businesses. So, the NSITF will be focusing on these kinds of people who are, though physically challenged, are not limited by their handicap.

The Scourge of Widowhood in Nigeria In Nigeria, women can be exposed to extreme vulnerabilities when their husbands pass away. According to Daka (2012), far too many widows are shut out of inheritance, land, livelihood, social safety net, health care or education. Nigeria is producing widows and widowers at a fast pace today considering the increased acts of terrorism, armed robbery, political assassination, unpaid pension benefit, ill-maintained health status of men and women and collapsed social structure. During the activities marking the 2012 International Widows Day, the Help-Line Foundation (based in Abuja, Nigeria) called on governments at all levels to initiate policies that would address the problem of widowhood in the country. The organization remarked that most youths were uncontrollable as a result of single parent up-bringing, adding that the continuing plight of widows globally has been identified as a threat to the realisation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which seek to end poverty, promote gender equality and engender global partnership.

Corruption among Nigerian Politicians Describing corruption in political circles, Osundare (2012) laments that corruption kills by blighting our blossom, frustrating new shoots while stunting the growth of the old stem. Corruption, according to him, has become an integral part that the nation cannot do without. Osundare comments further: ..Like a virulent weed, it (corruption) does not just smother the good crop; it shoves aside its carcass and usurps its place. Thereafter it starts

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reproducing itself in multiple folds, carving our entire terrain in its own image, developing new shells and shields against the old virtuous order, and taking on a false original aspect. Its operation lackeys are degradation and decay; its ultimate harbor is death.

The general belief in many parts of Nigerian today is that people can achieve success through corrupt practices. Therefore, it is not unusual to hear accusations of people circumventing rules and regulations. Regrettably, some of the people who engage in these detestable activities are celebrated while several men and women of integrity and probity are hardly distinguished.

Method of Study This study explores the reasons why Nigerian women and minorities do not want to participate in politics (especially in the area of contesting for elective positions). The survey design was considered the most appropriate. Respondents were selected from among the NYSC members in Osun State. The NYSC scheme was introduced in Nigeria in 1973, shortly after the devastating civil war.7 The one-year NYSC scheme, which has a touch of military training, was set up as a tool for national integration. Each year, qualified graduates are called up to serve in all the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, in order to be fully integrated into cultures different from their states of origin. The NYSC members are described in the following manner: 1.

they are prospective job seekers when they are discharged after one year; 2. they may, during the service year, be ‘dreaming’ of contesting for elections as an option because there are very limited employment prospects owing to the downturn in the economy; 3. they are regarded as the pool of Nigeria’s enlightened human resources from where the nation’s leaders will emerge for all sectors; 4. they are assembled from all over the country and as representatives of the young people of Nigeria, may be attracted to politics in their respective local areas, mainly because they are educated and are expected to “pay back” to their communities.

Based on the foregoing which fit the study requirements, the 588 female and 507 male NYSC members serving in Osun State for the year 2011/2012 constituted the population. Since the study was about women

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and minorities, a sample size of 100 (representing 17 percent of 588 female NYSC members serving in Osun State) was considered adequate. A 23-item questionnaire generated from the findings of Ajala et al (2011) was designed specifically for the study. The questionnaire was administered on a day that all NYSC members congregated for their weekly briefing and it was possible to have a 94 percent response. The following are the analyses of data generated.

Findings and Discussion NYSC Members’ Intention to Contest during General Elections in 2015 Only 21.2 percent of respondents indicated the intention to contest during the next general elections in Nigeria. Their particulars are listed on Table 3-2. Table 3-2: Respondents’ intention to contest in the 2015 elections and beyond S/N

State of Age Group (yrs) Course of Study Origin 1. Osun 26-30 Applied Chemistry 2. Abia 20-25 Philosophy 3. Osun 20-25 Marketing 4. Oyo 26-30 Electrical/Electrical 5. Osun 20-25 Civil Engineering 6. Ondo 20-25 Bus.Admin./Marketing 7. Ogun 20-25 Marketing 8. Anambra 20-25 Library& Info. Science 9. Lagos 20-25 Business/Admin. 10. Abia 20-25 Microbiology 11. Osun 26-30 Biochemistry 12. Anambra 26-30 Social Studies/Education 13 Edo 20-25 Political Science 14. Edo 20-25 Political Science 15 Delta 20-25 Computer Science 16. Enugu 20-25 Industrial Chemistry 17. Enugu 26-30 Banking and Finance 18 Imo 26-30 Philosophy 19 Kogi 26-30 Accounting 20 Enugu 20-25 Geography Key: H/A = House of Assembly, H/R = House of Representatives.

Position of Interest H/A H/R Senate H/R H/A H/A H/A H/R H/R H/A H/A H/A H/A H/A H/R Senate H/R H/R H/R Senate

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Research Question 1: Does the Nigerian University Education System Prepare Women for Political Participation? Findings show that the Nigerian university education system hardly prepares women for political participation. While 50 percent of respondents who indicated interest in contesting in the 2015 elections studied social and management sciences, only 10 percent studied Political Science. Respondents admitted that their university education did not prepare them for political participation. Even as more girls now seek university education, results show that 78 percent would not want to contest for elections for various reasons discussed earlier. Interestingly 45 percent of respondents who indicated interest in politics would contest for a position in the House of Assembly, 40 percent for House of Representatives and 15 percent for Senate. Perhaps, respondents did not know that much higher education would be required to perform optimally in such elective positions. It has often been said by successful women that a woman must work twice as hard as a man to prove her mettle. This statement may not be out of place.

NYSC Members who would not Contest for any Elective Position in 2015 and Beyond When asked whether or not respondents would contest for elective positions in 2015, 78.7 percent responded they would not contest. Table 33 presents the breakdown of responses. Table 3- 3: Respondents who would not contest in the 2015 elections and beyond No. of Respondents Options Provided for Respondents Who Gave the Reason 1. My parents will not allow me 3 2. I am too young for Nigerian politics 8 3. Contesting is not for poor women 7 4. My higher education did not prepare me 18 for political participation in that regard 5. I don’t think I can cope with 31 electioneering, campaigns, lobbying and all the competition that comes with it 6. Contesting? It is the last thing on my mind 33 right now

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Research Question 2: Why Do Women/Minorities not want to Contest for Elective Positions in Nigeria? About 31 percent of respondents provided multiple reasons (from two to four), 65 percent gave only one, while 4 percent supplied none. The three most important reasons why respondents would not want to contest for elective positions in Nigeria were: 1. “It is the last thing on my mind right now”; 2. “I don’t think I can cope with electioneering, campaigns, lobbying and all the competition that comes with it”; 3. “My higher education did not prepare me for political participation in that regard”. Three other statements freely provided were: “Just don’t care about the dirty game”; “No interest”, and “Not part of my plan”. On whether age is a factor for their indifference, the study finds that 39 percent of respondents fell within 20-25 years age group; 47 percent fell within 26-30 years while only 3 percent were older than 30 years. It appears that the respondents were rather too young given the 35 years benchmark set by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Table 3-4: Opinions of respondents who would or would not contest in the 2015 elections and beyond Statements Politics is not for women Culture hinders women’s participation in politics Women politicians are not respected by society Female politicians are not respected by their male counterparts Women’s access to wealth is limited to enable participation in politics Some women get into politics to solve their problem of poverty

Would Contest In 2015 and beyond (%) A I D 15.78 10.52 73.68 15.78 21.05 63.15

Wouldn’t Contest In 2015 and beyond (%) A I A 9.45 17.56 72.97 20.27 17.56 62.16

31.57

0

68.42

21.62

14.86

63.51

26.31

21.05

52.63

43.24

13.51

43.24

31.57

26.31

42.10

29.72

18.91

51.35

31.57

15.78

52.63

27.02

21.62

56.75

Exploring the Indifference of Women and Minorities in Nigeria’s Politics A woman must have a male godfather to get into politics in Nigeria A woman whose father is a politician can get into politics in Nigeria Men will not support spouses to go into politics Women are not educationally prepared to participate in politics Even women do not vote for women political candidates Women aren’t politically matured enough for politics No matter how educated she is, a sight-impaired person can’t be voted for There is no room for a physically handicapped person in politics A woman on a wheel-chair is prevented from being voted for in Nigeria.

67

36.84

26.31

36.84

39.18

31.08

29.72

42.10

21.05

36.84

60.81

12.16

27.02

52.63

26.31

21.05

41.89

33.78

24.32

21.05

26.31

52.63

10.81

18.91

70.27

31.57

0

68.15

35.13

22.97

41.89

10.52

15.78

73.68

14.86

20.27

64.86

26.31

26.31

47.36

37.83

33.78

28.37

52.63

10.52

36.84

52.70

24.32

22.97

57.89

15.78

26.31

51.35

21.62

27.02

Key: A=Agree, I=Indifferent, D=Disagree

Research Question 3: What are the Perceptions and Concerns of the Nigerian Women about Political Participation? To be able to discuss the perceptions and concerns of women about political participation, the researcher set a benchmark of at least 50 percent score as high for all statements agreed and disagreed upon. Generally the scores under “indifferent” were lower than 50 percent. Statements on which respondents who would or who would not contest in 2015 agreed were: 1. There is no room for a physically handicapped person in politics in Nigeria. 2. A woman on a wheelchair is prevented from being voted for in Nigeria. Statements on which respondents would or would not contest in 2015 disagreed were:

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1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Nigerian politics is not for women. Nigerian culture does not expect a woman to participate in politics. Women politicians are not respected by the society. Some women get into politics to solve their problem of poverty. Women are not educationally prepared to participate in politics. Women are not politically mature enough to get into politics in Nigeria.

Research Question 4: To what Extent have Cultural Orientation, Stereotyping, Poverty and Corruption militated against Nigerian Women’s Interest in Elective Positions? Obviously, the foregoing listed factors have affected Nigerian women’s interest in political participation. Given the below-average reputation score of today’s politicians, the citizens’ current opinion about corruption as shown under literature review is that minorities do not have a chance in politics. Going by the responses of young women currently on NYSC in Osun State as enumerated earlier, it will take a determined female mind to scale the high hurdles of Nigerian politics.

Conclusion The study finds that majority of the respondents (78.7 percent) will not contest for any elective post in the Nigerian general election of 2015 or beyond 2015. The morbid fear is the cause of women’s indifference which was traced to their inability to cope with the rigours of electioneering campaigns and the stiff-neck competition that goes with attempts to win votes. This finding is a great concern to Nigeria because many women’s societies and political parties are already strategizing for more female representation without being cognizance of the issues involved. Again, this finding should raise serious concern for Nigerian politicians who are getting increasingly aggressive at winning elections for their well-being rather than their contribution to national development. The violence displayed at political rallies in previous elections by political thugs suggests that more of such would erupt in 2015 and after. This does not augur well for women’s participation. Women seem to have waited enough to downplay cultural influences on their decision to participate in politics. Since cynicism and sentiments have not helped women’s case, they ought to face the reality that elections are won through the articulation of ideas to the electorate, especially now that votes are beginning to count. Aspiring women should work hard. Any

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woman in any high position should work two or three times as hard as her male counterpart in a comparable position, especially in politics. Increased female participation in politics will help put to the test the general belief that women politicians are better able to fight the cause of women. At the level of government, efforts at curbing corruption and crimes, reduction of poverty and abuse of human rights would give hope to women who have genuine passion to serve through political participation.

Recommendations Political Education Findings of this study suggest that the education of Nigerian women should be able to prepare them for future challenges. Political enlightenment at the tertiary education level should help women discover themselves, nurture their innate abilities and give expression to their talents. Nigeria’s education system has glamourised riches, making the possession of wealth the ultimate in any human pursuit. This has instigated young people to desperately desire to get rich as quickly as possible and it wouldn’t make any difference whether it is done through a genuine means or not. The way politics is played in the country – inclination to personal gratification as against service to the people - complicates what young people see from the society as they easily imbibe this negativity. Nigerians need a rebirth of an enduring and positive value system.

Media Role in Socializing the Population In addition to the traditional print and broadcast outlets, social media should also be utilized to educate young women and minorities in terms of their political attitudes, values and behaviours. More prominence should be accorded women in the media. The media should be used in creating awareness and developing interest in women’s political participation. This recommendation is in line with that of Ajala et al (2011) who have observed that Nigeria’s newspapers under-represent women’s political interests. Presently, the media have been lukewarm in reporting women/minorities’ political involvement at pre-election periods.

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Use of Persuasive Communication8 by Women’s Leaders and Female Politicians The study finds that persuasive communication is inevitable if young women must develop interest in politics. The likes of the 79 percent of respondents who were not interested in contesting during the next elections is primarily the target of this persuasion strategy. The credibility, charisma, expertise and power of women leaders, who can be called upon to lead this strategy, will go a long way in influencing young women to get involved in politics. Persuasive communication will be more effective if the young women view its source as a model or someone they can easily associate with. Non-governmental organizations interested in improving the lives of the minorities should communicate more with them on a regular basis. Government’s social support for widows as they struggle to meet their physiological and safety needs is recommended. This can trigger in them a self-actualization process and support their quest for political participation.

Eliminating Violence in Party Politics and Campaign Rallies Since the majority of the respondents would not participate in politics owing to violent electioneering campaigns and the aggression displayed at political rallies, conscious efforts should be made by politicians to play politics without violence. Erring politicians should be sanctioned. Finally, for researchers, a study of Nigeria’s female politicians in and out of government is recommended. This is because women politicians are practitioners with varied experiences as ministers, senators, representatives, commissioners and party leaders, their marginalization notwithstanding. Research can focus on their political skills and how they can impart young women with these skills.

Notes 1

NYSC is a Federal Government of Nigeria programme that enlists all graduates of the country’s tertiary institutions to serve for one year. 2 Women’s representation in governance since 1999. The Guardian, April 23, 2011, pp. 32-33. 3 Patience Goodluck Jonathan. 4 Olumide, Seye, Women lament losses in April polls as the worst ever. The Guardian, June 10, 2011, p. 9. 5 See page 115.

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6 Women in development (Nigeria’s Most Powerful Women). The Guardian, April 15, 2012, pp. 29, 31, 32, 34, 36, 37. 7 National Youth Service Corps Decree 1973 (1974), p. 16. 8 Bettinghaus, Edwin P., and Cody, Michael. Persuasive communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. (1987) p. 87-102.

References Adebimpe, Peter. “Towards Increased Women Participation in Politics: Breaking the Barriers through the Media.” ACCE 2011 Conference Proceedings on Media, Terrorism and Political Communication in a Multicultural Environment, Covenant University, Ota (Nigeria). September 21-23, 2011. Ajala, Victoria., Adekoya , Helen and Osidele, Olamide. “Nigerian Women’s Political Participation: Is it Derisory Media Coverage or Self-imposed Cynicism?” ACCE 2011Conference Proceedings on Media, Terrorism and Political Communication in a Multicultural Environment, Covenant University, Ota (Nigeria). September 21-23, 2011. Akhaine, Sylvester. “Why Insecurity, Poverty Worsen.” The Guardian, July 12, 2012, p.51. Ajilore, Kolade and Oyelade, Odunola. The Portrayal of Women in the Contemporary Nigerian Television Advertising. Babcock Journal of Mass Communication 2, (2009): 89-101. Anaeto, Solomon., Onabajo, Olufemi and Osifeso, James. Models and theories of communication. Maryland: African Renaissance Books Incorporated, 2009. Bettinghaus, Erwin and Cody, Michael. Persuasive Communication. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1987. Coon, Dennis. Introduction to Psychology: Exploration and Application, St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1986. Cutlip, Scott., Center, Allen., and Broom, Glen. Effective Public Relations. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc., 1985. Daka, Terhemba. “Foundation Tasks Government on Widowhood.” The Guardian, June 26, 2012, p. 43. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) (2011). Osun State Election Results. Osogbo: INEC Office. Newsom, D., Turk, J., and Kruckeberg, D. This is PR: The Realities of Public Relations. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. Okoye, Chiedu. “Nigerians Need Moral Regeneration”. The Guardian, July 9, 2012, p.80. Olayinka, Collins. “NSITF Plans Benefits for Unemployed Graduates.” The Guardian, June 26, 2012, p.43.

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Olumide, S. “Women Lament Losses in April Polls as the Worst Ever.” The Guardian. June 10, 2011, p. 9. Osarenren, V. “A Nation’s Portrait of Poverty.” The Guardian, July 8, 2011, p. 51. Osundare, N. “Corruption as Grand Commander of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (2). The Guardian, July 22, 2012, pp. 59-60. Papalia, Diane and Olds, Sally. A Child’s World. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1987. Ricketts, Olusola and Apata, Bukola. Women Groups Chart Path to Political Growth. The Guardian, July 29, 2011, p. 6. Women in Development. “Nigeria’s Most Powerful Women.” The Guardian, April 15, 2012, pp. 29-37.

CHAPTER FOUR MEDIA ACCESS AS BARRIER TO WOMEN’S POLITICAL EMERGENCE IN NIGERIA IBITAYO POPOOLA

Abstract This paper contends that poor media access hinders the realization of women’s political aspirations in Nigeria. It analyzes the first phase of the country’s Fourth Republic which started in 1999 and finds that in spite of the fact that women constitute 49.96 percent of the population, their political involvement is about 2 percent. It explores the specific policies that obstruct women’s access and finds, among other things, that the Nigerian media significantly abets discriminatory advertisement rates for electioneering communications to men’s advantage. It submits that the apathetic attitude toward politics is a hurdle that must be scaled by women if they are to make any appreciable impression on the political scene. Keywords: empowerment, marginalization, media access, Nigeria, political participation, patriarchy.

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Introduction A major hurdle facing the Nigerian woman in Nigeria is how to open up the political space for her meaningful participation. The erroneous notion from the pre-independence days that the place of women is in the kitchen has robbed them of their political dignity. According to (Ikpe 1997), they were accorded neither say nor representation in the colonial system. Nkoyo (1999) blames the colonialists who visualized the Nigerian women in terms of the Victorian image of what a woman should be, instead of observing women’s actual functions in the Nigerian society. For this reason, Ityavyar (2001) describes colonialism as the midwife of the political marginalization of women in Nigeria. The situation is such that more than 52 years after independence in 1960, the picture has not changed significantly. In the first phase of Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, which began in 1999, representation at the federal, state and local government levels was unimpressive. Of the 109 Senators, only three were women. In the 360-member House of Representatives, 12 were women. In the 36 states Houses of Assembly, there were 15 women out of a total 978 legislators. In the country’s 774 local councils, three women were elected heads. More disturbing is that the mass media which traditionally should provide access for women have been found to pursue discriminatory policies that are not in the interest of the female folks. The perceived media letdown needs to be investigated.

Study Intent and Method This paper advocates the removal of all obstacles that obstruct the meaningful participation of Nigerian women in the political process. It adopts the case study technique to explain the criticalness of women’s political inconsequentiality, in the context of the empirical inquiry that uses multiple sources of evidence (Wimmer and Dominick, 2006). This method provides the platform to examine a wide spectrum of documents and historical artifacts which are relevant to the study.

Research Questions x Does accessibility to the media play any role in the political participation of women in Nigeria? x What specific policies of the media obstruct meaningful participation of women in the political process in Nigeria?

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x What steps or measures are necessary to enhance women’s participation in the political process in Nigeria?

Literature Review A consistent trend in the Nigerian politics, right from the colonial days, has been that of marginalization of women on the political scene. This, according to Popoola (2006) has not only denied the women the opportunity of contributing their quota to the development of the nation, but also equally robbed the men of meaningful competition that is necessary for national development. Quoting Bucknor-Akerele, a former Deputy Governor of Lagos State of Nigeria, Aluko and Ajani (2006) assert that women do not have equal access to political opportunities as men do: The electorate discriminates against women, believing and behaving as if women are trespassers in politics while the men in politics are regarded as being on their own turf. Worse still, the men resist our presence. They want to see us confined to the home front. They see politics as a terrain reserved for men only. In short, there are many inbuilt inequalities between men and women in politics.1

While alluding to the perspective of the Centre for Development, Constitutionalism and Peace Advocacy (CDCPA), Aluko and Ajani argue further that many political parties in the country consider female candidates a risk on the grounds that female politicians are not usually keen on violent means. Political violence has emerged as a popular strategy of many politicians in Nigeria in their bid to capture power. Many of them recruit thugs and pay them handsomely for this purpose. They further attribute the relegation of women to the patriarchic system in which the preponderance of men’s activities shapes women’s participation in politics. In an attempt to strengthen the patriarchy argument, Aluko and Ajani also assert that: most of the political thinkers and philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Rousseau, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes and Hegel considered women as being fit only for domestic roles and maintained that there was no place for women in politics because of their suitability in caring roles as mothers and wives.2

Anifowose (2004) expresses a similar view, adding that even in the United States where the American Declaration of Independence document asserts that all men are created equal, its principal author, Thomas

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Jefferson, claimed poignantly: “women must always be excluded from public deliberations and offices”.3 Anya (2003) adds a stereotype angle, noting that this problem makes women view politics as something out of their sphere as those who go into politics are seen as rebels and prostitutes. He stresses that dominion is also seen as a male affair and this has been the situation even before colonialism. Bucknor-Akerele (2001) blames the Nigeria’s military for the low participation as they ruled the country for 28 years without adding any significant value to the position of women. She says the rigid and hierarchical nature of the military further reduced the participation of women in public affairs. Enemuo (2001) argues that the problem is not a consequence of incompetence or intellectual incapacity of women, but as a result of unhealthy cultural practices. According to him, their major inhibitions stem from the prevailing cultural mores which consign the woman to the kitchen and assign her roles of wife, mother and home manager. Success in life for a woman, especially in Africa, is measured in relation to how well she has performed these tasks. Enemuo further contends that most men do not think a good woman should be involved in politics even if the husband has given her the permission and pledged to support her political aspiration; the woman still has to reckon with the position of her in-laws on the matter. There is a legal perspective to this issue. While the Nigerian Constitutions prohibit all forms of discrimination, it is a truism that most of the laws are not being implemented and this is one of the reasons why the 1995 global summit of women in Beijing focused on the affirmative actions. Therefore, to open up the Nigerian political space in favour of women, observers canvass the urgent need for the implementation, by the Nigerian government, of the 1995 Beijing resolution on these affirmative actions. Karunwi (2001) identifies the way women see themselves as another impediment. She argues that women view themselves as being at the core of society’s smallest unit, the family. She notes that this perception of women as home makers and bread winners of the family leaves little space and time for women to participate in group and political activities. But Popoola (2004) looks at religion, saying that beyond any of the identified factors, religious beliefs are the most potent. Quoting the Apostle Paul in I Timothy 2:11-12 (King James Version of the Christian Bible), he says: “let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” He notes that it was on the same religious grounds that women in the

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northern part of Nigeria were excluded from the political arena for a very long time until 1976. In another study, Popoola (2004) identifies recent media policy which impelled media houses in the country to embark on an aggressive revenue drive that brought about commercialization of news and creation of disparate advertisement rates for the political sector. He stresses that this policy created a situation of incongruence that was responsible for the low appearance of female politicians on the network of the country’s national television, the NTA4, during the 2003 general elections. The programme attracted a whopping N150,0005 per hour as appearance fee for every political guest. Only a very few women could afford that amount as of that time. Popoola stresses that such a policy, besides the fact that it is a negation of Article 39 sub-section (1) of the Nigerian 1999 constitution (“every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference”), also runs contrary to the primary responsibility of every news medium which Whitney (1975) refers to as the observation of the environment, correlation of parts of the society in responding to the environment and transmission of the social heritage from one generation to next. Sobowale (1988) equally deplores such a policy, saying that a trend some communication scholars and experts consider dangerous has emerged in the commercialization of news by the NTA. He stresses that if the trend is not checked, it may mean that only those who could pay for their activities, no matter how unimportant or irrelevant they may be, would receive coverage by the NTA (with the exception of the government which owns it). The implication of the policy on women’s political aspiration is that, based on this inadequate economic condition, several women are scared and consequently not quite visible through the media. Yet, for the electorate to identify and recognize any candidate, he or she must have been projected through the lens of the media. Adducing reasons why commercialization of news as well as creation of separate advertisement rates for politics might not be in the best interest of women politicians in Nigeria, Anifowose (2004), in reference to Enemuo (2001) says that the control of greater economic resources from cash crop production and merchandising by men under colonialism greatly facilitated their domination of the political landscape immediately after independence. Women were concentrated in the production of food crops with less income earning value.

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Theoretical Framework The Power and the Uses and Gratification theories elucidate the objective of this paper. The motive behind the Beijing 1995 affirmative action is women’s empowerment. Nigerian women must be empowered politically. A German sociologist, Max Weber, cited in Isaak (1981), conceptualised politics as striving to share power or striving to influence the distribution of power either among states or among groups within a polity. What the Nigerian women have been clamouring to achieve from the colonial days through activism is the acquisition of power which would allow them to meaningfully contribute their quota to the development of the country. Bluhm, (1965) equally says that politics is a social process characterized by the activity that involves rivalry and co-operation in the exercise of power and culminating in the making of decisions for a group. Implicit in the above definitions of politics is the fact that “power” is very central to the quest for women’s political empowerment in Nigeria. Gauba (2003) similarly asserts that power is regarded as one of the central concepts of political science, noting that the concept of power holds the same status in the realm of political science as the concept of money in the realm of economics. Hague and Harrop (2004) make a similar assertion that power is the currency of politics. Just as money permits the efficient flow of goods and services in an economy, so power enables collective decisions to be made and enforced. Without power, a government would be as useless as a car without an engine. Power is the tool that enables rulers to serve or exploit their subjects. In a related development, Gauba (2003), quoting Frederick Watkins (1934), observes that the proper scope of political science is not the study of the state or any of other specific institutional complexes, but the investigation of all associations in so far as they can be shown to epitomize power. Gauba adds that the significance of power which is also relevant in discussing women’s political empowerment was brought forward by traditional political thinkers such as Machiavelli (1969-1527), Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) as well as contemporary writers like Max Weber, Catlin, Merriam, Lasswell, Kaplan, Watkins, Trietschke and Hans Morgenthau. Equally relevant is Alan Ball’s (1988) submission on power. According to him, political power is a key concept in the study of politics, adding that if politics is the resolution of conflict, the distribution of power within a political community determines how the conflict will be resolved.

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Severin and Tankard Jr. (2001) note that the Uses and Gratification theory was first mentioned in an article anchored by Elihu Katz (1959) in which he was said to be reacting to a claim by Bernard Berelson (1959) that the field of communication research appeared to be dead. Katz, according to Severin and Tankard Jr, had argued that most communication research up to that time had been aimed at investigating the question “What do the media do to people?” Katz, therefore, suggested that attention should rather shift to “What do people do with the media?” The Uses and Gratifications approach, therefore, shifted focus from the purposes of the communicator to the purposes of the receiver. This approach, according to Blake and Haroldsen (1975), contends that the interaction of people with the media can most often be explained by the uses to which they put the media content and/or the gratification which they receive. Besides the issue of commercialization of news and the existence of separate advertisement rates which hinder women’s access to the media, aspiring women politicians in Nigeria must address certain other problems and through that explore various ways to use the media to realize their political aspirations. Some of the problems which destroy women’s assertiveness include apathy and disunity. They must get interested in politics. They must attend political meetings, attend political campaigns, troop out to vote and expose themselves to all sorts of positive political stimuli. They must not see themselves as inferior to men. They must fight disunity and endeavour to transform their numerical strength to votes during elections.

Media Access as Barrier to Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria Media access in the context of this paper is viewed as absence of any form of restriction or barrier to political communication of every aspiring female politician in Nigeria. It is a situation whereby female politicians have the opportunity to put their views across to the electorate through the mass media. For voters to choose the right leader, the mass media must provide them the platform to appraise candidates. This is the practice in many established democracies such as France, Italy and Denmark. In these countries, a policy of direct access broadcasting exists on the basis of equality in some elections for every political party and candidate. Popoola (2001) adds that a similar trend exists in many new democracies in South Africa, Brazil and even Namibia where media access time is allocated on a proportional or equitable basis.

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Eke (2001) opines that “money politics” and corruption are the greatest impediments in the enthronement of real and stable democracy in Nigeria. Quoting Hajia Gambo Sawaba, a female political activist in northern Nigeria, he asserts that the situation where politicians see political power as a profit-making occupation unlike what obtained in the past especially during the First Republic is wrong. While describing the present generation of Nigerian politicians as opportunistic and self-centred, Gambo according to Eke, warned that the monetisation of politics (act of using money to buy votes) by men was dangerous. Meanwhile, the country’s Independent National Electoral Commission (2006) has denounced money politics in Nigeria, describing it as unhealthy and illegal while assuring stakeholders that INEC would address the issue as part of its reformation programme in the build up to the 2015 election. Nigeria, according to Diamond et al (1996) is regarded as one of the continent’s brightest hopes for democratic governance. Women have a significant role to play in making this hope a reality. Access to media will encourage more women to participate in elections into legislative assembles at the federal, state and local government levels. But it will be a Herculean task for Nigerian women who, from the colonial time, have been edged out of cash crop production, merchandising and politics, with little change today, to effectively match their male counterparts in political campaign financing. Article 102(1) of Nigeria’s Electoral Act 2006 stipulates that “a government owned print or electronic medium shall give equal access on daily basis to all registered political parties or candidates of such political parties.” Failure to comply with this provision may earn such a medium a N500,000 fine or withdrawal of the operating license. This rule is hardly enforced by the government. Political participation, according to the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Politics, refers to the general level of participation in the society which is also the extent to which people, as a whole, are active in politics. In the view of Hague and Harrop (2004), political participation is a challenge facing new democracies. It is a big challenge in Nigeria because women had been systematically excluded politically right from the colonial days. According to Schraeder (2004), development is a function of the quality of political participation. In the context of this paper, political participation is seen in the light of Anifowose’s (2004) assertion as the active involvement of women in all aspects of the political process at the federal, state and local government levels. This study focuses on the first phase of the current democratic dispensation in the country (May 29, 1999 -May 28, 2003). For proper

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understanding of the issues raised in this paper, this segment critically looks at the gains of women in the legislative and executive arms of government under the civilian regime. The analysis shows a gender-bias in favour of men. For instance, of the 39 women who contested for the House of Representatives election, 12 won. In the Senate, five women contested but three were successful. Furthermore, 14 out of the 36 state Houses of Assembly in Nigeria had no women members. Benue State was the only state where the speaker was a woman. In the executive arm of government, of the 49 cabinet ministers, only six were women. Out of these, only two headed ministries. The rest were junior ministers (or ministers of state). It is also instructive to note that there was only one female deputy governor, Bucknor-Akerele of Lagos state, during the period under review. At the local government level, of the 774 local government chairpersons, nine or 1.2 percent were women. A perplexing dimension to the issue is that with the numerical advantage of Nigerian women (49.96 percent), one should have expected them to demonstrate this strength, by voting for themselves. A very important question women have failed to address is the Nigerian woman herself. Is the Nigerian woman ready to vote in a female president, governor, chairman, councillor or even ward chairperson? Taking into consideration their numerical strength, the Nigerian women have the wherewithal to liberate themselves from men’s domination if every woman decides to vote for a woman in every election. It is instructive again to note that even during military regimes in the country, the scenario was the same. Odah (2002) corroborates this, stressing that the military regimes were no better than their civilian counterparts in terms of allowing women’s participation in politics. The army, being a male dominated profession, ensured that no female in the army was ever appointed a military governor or given any political appointment. Awe, (1999), taking a cursory look at one of the military regimes, has this to say of the General Ibrahim Babangida’s administration: .

The Babangida regime in its transition programme (1985-1993) … provides the best example of the marginalization of women. None of the structures set up to see through this program such as the National Electoral Commission, MAMSER and the Political Bureau had more than a token women members.6

Table 4-1, showing the various appointments by the civilian helmsmen at the federal level during the period under review, reveals a serious marginalization of Nigerian women in the political process.

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Table 4-1: Major appointments made by the Executive at the federal level between May, 1999 and May, 2003 S/N 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11 12. 13. 14.

Appointments Panel on Human Rights abuses Contract Review Panel Principal Officers in the Vice-President’s Office Federal Permanent secretaries Probe Panel on Failed Contracts Federal Executive Council Probe Panel on Landed Property Transactions Senior special advisers to the President Senior Assistants to the President Other federal appointments Chairpersons of the special committees set up by House of Representatives Senate committee (chairpersons and deputies) Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commissioners Ambassadorial nominees

T 7

M 5

W 2

Newspaper % Sources (1999) 29 This Day, June, 5

7 4

5 4

2 -

29 Vanguard, June 2 0 Vanguard, June,10

35

32

3

9

12

10

2

17 Vanguard June 16

49 7

6 6

12 1

- Vanguard, June 7 14 Vanguard, June 23

14

13

1

7

7

6

1

14 Vanguard, June 28

9 5

9 5

-

0

Vanguard June 28 This Day, June 25

90

89

1

1

This Day, July 16

38

37

1

2

Vanguard, Aug. 20

106

96

10

10 This Day, Aug. 20

Vanguard

Vanguard, June 28

Key: M = Men, W = Women, T = Total. Source: Adapted from Popoola I.S. Religion and Women’s Political Leadership in Nigeria, 2004.

Table 4-1 confirms the notion that in spite of their numerical strength, the women’s political representation is quite dismal. As pointed out in the literature review, commercialization of news policy and existence of a separate advertisement rate for politics hinder women’s access to the media. The March 2006 national headcount put Nigeria’s population at 140 million. Of this figure, males accounted for 50.04 percent while female stood at 49.96 percent. Having juxtaposed the gains of Nigerian

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women politically during the first phase of the current democratic dispensation with the results of the 2006 national head count, Popoola (2011) observes that in spite of the fact that women nearly constitute half of the country’s population, they are still being treated as minority. Although, Mazrui (2006) says that Nigeria leads Africa in terms of economically independent women, the country is a lag in empowering women politically. As Nigerian women are being systematically denied the right to be seen, heard and reply (Omojola, 2008) in respect of their inaccessibility to the public through the mass media, some notable male politicians in the opposition parties are also complaining. Popoola (2011) documents such complaints. According to him, from the colonial days till date, incumbent governments at federal and state levels in Nigeria have always denied the opposition candidates access to the media during electioneering periods. Popoola (2003) recalls, for instance, that a major catalyst that led to the establishment of Western Nigerian Television (WNTV) and Western Nigerian Broadcasting Service (WNBS) was the denial of access to the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) when the Premier of Western Region wanted to make a rejoinder to the allegations leveled against him and other nationalist leaders by the Governor-General of Nigeria. It is surprising that at every turn of elections in Nigeria, the trend has been the same. However, the impact of this denial is much felt by women. During the 2003 elections, Olukotun (2003) notes that the National Conscience Party (NCP) alleged blackout of campaign activities of its gubernatorial candidate by the Ekiti State radio and television and consequently petitioned the Director of NBC who promised to investigate the allegation. In Oyo State, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also alleged that its gubernatorial candidate was refused entry to the Alliance for Democracy (AD)-controlled Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) as well as refused a slot in its weekly phone-in programme. The same picture held true in most other states around the country. At the federal level, Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) were repeatedly accused by members of the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) for not covering their campaign activities. Besides that, according to Olukotun (2003), the private media allowed its equity principle to be distorted by commercial considerations as they yoked coverage with the ability of contestants to pay for air time, with the obvious consequence of lopsided coverage.

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Conclusion The paper addressed the plight of aspiring female politicians with special reference to media policies which hindered their access to the public, especially, the voters. While noting that the media are platforms through which the people learn about topical issues in the polity, the paper stressed that they (media) are also the means through which the voices of aspiring female politicians could be heard. The paper observed that the policy of commercialization of news and the creation of separate advertisement rates for politics have drastically reduced the opportunities for women. As a result, the unimpressive scenario of male domination of the political process continues. Political participation is the sine qua non for liberal democracy and this entails a strong commitment to equal opportunities for both men and women. As a Nigerian news magazine, Newswatch (cited in Anifowose 2004) observed “… democracy will only assume true and dynamic significance when political parties and national legislations are decided upon jointly by men and women with equitable regards for the interests and aptitudes of both halves of the population.”

Recap of Research Questions (RQs) RQ1 asks: “Does accessibility of women to the media play any role in the political participation of women in Nigeria?” The answer, going by the professional, statutory and traditional role of the media, as presented in the paper, is in the affirmative. For the voters to vote and make informed choices, they must have been informed, educated and enlightened by the media. RQ 2 asks for the specific media policies which obstruct meaningful participation of women in the political process in Nigeria. These are policies which categorize political news as commercial and, therefore, must be paid for as well as the one which treated political advertisement as special, thereby attracting higher rate over and above that of products and public notices. The study observes that these policies constitute an infringement of Article 39 sub-section 1 of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution on freedom of speech and Article 102 (1) of the Nigerian Electoral Act 2006. RQ3 asks for steps or necessary measures to enhance women’s participation in the political process. Part of the measures as discussed in the paper is the urgent need to tackle the issue of apathy of Nigerian women. Women must come out and be actively involved in the political process. Otherwise, it will be difficult for Nigeria to implement the 30

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percent affirmative action for women as articulated at the Beijing International Conference of 1995. In countries such as India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, Israel, England and Liberia that had elected female presidents or prime ministers, women trooped out to vote them in. Other measures to further address RQ3 are contained in the recommendations.

Recommendations In a bid to achieve and sustain the momentum of women’s political participation in Nigeria, the following are recommended: x Nigerian women should no longer be viewed from the discredited perspective of what she should be but rather observed in the context of her functions in a modern-day Nigeria. Statutory steps can be taken to ensure this. x All stumbling blocks on the path of meaningful participation of Nigerian women in the political process as highlighted in this paper should be removed. x Female politicians in Nigeria should no longer be seen as trespassers on the political turf as such notion is not only selfishly motivated but also illegal and unprogressive. x The 1995 Beijing Declaration provides that 30 percent of positions in government be given to women. The Nigerian government, which is signatory to it, should embark on measures to fully implement this provision. x All traditional and cultural practices which have robbed the Nigerian women of their rights and privileges in the society must be abrogated. x The National Orientation Agency (NOA) – Nigeria’s enlightenment outfit – and the media should embark on a well-articulated socialization campaign across the country on the need to fully involve women in the country’s development agenda by opening up the political landscape. x Women should be oriented and enlightened on the need for them to be politically educated in a bid to fight parochialism and apathy. x The Nigerian government should put in place policy measures that will encourage application of gender-character in all government appointments at all levels throughout the federation. x Discriminatory commercialization of political news and existence of a separate advertisement rates for politics should be discouraged.

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x Aspiring female politicians must have access to all the media in accordance with the provisions of Nigeria’s 2006 Electoral Act. If this provision had been implemented, probably, not all the 27 women who contested for the House of Representatives and two who vied for Senate seats during the election would have lost. This statement sounds simplistic while the argument seems immature but it has some sense until it is proved otherwise. x The mass media must give equal access to female aspirants as well as their male counterparts. x Nigeria’s Independent Electoral Commission should henceforth deregister any political party which discriminates against women in the selection of candidates for the various elective positions.

Notes 1 The Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the Department of Sociology of University of Lagos sponsored the event where the article titled “Factors militating women participation in politics” was delivered in 2006. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. 4 Or Nigerian Television Authority, being referred to as the largest television network in Africa. 5 Or 800 British pounds as at 2004. 6 Bolanwe Awe, a prominent Nigerian activist, made these remarks when she delivered a paper titled Gender Issues in Democratic Transition, February 12, (Abuja, Nigeria), 1999.

References Aluko, M.A.O., and Ajani, O.A. “Factors Militating Against Women Participation in Politics in Nigeria.” In Society and Governance: Quest for Legitimacy in Nigeria, edited by Felicia A.D Oyekanmi and Omololu Soyombo, 138-156. Lagos: Department of Sociology, Unilag & Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2006. Anifowose, Remi. “Women Political Participation in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects.” In Paradox of Gender Equality in Nigeria, edited by Solomon O. Akinboye, 204-218. Lagos: Concept publications limited, 2004. Anya, Okeke. “Women and politics in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic”. Journal of Constitutional Development, 1(2003): 16-32. Ball, Alan R. Modern Politics and Government. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1988.

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Blake, Reed H., and Haroldsen, Edwin O. A Taxonomy of Concepts in Communication. New York: Hastings House Publishers, 1975. Bluhm, William. Theories of the Political System: Classics of Political Thought and Modern Political Analysis. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1965. Bucknor – Akerele, Kofoworola. “From Good Politics to Good Economy: What Women Have Done and Can Do.” In Women’s Political Participation, edited by Cyril Obi, 38-45. Lagos: Human Development Initiatives, 2001. Diamond, Larry., Kirk-Green, Anthony., and Oyediran, Oyeleye. “The Politics of Transition” in Transition Without End, edited by Larry Diamond, A. Kirk-Greene and Oyeleye Oyediran, xv – xix. Ibadan: Vantage Publishers International, 1996. Eke, Daniel O. (2001). Perspectives on a Stable Democracy for Nigeria. Aba: Lord Onny International. Enemuo, O. Francis. “Political Participation and the Economic Empowerment of Nigeria Women.” In Women Political Participation, edited by Cyril Obi, 25-45. Lagos: Human Development Initiatives, 2001. Gauba, O.P. An Introduction to Political Theory. New Delhi: Macmillan India Ltd, 2003. Hague, Rod and Harrop, Martin. Comparative Government and Politics: An Introduction (6th ed.). New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Ikpe, Eno B. “The Role of Women in National Development.” In Nigerian Peoples and Cultures, edited by A. Osuntokun and A. Olukoju, 245-272. Ibadan: Davidson Press, 1997. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Electoral Act Lagos: Federal Government Press, 2006. Isaak, Alan C. Scope and Methods of Political Science, An Introduction to the Methodology of Political Inquiry. Illinois: The Dorsey Press, 1981. Ityavyar, D. Women in Leadership and Decision-making in Nigeria, 1960 to Date. Paper Presented at the Workshop on Gender Violence and Family Poverty, July 17. Abuja: The Presidency, 2001. Karunwi, Aderonke. “Politics and Economic Empowerment: Experiences of Role Models.” In Women Political Participation, edited by Cyril Obi, 46-58. Lagos: Human Development Initiatives, 2001. Mazrui, Ali A. A tale of Two Africas: Nigeria and South Africa as Contrasting Vision. London: Adonis and Abbey publishers Ltd, 2006. McQuail, Denis. Mass Communication: An Introduction (2nd edn). London: SAGE Publication, 1990.

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Nkoyo, Toyo. Gender and Political Participation of Women, which Way? Paper presented at the Symposium Organized by JDPC, November 16. Ijebu-Ode, Nigeria, 1999. Odah, Angela A. Military Rule and Nigerian Women. Lagos: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2002. Olukotun, Ayo. “Observers, the Media and the 2003 General Elections.” In 2003 General Elections and Democratic consolidation in Nigeria, edited by Remi Anifowose and Tunde Babawale, 155-187. Lagos: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, 2003. Omojola O. Toward Global Ethics: Exploring the perspectives of local media stakeholders. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Series 29 no.2 (2008): 173-187. Popoola, Ibitayo S. GSM as a Tool for News Reporting in Nigeria. Lagos: Corporate Lifters International, 2003. —.“Mass Media and the quest for women political empowerment.” In Gender, Culture and Development, edited by R.C. Iwuchukwu and U.U. Okonkwo, 61-67. Lagos: Research & Development Initiatives, 2006. —.“Religion and Women’s Political Leadership in Nigeria: A Case for Media Intervention.” Multidisciplinary Journal of Research and Development 4, no. 2 (2004): 15-28. —.Introduction to Government. Lagos: Corporate Lifters International, 2001. —.“Electoral System and Electoral Process: The Challenges of 2011 Elections in Nigeria, a Political Communication Perspective.” International Journal of Communication 13 (2011): 301-319. Schraeder, Peter J. African Politics and Society (2nd edn). Belmont (CA): Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2004. Severin, Werner J., and Tankard, James W. Communication Theories: Origins, Methods and Uses in the Media. New York: Addison Wesley Longman Inc., 2001. Sobowale, Idowu. “Role of National Communication Policy in the Development Process in Nigeria.” In Contemporary Issues in Mass Media for Development and National Security, edited by R.A. Akinfeleye, 73-88. Lagos: Unimedia Publication Ltd, 1988. Whitney, Frederick C. Mass Media and Mass Communication in Society Dubuque, Iowa: Win C. Brown, 1975. Wimmer, Roger D., and Dominick, Joseph R. Mass Media Research (8th edn). Boston, Ma: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2006.

CHAPTER FIVE MUTED GENDER: HOW NIGERIAN PRESS PORTRAYS FEMALE POLITICIANS GANIYAT TIJANI ADENLE AND LAI OSO

Abstract In 2011, parliamentary, gubernatorial and presidential elections were held in Nigeria. Less than 10 percent of the candidates for all elective positions were women.1 Several observers have attributed the low participation to inadequate media visibility. This paper examines the dominant print media coverage of women’s political participation in Nigeria in the build-up to the 2011 elections. Findings showed that there were only a few news stories about women. In addition, the photographs published about them were of no significant value and surprisingly, the wives of male politicians took the shine away from professional female politicians! Until political aspirants of the feminine gender make bold moves and adopt the transformative approach, which involves substantial risk-taking in politics, the constant media focus on their male counterparts and their families may remain a prolonged reality. Keywords: newspaper, coverage, female politicians, general elections, gender, Nigeria.

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Introduction The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) enjoys the support of no fewer than 186 countries. It operates on three principles - equality, non-discrimination and state obligation. One of its recommendations is that women should occupy 35 per cent of positions in governance as a way of increasing their political visibility. Since its adoption in 1979 and in spite of the wide support it enjoys from the United Nations, no significant changes have taken place in the area of women’s participation in politics, typified by the situation in Nigeria. In the April, 2011 general elections in Nigeria: 200 (8.33%) out of 2,400 candidates for the House of Representatives and 80 (11.11%) out of 720 candidates for the Senate were women… overall, 909 (9.06%) out of 10,037 candidates for all elective positions were women. These positions comprise those of the presidency, gubernatorial and parliamentary seats.2

Only one of the over 60 political parties (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) had a female presidential aspirant and none of the 21 political parties that eventually fielded candidates for the presidential election had a female candidate. Nigerian women will have to scale the visibility hurdle in order to make any significant impact on the political scene. The magnitude and profile of reporting given to female politicians in the dominant Nigerian media is of concern in this paper. The idea is to establish the degree of coverage that Nigerian female politicians get in the build up to a general election.

Statement of the Problem This paper investigates, through content analysis, three national newspapers over a three-month period (when the coverage of political and electoral matters were at their peak, close to the 2011 general elections), the degree of the coverage of Nigeria’s female politicians in the country’s dominant media. The media must provide balanced information, in this case, a balanced coverage of male and female politicians in order to provide the platform for the electorate to make informed decisions. The assumption that Nigeria is not yet ready to accommodate more political seats for women is widespread and the country’s media are seen as abetting the situation. That explains Ross’ (2004) position that the “negligence of women’s views is

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the newsroom rendition of society’s patriarchal practice, replicating the hierarchy of power much the same manner as the larger culture.”3 Scholars like Aldoory and Parry-Giles (2005) contend that “political (in)visibility is an on-going issue for women”4 as the media, concentrate more on “maintaining social and ideological systems, rather than changing them.”5 This scenario elicits some questions: To what extent does the Nigerian media cover female politicians, and in what manner? Do the media give female politicians a fair representation? Do they provide them with a platform to air their views? The print media are the focus of this investigation.

Literature Review The dominance of men in the Nigerian society is beyond contention. In almost every sphere, there is a manifest inequity between men and women. Though there are variations and differences across the country due to historical, cultural and religious factors reflecting the complex plural nature of the country, Mba (1982) argues that “even where women possessed ‘maximum’ political power, this was actually minimal vis-à-vis the power of men”.6 The poor representation of women is quite noticeable in the political sphere. Reason, according to Ikpe (2004), include the “acrimonious politics of the post-independence era” and the paternalistic and personalitybased nature of the country’s politics which are detrimental to the matrimonial status of women.7 Since the beginning of the current political dispensation in 1999 to 2014, there has been no elected female governor. The gender-bias in favour of men is demonstrated clearly in the National Assembly. In 1999, only three women were in the Senate out of 109 members and 12 women out of 360 in the House of Assembly. Even at the local government level, only 143 women were councillors as against the 8,657 men. At the executive level, there were only six women ministers. In 2011, seven (6.42 percent) out of 109 Senators elected were women compared to 9 (10 percent) in 2007, while only 12 (3.33 percent) out of 360 members of the House of Representatives were women, down from 26 in 2007. According to Ogwezzy (2004) this dismal participation of women in Nigerian politics reflects the “way the media represent politics as an exclusively male domain”8. The mass media have become the main agency of representation of issues and groups in the contemporary society. They not only set agenda but also confer status and visibility on issues,

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individuals and social groups. By granting access to members of the society, the mass media give such people the ability and power to define their perspectives and contribute to debates. Access and diversity are key concepts in the discussion of the importance of the mass media as a marketplace of ideas. By making multiple images, words or text from different sources available, the media empower citizens in the political realm. In the words of a British media sociologist, James Curran (1991): By generating a plurality of understanding, the media should enable individuals to interpret their social experience and question the assumptions and ideas of the dominant culture…It will give subordinate classes increased access to ideas and arguments opposing ideological representations that legitimate their subordination, and enable them to explore more fully ways of changing the structure of society to their advantage.9

Historically, it appears that the Nigerian women recognize the power of the mass media in advancing their cause. Mba (1982) records that as far back as 1945, women in Abeokuta were appealing to the media to help bring their case to the attention of the colonial authorities.10 She also records that a women’s protest in Lagos in 1909 was well reported by the Lagos Weekly Record (p. 196).11 But it is generally believed that female politicians are given less publicity than their male counterparts (Ogwezzy, 2004).12 One reason for this, according to a Nigerian journalist, Dele Alake (1997), is that “women politicians do not make enough noise”13 owing to the irritable way men practice politics, which easily silences female voices. Theoretically, this finds support in the muted theory first propounded by anthropologists Edwin Ardener and Shirley Ardener. According to Wood (2000), one of the main assumptions of the theory is how “a dominant discourse silences, or mutes groups that are not in a society’s mainstream”.14 The theory posits that there is a masculine bias in the definition of social issues. This, says Spencer (1984), confers on the male politicians the power of naming,15 which makes the mass media prioritize the experiences and perceptions of men because of their dominance of public life.16 This theory, according to Tuchman (1973), may be related to the reflection hypothesis - that the media symbolically reflect the dominant society values.17

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Method Contents of The Guardian, Punch and This Day newspapers for three months (December 2010-February 2011) were examined to assess the level of coverage of female politicians ahead of the April 2011 general elections in Nigeria. The three newspapers were selected as they fairly constituted the dominant print media in the country during the period of study going by the high regard readers had for them, huge sales and a very wide extent of coverage. Data were collected by using a coding schedule that reflects the name of the newspaper, number of stories analyzed, month of publication, subject matter, style of report, space used, source of story, tone of publication, direction of story, position of publication, form of publication, dateline of publication and the category of female politicians being covered. Collation of data, over a period of two weeks, took place at the National Library in Lagos, Nigeria. All the editions of the stated publications covering the three-month period were assessed except one edition of the Punch (January 25, 2011) that was missing. Overall, 269 newspaper editions were analyzed and a total of 561 items about Nigerian female politicians were reviewed. The content assessment was carried out by these researchers who have a considerable experience in quantitative research spanning a combined length of nearly 25 years. The coding schedule was pre-tested.

Analysis and Results This paper assesses the profile of coverage given female politicians by the print media in Nigeria. As correctly hypothesized, there are fewer publications (stories and/or pictures) about female politicians – a paltry 561 publications in 269 editions. A lot of the publications are photographs and comprising mainly those of the wives of male politicians occupying executive positions. Table 5-1: Number of items published about female politicians Month December 2009 January 2010 February 2010 Total

Name of Newspaper Guardian Punch 49 50 60 76 51 76 160 202

Total This Day 87 68 44 199

186 204 171 561

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Table 5-1 shows a diminishing trend in the coverage of female politicians as the election drew closer. A total of 204 publications were published in January while the figure reduced drastically to 171 in February, when the election was just weeks away. It presupposes that the newspapers gave lesser attention to female politicians but concentrated their attention more on male politicians and other more “germaine” issues. It is also worthy of note that Punch covered female politicians (202) more than ThisDay (199) and The Guardian (160). In the case of Punch, it could be argued that as a tabloid with sensational orientation, publishing stories on women may be true to type. Table 5-2: Direction of story and space used Direction of story

Combined Full two pages page

Advocacy Informative Educative Entertainment Total

2 4 2 3 11

17 20 8 7 52

Half page

3 10 2 1 16

Space Used half >one > two page but < but < pages a two page

67 334 2 60 463

5 7 1 0 13

1 3 0 0 4

0 2 0 0 2

Total

95 380 15 71 561

The cross tabulation of direction of story and space used reveals a lot as Table 5-2 shows. One remarkable fact is that majority of the publications on female politicians are less than half page - 463 of the 561 amounting to a whopping 82.53 percent. It goes to show that issues that concern female politicians do not have the expected visibility. Attention must also be drawn to the fact that more of the publications on female politicians are about events that were attended. According to Table 5-2, 380 (67.7 percent) publications of the 561 actually provide mere information while only 95 stories (16.9 percent) of the publications are for advocacy (to sensitize more women to politics and galvanize support for those contesting). With the campaign for more women’s participation in politics, the researchers’ expectation was that more news stories advocating such a stance would be published. However, this was not the case. The number of entertainment stories about female politicians was also high (71), closely following advocacy. Majority of the entertainment stories were published in the newspapers’ weekend editions to entertain readers. Their subject matters captured the female politician’s marital life,

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social events attended and similar issues, but not their mandates, the upcoming elections or what they had to offer the people. Table 5-3 is a cross tabulation of the position of story (the position of the publications in the newspapers) and the kind of female politician that was featured in such publications. Table 5-3: Position of story and form of identification Position of Story Front page Back page Politics/ Governance pages Other inside pages Total

E 10 3 12

Form of Identification L PS OP 0 11 2 0 1 1 10 8 29

Total 23 5 59

174 199

32 42

474 561

197 217

71 103

Key: E = Executive; L = Legislature; PS = Politician’s Spouse; OP = Ordinary Politician

One surprising discovery is that of all the categories of female politicians that were featured, politicians’ spouses actually had the most coverage, even more than those of actual female politicians occupying executive and legislative positions. Politicians’ spouses alone had 217 of the 561 publications, a total of 37.35 percent. Regular female politicians, (those not currently holding any elective office, but mainly former political office holders and the few who were just seeking public offices for the first time) actually had more coverage (103 of 561) than female legislators (42 of 561). This is because these regular politicians featured more at events and occasions and, therefore, were in the news as the media reported more of female politicians at events than at other places. There are reasons behind these interesting figures. Foremost is that the Nigerian press covered more of politicians’ spouses not on their own merit as female politicians but because of the positions their husbands occupied. So important was it for them to feature the wives of the President, VicePresident and Governors that they neglected the politicians who were into politics as professionals. This coverage could easily be mistaken for public relations as it did little to significantly advance the cause of female politicians in the country. Another explanation is that the female politicians in executive positions such as Deputy Governors, members of the federal executive council and local government staff got the next higher coverage due to the

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fact that they attended more events, represented their superiors at occasions and received many visitors on courtesy calls. The media did a quick mention of these events, resulting in several publications for this group. Furthermore, female politicians in the legislative arm of government got the least mention because they attended fewer events and mostly got published only when the media circulate news about their oversight functions. With regards to the position of stories, a look at Table 5-3 reveals that 84.5 percent (474 of 561) of the publications appeared on the inside pages of the newspapers, while only 10.5 percent (59 of 561) of the publications on female politicians appeared on the politics/governance pages. Could it be that female politicians did not deserve to appear at vantage positions? This question is germane as insignificant 4 percent of the publications appeared on the front pages while only 5 of the 561 publications appeared on the back pages. Table 5-4: Form of publication Form of Publication Straight news News analysis Features Opinions Editorial Photograph Total

F 103 36 75 5 2 340 561

% 18.4 6.4 13.4 0.9 0.4 60.6 100.0

From Table 5-4, it is evident that most of the publications of these three newspapers on female politicians are actually photographs. A huge 60.6 percent of the entire publications were photographs of female politicians. There are many instances when the photographs of female political office holders were used just because issues affecting their offices were mentioned. The women politicians might not have played any role in the issues reported or their names even mentioned in the story, their pictures would merely be used to illustrate or beautify the pages. The next highest genre of publication is straight news representing 18.4 percent of the entire publications, beating critical forms like news analysis (6.4 percent), features (13.4 percent), opinions (0.9 percent) and editorial (0.4 percent).

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A closer look at these figures will help one appreciate the fact that if the numbers of photographs are subtracted, there will only be 221 news contents on female politicians in Nigeria in 269 editions of three national newspapers over a three-month period! Table 5- 5: Source of publication Source of Publication Event Coverage/Happenings Interview Press Release Reporters’ Investigation No Specification Total

F 426 36 13 75 11 561

% 75.9 6.4 2.3 13.4 2 100.0

Table 5-5 shows that most of the publications on female politicians in Nigeria are from event coverage. Interviews (6.4 percent) and press statements (2.3 percent) are very low. While this may indicate the eventoriented news making process, one fact that can be adduced from this data is that female politicians do not attract the attention of the media enough and do not seek to influence their mention in the media. Table 5-6: Tone of story Tone of Story

F

%

Positive Negative Neutral Sensational Total

478 35 40 8 561

85.2 6.2 7.1 1.4 100.0

Positive stories are those that are constructive and project the image of female politicians optimistically. Negative stories are stories that project the image of them pessimistically. Neutral stories are perceived as not damaging while at the same time not adding any significant value to the lot of female politicians. It is remarkable that most of the publications on female politicians are actually positive (85.2 percent); only 6.2 percent are negative. This is commendable because the publications may be few but they are at least positive and not targeted at bringing female politicians into disrepute.

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Table 5-7: Subject matter Subject Matter General governance issues Legislative oversight function or executive duty Political party issues Election matters Gender/Feminist issues Personal affairs Others Total

F 29 204 71 73 49 37 98 561

% 5.2 36.4 12.7 13.0 8.7 6.6 17.5 100.0

Table 5-7 reveals that majority of the publications on female politicians are actually on the performance of their legislative oversight functions or executive duties (204 of 561) stories. Only 12.7 percent of the stories are about political party issues as they affect females while only 13 percent of the publications are on election matters (also as they affect females). It is also surprising that despite the assumed hype in the advocacy for women’s participation in politics; only 8.7 percent of the publications were actually on gender and feminist issues. Spaces were allotted to the personal affairs of the female politicians (6.6 percent) and 17.5 percent of the total publications were on other issues like attendance at church services, weddings and other social events. Table 5- 8: Dateline of story Dateline of Story South-West South-East South-South North-Central North-West North-East Unknown/not specified Outside Nigeria Total

F 273 53 34 113 8 15 60 5 561

% 48.7 9.4 6.1 20.1 1.4 2.7 10.7 0.9 100.0

The bulk of the publications on female politicians originated from the South-West (48.7 percent). Two factors could be adduced for this. First is

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that the South-West and Lagos, in particular, are the home of the oldest, most popular and dominant media in Nigeria. This puts them at a vantage platform for reporting any issue. Second is that the South-West has more female deputy-governors than any other zone. This concentrically attracts female folks who befriend or work for them as assistants, aides, etc. Also, the economy of South-West, which accounts for nearly half that of the country, presents opportunities for wives of Governors to be invited as special guests at product launches, seminars and workshops. The zone also has the highest level of literacy in the country and the reputation of being the most politically sophisticated. The North-Central is next with 20.1 percent. Obviously, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory (Abuja) is the hub of political activities and most politicians are also reported from there. Equally, other states in the zone, such as Kwara and Kogi States, also have prominent female politicians that attract the attention of the media. The number of stories from the North-East seems high but majority of those stories are actually reported from only Bauchi State. Generally, publications on female politicians are very low in the North-East, NorthWest, South-East and South-South regions of the country.

Summary of Findings Findings from this study are summarized as follows: x The media publish female politicians as mostly photographs, entertainment pieces and fillers for their publications. x The media devote the least space to female politicians in their publications (less than half page). x Much of the coverage on female politicians comprises events rather than analytic and beneficial political or electoral matters. x Female politicians are better covered if they are related or married to politicians holding public offices. Regular female politicians without such affiliations suffer low coverage. x The situation of female politicians in the South-West and NorthCentral are better than those of their counterparts in the remaining four zones of the country. x Issues concerning female politicians are rarely featured on the politics/governance pages and front pages. They are, often times, restricted to other inside pages. x Most publications on female politicians are positive.

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x Female politicians do not attract the attention of the media. There was no single report of a press conference during the three-month period while there were only 13 press statements from female politicians out of the entire 561 publications that were assessed. Analyzed in relation to the realities surrounding female politicians in Nigeria, the results of this study may not be surprising. What, however, is startling is that if the coverage of female politicians was this poor during the build-up to general elections, what would the situation look like at a regular period when there are no elections or serious politicking.

Discussion The question that any keen observer may want to ask is: Why is the situation like this and what is being done about it? A way to look at it is that not much is actually being done about it. Feminists have alleged that even Nigerian female politicians themselves do not have any agenda for female and feminist issues. The argument from this direction is that when the women’s right to be seen, heard and respond is not apparent in the media (Omojola, 2008), women themselves should share part of the blame as they have been accused of furthering their individual political interests only. Women’s rights issues hardly featured on the campaign platforms of most women candidates. Although most women candidates did not make any election promises concerning women’s rights, Kinoti (2011) asserts that some political parties addressed the issue of the representation of women. The Nigerian government also has a role to play in ensuring gender equality in all spheres of life, especially politics. Nigeria has ratified the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa (popularly known as the Maputo Protocol), and the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). In so doing, she has committed herself to, among other things, promoting affirmative action and taking other measures to ensure that women participate equally in electoral processes. There is a National Gender Policy that commits to ensuring affirmative action for women. However, women’s representation remains below the 35 percent target. Nigeria should not sign protocols and policies without concerted efforts to implement their principles and ensure the actualization of goals. Motsaathebe (2011a) generally points to the mass media as reinforcing patriarchal hegemony through under-representation, misrepresentation, sex

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objectification, and stereotypical representation of women. According to Mukda-anan et al (2006), “gendered news narratives of women are passive and decorative”.18 This is obvious in the findings of this study with 60.6 percent of the publications on female politicians being photographs of talking heads. Ogunleye (2005) also posits that women’s voices are seldom heard, even when issues that directly concern them are to be discussed.

The Transformative Approach as a Solution It should be pointed out at this point that not much is being done by female politicians themselves, the government and media in ensuring good representation for women in politics. The issue is one that has been the focus of research and discussion for some time but not much action has been taken to effect any visible changes. In a bid to rise above rhetoric and propose action-oriented solutions, this study suggests the transformative feminist approach to help address the problem. According to Motsaathebe (2011b): Transformative approach aims to address the plight of women in society…transformation can be understood to mean a justifiable change, a revolution. Such a change is merely employed in progressive societies to bring about liberating reforms.

Kitunga and Mbilinyi (2006), in agreement with several other scholars, have also explained that: transformative feminism links theory and practice, and is rooted in concrete struggles for change. In other words, the analysis is derived from what is learned in the process of struggle, and vice versa. Transformative feminists do not sit back and critique reality, including policy, they struggle to change it. This means taking risks, “getting our hands dirty”, in the process.

Female politicians have to mentor and encourage more women to participate actively in politics. And for those who have been in active politics before, they have to play critical roles that will portray them as serious members of the community who have things to offer the society, not merely as campaign managers for men, cooking, singing and dancing at political rallies organized for male candidates that are vying for political offices. The media cannot also take women seriously if women do not take themselves seriously. Women candidates rarely get the support of their

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female counterparts. A laughable and almost comical example is the case of the only female presidential aspirant of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who had just one vote out of the 3,542 votes recorded at the PDP Presidential primary election in January, 2011 in spite of the many female delegates at the convention! If no single woman could vote for her, why would male politicians, the media and other institutions take women issues seriously? Women politicians must also strive to ensure they are valued as individuals, and not be respected only as the wives or daughters of male politicians. Those who are affiliated with male politicians get more coverage and attention than those who join politics on their own merit. As Akatsa-Bukacha (2005) succinctly puts it, “while women want to be recognized as their own persons in all spheres of life, culture, call it patriarchy, wants them to be recognized as the wives of so and so or daughters of so and so”. Female politicians also have to learn to attract the attention of the media. They should deliberately ensure that they take actions that will lead to adequate coverage of themselves and their activities. They should also issue press releases/statements on important issues. The use of the alternative media cannot also be overlooked. Female politicians need to utilize the new media in getting across and presenting their ideas to the electorate. They must learn that the political process is mediatized; hence the need to employ the various public relations and marketing strategies to publicize their activities, views and perceptions. Media values have been colonized by the logic of politics. The violence that characterizes Nigerian politics has to be addressed to enable women have a chance of good participation. The saying that what men can do, women can do even better may not apply as yet on Nigeria’s political terrain with regard to roguery and violence that are commonplace. Men have mastered the act to such an extent that it has almost been regarded as an integral part of politicking. The practice of godfatherism, which is also common, must be stopped if any visible impact must be made by women. The government needs to realize that gender is a key factor in the broader struggle for freedom. No meaningful progress can be made in any country where a major segment (females) of the population is relegated to the background. Nigeria is a signatory to the Maputo Protocol, the CEDAW and has a National Gender Policy. Of what use will these policies be if there are no direct, action-oriented strategies to ensure the effective participation of women in politics?

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Media have to be socially responsible. Rather than helping to reinforce or re-inscribe unpopular practices, they should set the agenda, and help the society realize the need for a balance in power and politics. That is why the agenda-setting theory of the press is relevant here. As much as the media mirror the society, they can also set the agenda to correct the imbalance against women in politics. The muted theory, according to Littlejohn (1992), stresses that women have long been oppressed and silenced by males who design communication for their parochial benefit at the expense of the silenced females, adding: women’s voice was especially conspicuous by its absence in public discourse since more males than females occupied dominant positions in public offices and limited women’s participation in public affairs. As a result, public information continued to be produced and structured and interpreted from the male perspective.

Conclusion This paper investigates the coverage of female politicians in selected Nigerian newspapers by analyzing the publications of three national newspapers, namely, The Guardian, Punch and ThisDay, over a threemonth period, December 2010-February 2011, in the build up to the April 2011 general elections in Nigeria. It was observed that over 60 percent of the publications on female politicians were photographs. More interesting was the discovery that the wives of male politicians got more media coverage than actual female politicians occupying executive or legislative positions. Also, only 2.3 percent of the 561 publications were sourced from press statements or releases from female politicians, amongst other findings. Women have not been visible in such issues as economics, business, sports and especially politics. But the situation does not have to remain this way. It is contended that if gender is a social construct, then the relations between men and women are essentially social relations, and, therefore, can be rearranged.

Recommendations x Majority of Nigerian journalists are not enlightened on gender issues. The civil society and media professional organizations need to sensitize Nigerian journalists (both male and female) on the need for objectivity and equity on gender issues.

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x Media education training institutions may need to include the studies of gender in the media or mass communication training curriculum to be able to address the emerging challenges, especially in the political arena. x Civil society organizations working in the area of politics and good governance can organize programmes and trainings to enlighten Nigerian female politicians on how to effectively attract and use the media.

Suggestion for Further Studies Subsequent research can explore how Nigerian female politicians use the media and for what purpose. Investigations can also be conducted on the dynamics of the relationship of Nigerian women politicians with journalists and the rules of engagement that the former can rely on in dealing with the latter.

Notes 1

Kathambi Kinoti, “Nigeria Elections Reflect Slow Progress for Women” (AWID, May 20, 2011). http://free2runonline.com.ng/?p=481, (accessed August 6, 2012). 2 Kinoti, “Nigeria Elections” 3 Karen Ross, “Women Framed: The Gendered Turn in Mediated Politics.” In Women and Media: International Perspectives, eds., Karen Ross and Carolyn M. Byerly. (MA: Blackwell, 2004), Chapter Four. 4 Linda Aldoory and Shawn J. Parry-Giles, “Women and Race in Feminist Media Research: Intersections, Ideology and Invisibility,” in Mass Media & Society (4th Edition), ed. Curran James and Gurevitch Micheal (London: Hodder Education, 2005), 349. 5 Calvert et al., Television Studies: The Key Concepts. (London: Routledge, 2002), 48. 6 Nina Emma Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilized: Women’s Political Activity in Southern Nigeria 1900-1965. (Berkeley Institute of International Studies, 1982) 7 Eno Blackson Ikpe, “The Historical Legacy of Gender Inequality in Nigeria” in Paradox of Gender Equality in Nigerian Politics, ed. Akinboye, Solomon (Lagos: Concept Publications Ltd. 2004), 35. 8 Abigail Ogwezzy. “The Press, Gender and Politics: Nigerian Perspectives” in Paradox of Gender Equality in Nigerian Politics, ed. Akinboye, Solomon (Lagos: Concept Publications Ltd. 2004), 136. 9 James Curran. “Mass Media and Democracy: A Reappraisal,” in Mass Media and Society, ed. Curran, James and Gurevitch, Michael (London: Edward Arnold, 1991), 103. 10 Mba, Nigerian Women Mobilized, 114.

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11

Ibid, 196. Ogwezzy, “The Press, Gender and Politics,” ibid. 13 Dele Alake, “Female Politicians and the Media”, (Paper Presented at the Lagos NAWOJ (Nigerian Association of Women Journalists) Democracy and Governance Skill-Acquisition Workshop for Women Leaders/Politicians at the Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday, November 25, 1997). 14 Julia T. Wood, Communication Theories in Action (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomas Learning, 2000), 275. 15 Spencer, D. “Defining Reality: A Powerful Tool” in Language and Power, ed. Kramarae Cheris, Schulz, Muriel and O’Barr, William M., (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1984), 196-205. 16 Wood, Communication Theories in Action, 280. 17 Gaye Tuchman, “The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media” in The Manufacture of News, ed. Cohen, Stanley and Jock Young, (London: Constable, 1973). 18 Mukda-anan, Ra Rattima, Kusakabe, Kyoko, and Komolsevin, Rosechongporn. “The Thai Vernacular Press and the Woman Politician: Stereotypical Reporting and Innovative Response,” Asian Journal of Communication. 16,2, (2006), 153. 12

References Akatsa-Bukacha, Marren. African Feminism, Does it Exist? Paper presented at the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) Gender Festival, September 6-9. Arusha: 2005. Alake, Dele. Female Politicians and the Media. Paper presented at the Lagos NAWOJ (Nigerian Association of Women Journalists) Democracy and Governance Skill-Acquisition Workshop for Women Leaders/Politicians at the Lagos State Government Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja, November 25. Lagos: 1997. Aldoory, Linda., and Shawn J. Parry-Giles. “Women and Race in Feminist Media Research: Intersections, Ideology and Invisibility.” In Mass Media and Society (4th edn), edited by James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, 336-355. London: Hodder Education, 2005. Casey, Bernadette., Casey, Neil., Calvert, Ben., French, Lion., and Lewis, Justin. Television Studies: The Key Concepts. London: Routledge, 2002. Curran, James. “Mass Media and Democracy: A Reappraisal.” In Mass Media and Society edited by James Curran and Michael Gurevitch, 82117. London: Edward Arnold, 1991. Ikpe, Eno Blackson. The Historical Legacy of Gender Inequality in Nigeria. In Paradox of Gender Equality in Nigerian Politics, edited by Solomon Akinboye, 20-40. Lagos: Concept Publications Ltd, 2004.

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Kinoti, Kathambi (2011). “Nigeria elections reflect slow progress for women.” (AWID). http://free2runonline.com.ng/?p=481 (accessed August 6, 2012). Kitunga, Demere and Mbilinyi, Marjorie. “Notes on Transformative Feminism in Tanzania. CODESRIA Bulletin, no. 1 & 2 (2006): 46-48. Littlejohn, Steven W. Theories of Human Communication. Indiana: Wadsworth Publishing Co Inc., 1992. Lorber, Judith. “Dismantling Noah’s Ark.” Sex Roles 14 no. 11-12 (1986): 567-579. Mba, Nina Ema. Nigerian Women Mobilized: Women’s Political Activity in Southern Nigeria 1900-1965. Berkeley Institute of International Studies, 1982. Motsaathebe, Gilbert (a). “A Cursory Appraisal of Independent Films Produced by Women in South Africa.” International Journal of Broadcasting and Communication 2, no.1 (2011): 111-138. Motsaathebe, Gilbert (b). “The Use of Females as Sources of Information in SABC Newscasts.” Journal of Communication and Media Research 3, no. 1(2011): 13-23. Mukda-anan, Ra Rattima., Kusakabe, Kyoko., and Komolsevin, Rosechongporn. “The Thai Vernacular Press and the Woman Politician: Stereotypical Reporting and Innovative response.” Asian Journal of Communication 16, no. 2 (2006), 132-168. Ogunleye, Foluke. “Gender Stereotypes and Reconstruction: A Feminist Appraisal of Nigerian video films.” Acta Academica 37, no. 3 (2005): 125-149. Ogwezzy, Abigail. “The Press, Gender and Politics: Nigerian perspectives." In Paradox of gender Equality in Nigerian Politics, edited Solomon Akinboye, 136-171. Lagos: Concept Publications Ltd, 2004. Omojola O. Toward Global Ethics: Exploring the perspectives of local media stakeholders. Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Series 29, no. 2 (2008): 173-187. Ross, Karen. “Women Framed: The Gendered Turn in Mediated Politics.” In Women and Media: International Perspectives, edited by Karen Ross and Carolyn M. Byerly, 60-80. MA: Blackwell, 2004. Spencer, D. Defining Reality: A Powerful Tool. In Language and Power, edited by Cheris Kramarae, Muriel Schulz and William M O’Barr, 194-205. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 1984. Tuchman, Gaye. “The Symbolic Annihilation of Women by the Mass Media.” In The Manufacture of News, edited by Stanley Cohen, and Jock Young,169-185. London: Constable, 1973.

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Wood, Julia T. Communication Theories in Action. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Thomas Learning, 2000.

CHAPTER SIX WOMEN’S POLITICAL INVISIBILITY IN NIGERIA AND THE IMPERATIVE OF DELIBERATE MEDIA AGENDA KEHINDE OYESOMI AND OLUSOLA OYERO

Abstract Equitable, balanced reporting is crucial to the sustenance of democracy in Nigeria, especially when gender issues are involved. But over the years, advocacy groups have complained of a lack of exposure of female politicians, claiming that only their male counterparts get adequate media coverage. This work examines this claim by studying how well Nigerian newspapers reported women’s participation in the 2011 general elections. Contents of two dominant Nigerian daily newspapers, Punch and The Guardian, were studied over nine months, from December, 2010 to August, 2011. Assertion of lack of exposure is proved with only 13 percent of stories on politics devoted to women. Furthermore, 90 percent of stories on women were published inside the pages. This may not be unconnected with the general problem of women’s invisibility in the Nigerian society where women are considered less imperative than men and as such cannot take advantage of several socio-political and economic opportunities that abound. Deliberate media agenda for women is a possible solution to this challenge. Keywords: assessment, elections, newspapers, Nigeria, participation, politics, visibility, women.

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Introduction Women are vital to humanity. According to Umechukwu (2004), women constitute over half of the world’s population and contribute in credible ways to societal development generally. This attribute is apparent in Nigeria where there have been raging debates regarding how women can make their presence felt in politics like it is in the home front. Some argue that the perception of women as the weaker sex is a social construct owing to social values, norms and beliefs, which neglect their meaningful contributions and place them in a subordinate position. The secondary roles which women have been made to play in the nation’s political history is traceable partly to colonialism. Agbalajobi (2010) notes that the 1922 Sir Hugh Clifford Constitution of pre-independence Nigeria disenfranchised women as it limited the participation of adult male to the wealthy segment of the population. While gender inequality existed in some forms in the various traditional societies in Nigeria, the colonial system, powered from the United Kingdom, formalized it. The colonial onslaught was so strong that it affected a few cultures that had some regard for women. For instance, in the traditional Yoruba states in the country’s South-West, as recorded by Agbalajobi (2010), women held highly regarded political offices like the Iyalode, Iyaloja, Iyalaje and even traditional ruler or the Oba. But at the establishment of the colonial order, women became politically irrelevant as they were denied those privileges. Even though the various constitutions of post-independence Nigeria have restored these rights, huge barriers still remain in the way of women’s participation in politics. The Nigerian media, which have existed formally for over 150 years, have a key role to play in educating and informing the citizens on the electoral process and ensuring that they participate in it with credible and acceptable outcome. The media, according to Lang and Lang (1999), provide perspectives, shape images of candidates and parties, help highlight issues around a prospective election, and define the unique atmosphere and areas of sensitivity regarding a political campaign. This paper, therefore, seeks to know how well Nigerian newspapers reported women’s participation in the 2011 general elections. Participation here refers to all women’s actions and activities that influenced the electoral process in one way or the other.

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Research Questions x Which newspaper showed greater commitment to the coverage of women’s issues in the 2011 general elections? x What was the volume of coverage given by Nigerian newspapers to female candidates as against their male counterparts? x What category of stories had the highest number of reports in the Nigerian newspapers? x What slant or tone was used to report women’s participation in the 2011 general elections? x What was the prominence given to the reports on women’s participation in the 2011 general elections?

Theoretical Foundation Agenda-setting theory, first developed by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in their Chapel Hill study, posits that mass media set the agenda for public opinion by highlighting certain issues. It states that the news media determine the issues that the public considers as important by the pattern of presentation. This implies that the issues focused upon by the media become the issues that the public accepts as important for attention and discussion (McQuail, 2005). In studying the way political campaigns were covered in the media, McCombs and Shaw (1972) found that the main effect of the news was to set an agenda, which, according to Cohen (1963), “tell people not what to think, but what to think about” as opposed to persuasion or attitude change. Agenda-setting is usually referred to as a function of the mass media and not a theory. This term is used by media theorists to refer to the way in which the media set the order of importance of current issues as well as the rules of engagement for the debate on those issues. When the media make events seem important, politicians and the populace are likely to comment about them and take action. This increases the widespread belief in the importance of these events, thereby drawing more public attention to them. So, the press does more than bring these issues to a level of political awareness among the public. By setting the agenda, Baran and Davis (2003) believe that the priorities of the press, to some degree, become the priorities of the public. It, thus, follows that when Nigerian news media give priority to reporting about women and their involvement in politics, it brightens the hope of gender equity in the political process. It is hard to believe the level of women’s under-representation in the country’s politics considering that

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Nigerian women account for a highly significant portion of her population (Ajayi, 2007). Constant media engagement on the marginalization of women will, therefore, help to project views that will aid greater involvement of women in politics (Adu, 2008).

The Concept of Political Participation Citizens’ involvement in politics gives credence to a political system. Political participation is one of the fundamental ideas of a democratic society. It involves commitment to equal opportunity for men and women to develop their individual capacity (Agbaje, 1999) and make their presence felt. Anifowose (2004) defines political participation as comprising those voluntary activities such as holding public and party office, attending election campaigns, voting and exposing oneself to political stimuli. Subscribing to this, Okolie (2004) describes the phrase as freedom of expression and association and the right to free flow of communication; right to influence decision process and the right to social justice, health services, better working conditions and opportunity for franchise. Lewu (2005), however, looks at it from a variety of ways in which people try to exercise influence over the political process. This encompasses situations in which an individual, acting singly or through groups, attempts to influence decision-making process or alter the manner in which power may be shared and the principles by which it may be exercised in a particular society. Participation involves taking part in an event or activity. In this study, participation refers to women whose activities and events influence the electoral process, either directly or indirectly.

Factors Hindering Women’s Political Participation Women’s participation and access to formal political power structures vary across countries. The structural and functional constraints faced by women are shaped by social and political relations in a society. From observation, a number of factors have facilitated or contributed to the marginal role women play in political activities in Nigeria. Some of these factors are a function of the so-called natural status of women while others are man-made; deliberately designed by their male counterparts to further confine them to sedentary activities.

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Ideological Factors Patriarchy, as a system of male domination, shapes women’s relationship in politics. According to Eisenstein (1984), it constructs the hierarchy of gender relations where men are privileged. Aiyede (2006) also defines it as a familial-social, ideological, political system in which men by force, direct pressure or through ritual, tradition, law, and language, customs etiquette, education, and the division of labor, determine what part women shall or shall not play in which the female is everywhere subsumed under the male. 1

Political Factors Most political parties have a male perspective on issues of national importance that easily dwarfs opinions of women. Also, women are usually not elected into any important party position due to party structures which tilt towards men. Crucial meetings are most times held at odd hours, which conflict with women’s family interests and domestic responsibilities (Adedeji, 2009).

Cultural Practices A number of barriers are imposed on women through cultural practices. The Nigerian society is permeated by patriarchy whereby women are expected to conform and confine themselves to male dominance and female subservience. Women are seen to belong to the home, and are incapable of making sound decisions. For instance, it is regarded as improper for a woman to participate in a campaign rally as men often find it incredible to see their wives working as politicians (Iloh and Ikenna, 2009).

Violence, Roguery and Intimidation Other impediments to women’s active participation in politics and governance include patriarchal dominance in political parties, godfatherism, indigenization policy, intra-party rigging, political violence, roguery2 and high level of intimidation (INEC, 2006).

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High Cost of Election High cost equally affects men but the rate at which it affects women is more pronounced in Nigeria. The cost of financing political parties and campaigns is a big obstacle to women. The minimum cost of gubernatorial election could go as high as $2 million. Only a very few women in Nigeria can mobilize such a huge amount. That elicits a critical question: Which political party would nominate a woman for that post considering her very small contribution to party finance and formation? (Nda, 2003).

Media and Elections Elections can be a key element either in both conflict resolution and escalation. The professionalism of media is crucial during election periods. To promote fair, safe and professional media election coverage, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) advocates full and efficient disclosure of information to journalists covering the elections; training to enhance professional election reporting, training on the safety of journalists and their right to work without threat. It also supports the production and distribution of election guidelines reflecting principles of professional reporting during elections, journalists’ rights, election processes and safety information, as well as brief notes on international human rights law with emphasis on freedom of expression (Omenugha, 2007). It is a truism that the media play an indispensable role in the proper functioning of a democracy. Discussions about media functions usually focus on their “watchdog” role. By unfettered scrutiny and discussion of the successes and failures of governments, the media can inform the public on how effectively its representatives have performed. Yet, according to Berger (2002), the media can also play a more specific part in enabling full public participation in elections, not only by reporting on the performance of government, but also in a number of other ways such as: x educating the voters on how to exercise their democratic rights; x reporting on the development of the election campaign; x providing a platform for the political parties to communicate their message to the electorate; x allowing the parties to debate with each other; x reporting results and monitoring vote counting; x scrutinising the electoral process itself in order to evaluate its fairness, efficiency and probity.

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There is a variety of possible systems for regulating political advertising or free direct access coverage and reporting. This refers to that portion of election reporting that is under the editorial control of the parties or the candidates themselves. There may be obligations on some sections of the newspapers to publish such a material. There will almost certainly be conditions that they must abide by if they do (Alemika and Omotosho, 2008).

An Overview of the Nigerian 2011 Presidential Elections In the 2011 general elections, an increased number of Nigerian women defied the odds, stepped into the murky waters of politics, aspired and contested for the party’s primaries. But in spite of the increased visibility of female aspirants at the initial stages, only a very few eventually showed up as candidates and even fewer emerged as winners at the polls (Irabor, 2012). The percentage of women who succeeded at the polls in 2011 was less than the figures in 2003 and 2007. There were 3,606 candidates who contested for the presidential election in 2011 with men accounting for 3,004 (90.9 percent) and women 302 or 9.1 percent (Nigerian National Elections, 2011).3 There was only one female presidential candidate - from the United National Party for Development (Ajayi, 2011). There were four female vice-presidential candidates.

Overview of the Nigerian 2011 Gubernatorial Elections Whereas, there are 36 governorship seats in Nigeria, less than this number were due for the ballot in the April 26, 2011 gubernatorial elections. This was because some governors began their tenure several months after the general elections of May 29, 2007, owing to court rulings on election disputes. The states in this situation were Edo, Ekiti, Osun and Anambra States. They were, therefore, exempt from the 2011 elections (Ajayi, 2011). There were 348 governorship candidates across the nation: 13 (3.7 percent) of them were women and they contested in 10 states. None was elected, which means that to date, Nigeria is yet to produce an elected female executive governor of a state except for the brief period when Dame Virginia Etiaba stood in for Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, as a result of election petition. Etiaba was Obi’s deputy before the disputes (Ajayi, 2011).

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There was an increase in the number of male governorship candidates that had women as their deputies. At least, four parties in Lagos State chose women as deputy governors. In 1999, only Lagos State had an elected female deputy governor who was impeached some months later as a result of party intrigues, machinations and scheming that operated far beyond the operating capacity of women. In 2003, the number of deputy female governors increased to 2 (5.5 percent). In 2007, it increased to 6 (16.6 percent). The 2011 general elections produced only one female deputy governor in Lagos State who contested under the platform of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Some of the female candidates contested against political heavyweights which gave them a little chance of winning.

An Overview of the Assembly Elections Female candidates constituted 9.1 percent of the total number of candidates who contested for the National Assembly in the 2011 general elections. Quite a few women won their parties’ tickets for the National and State Assemblies. In Lagos State, all the female candidates from ACN won at the polls in the election into the National Assembly and the State House of Assembly. Women contested for only 7 (17.5 percent) seats out of the 40 in the Lagos State House of Assembly. Adamawa State, which had 23 women vying for political offices, managed to capture only three State Assembly seats. Out of the 109 Senators who emerged winners at the 2011 polls, only 7 (6.4 percent) were women. The number of women who contested in the 2011 elections dropped significantly when compared to those of previous elections. This is a source of concern (Ajayi, 2011). In the 2007 general elections, 9 (8.25 percent) senatorial seats were won by women. In the 2003 elections, there were 4 (3.67 percent) female Senators whilst in the 1999 general elections, there were only 3 (2.75 percent) female Senators. Out of the 360 National Assembly available seats, women won only 19 (approximately 5.3 percent). This is an abysmal drop in the light of the success recorded in 1999, 2003 and 2007 where the figures were, 12 (3.3 percent), 21 (5.8 percent) and 27 (7.5 percent) respectively The drop in the number of successful female contestants is worrisome.4

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Method of Study This study adopts the content analysis method of studying and analyzing communication in a systematic, objective and quantitative manner for the purpose of measuring variables (Wimmer and Dominick, 2003). The study population comprises all issues of two dominant Nigerian newspapers, Punch5 and The Guardian, published between December 2010 and August 2011. The sample size for this study is 288 issues of the newspapers. Sixteen issues were selected per month for each newspaper. The 16 issues were arrived at by selecting four papers per week for the study using simple random sampling and multiplying the four papers by four weeks in a month. The 16 issues are multiplied by the nine months under study to arrive at a total of 144 issues per newspaper. The unit of analysis included any article or story that focused on women’s participation in the 2011 general elections. Frequency, prominence, quality, tone and source of reports were up for assessment. Frequency was determined by the degree of the coverage of women in politics as against other women’s issues and political reports. The newspapers’ stand on an issue could be favourable, unfavourable or neutral. Favourable reports emerged when the news whipped up positive reactions while unfavorable reports occurred when the news content stirred up negative responses. An indifferent reaction ensued from a neutral report. Prominence was determined by the placement of each item on women’s participation in the 2011 general elections on the pages of the newspapers. Front page appearance signified that the news stories were the most important for that day while those that appeared on the back page were regarded as semi-important. The inside page stories were counted as least important owing to their interior placement. The source of a report in this study was where it originated – either from the reporter, news agency, etc. A story was unidentifiable if it did not have a credit line. Quality was assessed in terms of the language style and manner of presentation. The instrument of data collection for the study was the coding sheet which contained the parameters of analysis. Content analysis was carried out to study the manifest content of the newspapers. The intercoder reliability for the two ratings (by these writers) was determined by Cohen’s Kappa reliability (k) test (Landis and Koch, 1977). The values of intercoder agreement were interpreted using Landis and Koch’s interpretation guidance. Six variables were examined for intercoder reliability, which ranged from 0.63 to 0.91. The variables comprised

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frequency (0.91), gender reported (0.73), genres (0.83), slant or tone of report (0.63), prominence (0.91) and quality of report (0.63)

Results A total of 288 issues from Punch and The Guardian newspapers were sampled and these gave rise to 464 reports or news items on the 2011 general elections. From these reports, Punch reported only 24 items on women as against 227 for men while The Guardian reported a total of 38 issues on women as against 175 on men. This implies that for the study period of nine months (December 2010-August 2011), Nigerian newspapers reported only 62 issues on women out of 464 on the 2011 general elections.

Research Question 1: Which Newspaper showed Greater Commitment to the Coverage of Women’s Issues in 2011 General Elections? Table 6-1: Frequency distribution of the newspaper coverage of the 2011 general elections Newspapers The Punch The Guardian Total

F 251 213 464

% 54 46 100

A grand total of 464 stories were reported on the 2011 general elections by the newspapers with Punch leading with a total of 251 stories.

Research question 2: What was the Volume of Coverage given by Nigerian Newspapers to Female Candidates as against their Male Counterparts? Table 6-2 clearly indicates a very low percentage of stories given to women. The Guardian reported more on women than Punch, though both of them gave little attention to women.

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Table 6-2: Coverage of men/ women in 2011 general elections Women in Politics Men in Politics Total

Punch 24 227 251

The Guardian 38 175 213

Total 62 402 464

% 13 87 100

Research Question 3: What Category of Stories has the highest number of Reports in the Nigerian Newspapers? Table 6-3: Distribution of women in the coverage of the 2011 general election according to genres The Guardian Story Type News Stories Feature Stories Editorial Opinion Articles Personality Profile Cartoon Pictures Total

Punch 14 6 1 0 4 0 1 26

19 7 0 1 7 0 2 36

Total 33 13 1 1 11 0 3 62

% 53 21 1.5 1.5 18 0 5 100

In Table 6-3, news stories were reported most in the Nigerian newspapers while there was one report for editorial, one opinion article but no cartoons on women’s participation in politics.

Research question 4: What Slant or Tone was used to Report Women’s Participation in the 2011 General Elections? Table 6-4: Distribution of women’s participation in the 2011 general elections according to slant Slant/Tone Favourable Unfavourable Neutral Total

The Punch 9 6 9 24

The Guardian 16 7 15 38

Total 25 13 24 62

% 40 21 39 100

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Table 6-4 displays almost a similar trend in the reports of the two newspapers according to slant. Most of the stories on women were favourable (40 percent), closely followed by the neutral stories (39 percent). Only a fifth of all the stories published or 21 per cent were unfavourable.

Research Question 5: What was the Prominence given to the Reports on Women’s Participation in the 2011 General Elections? Table 6-5: Distribution of women’s participation in 2011 general elections according to prominence The Guardian Prominence Front Page Inside Page Back Page Total

Punch 2 22 0 24

Total 6 56 0 62

4 34 0 38

% 10 90 0 100

From the data in Table 6-5, there was no story on women’s participation in 2011 general elections on the back pages of the two newspapers. Most of the stories (90 percent) were published inside the pages. Table 6-6: Distribution of women’s participation in 2011 general elections according to the quality of report Quality Very High High Low Very Low Total

Punch

The Guardian

Total

%

2 20 2 0 23

7 29 2 0 38

9 49 4 0 62

15 79 6 0 100

This study also attempted to determine the quality of reports on women’s participation in the 2011 general elections. The result in Table 66 shows that most of the reports were high in terms of content and language of presentation. This is not surprising as the two sampled newspapers were among the best in the country as at the time of investigation.

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Remark The foregoing data show clearly the level of coverage the Nigerian press gave to women’s participation in 2011 general elections. For the study period of nine months, 464 stories were gathered out of which only 62 were on women’s participation and 402 on men. It is obvious that women did not have the desired coverage compared to their male counterparts. This may not be unconnected with the general problem of women’s ‘invisibility’ in the Nigerian society where it is still common not to consider women as people in their own right, but as appendages of their husbands, sons, fathers, brothers and other male relations” (Okunna, 2005).6 Besides that, women are generally underreported in the news media because the overwhelming majority of people who report the news are men. The findings also show that, of the 62 news items, 56 (90 percent) were in the inside pages, 6 (10 percent) were on the front page while there were no news items on women on the back page. Moreover, the data analyzed also indicated that 9 (15 percent) news items were unfavourable as against 29 (47 percent) that were favourable and 24 (38 percent) that were neutral. The quality of the reportage was also an issue of concern as the two newspapers concentrated more on news stories than other vital genres such as news analysis which deals with issues behind the news. Opinion articles, editorials, etc, were not given adequate attention. There was only one editorial in Punch and one opinion article in The Guardian during the period under study. Comparatively, The Guardian was rated higher than Punch. It published more reports in terms of news stories and features while Punch had more photo news.

Conclusion The study shows that women’s participation in the 2011 general elections was highly unimpressive when compared to their male counterparts. While the media may not be blamed for this since their reports were based on the limit of women’s participation in politics, the media, nonetheless, have the responsibility to project women by giving deliberate attention to their issues in politics. The hub of media agenda setting theory is prioritizing issues in order to make them the public agenda. The Nigerian media must report women generously; giving prominence to their issues even when such issues are mundane. Considering the fact that some of the problems that women have in respect of political participation are culture-related,

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repeated media engagement in tackling those problems can gradually change people’s mindset to becoming more favourably disposed toward the female gender. The media have a crucial and increasing role to play in shaping the image of politicians. Instead of acting as mere mirrors of the social and cultural patterns, the media should become an agent of change through their coverage of women. Media personnel at all levels, from reporter to editor and columnist, should be made aware of the fact that some “stories” that sell or pretend to do so often perpetuate gender patterns which are anti-democratic. The media, therefore, need to be re-oriented and repositioned for the purpose of setting deliberate media agenda for women. One of the issues that the media can bring to the fore is the continuous marginalization of women in political sector. It was also observed that the reports on women were more of straight news stories. Feature stories, which give an in-depth coverage of the news behind the news, were very few. The Nigerian newspapers did not place a top priority on women as many of the stories were placed in the interior pages. It is usual that the print media, in their agenda setting role, place stories that are notably important on the front pages. However, women’s participation in the Nigerian 2011 general elections occupied only 10 percent of the front pages. The study also shows that media coverage in terms of quality of news stories is commendable. The stories were of high and sometimes very high quality in both language and presentation. In addition, most news stories analyzed were by in-house sources. This is a welcome development in the print media. It shows that the Nigerian media are withdrawing their reliance on foreign news agencies and reporting more from local sources.

Recommendations The following points are recommended to mitigate the embarrassing level of female politicians’ visibility in the media: x For the Nigerian media to play a positive and meaningful role in reporting women’s participation during elections, there is a need for a reorientation in news coverage and reportage. Women in politics must be an important item on media coverage agenda. Women’s issues must also be a critical part of school curricula in higher institutions in order to encourage continued discourse in this

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x

x

x

x

x

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area. Students’ should also be trained on gender sensitivity and how the media shape the perception of men and women. The media are encouraged to balance their reports on women’s issues in terms of genres. Apart from news, which is basically meant to inform, features, editorials and opinion articles are useful for comprehensive information, education and debate. Female stereotypes, due to cultural, religious, moral and societal beliefs as portrayed in the media, should be eradicated as they keep women’s voices out of the public space. Women are not just wives, cooks or mothers but people with aspirations, visions and focus. Their ambition in life is not just to have a family like most media tend to portray, but fulfillment from self-accomplishment and actualization. The media are encouraged to continue its vigorous free debate, while tempering passionate reporting with the need to respect the truth and adhere to international standards of journalistic integrity. Media outlets should act in a non-partisan manner and be mindful of their responsibility to provide the most accurate and unbiased information to the Nigerian electorate. To this end, media outlets must take seriously the need to avoid inflaming already tense situations with unbalanced, biased or partisan reporting. The media must also play their role in mobilizing women to greater heights and inspiring them to achieve more. The same level of attention that they pay to men in their reporting should be given to women. This is objectivity and fairness. Omojola (2008) has reminded us that objectivity in media performance is vital and it exists when all parties of the reporter’s audience have equal right to be seen, heard and react in respect of the media. Women should also gather up confidence and the qualities required to reach for greater heights. The media should become agenda setters on the issue of women especially in the area of politics. It is the researchers’ view that the media professionals be made to attend specialized trainings, workshops and conferences on how to handle specialized reporting where the issue of women in politics belongs.

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Notes 1

None of the authors cited explained if any difference exists in the manner patriarchy is practiced in developed and developing societies. 2 Cases of roguery in electioneering campaigns are common with men, many of whom are not charged to court, owing to pressures from their political overlords who have strong connections with police officers in the country. The general invisibility of women in terms of violence, many observers think, is linked with their low participation in politics. 3 These figures were also corroborated by some Nigeria national newspapers which gave their source as the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) – Nigeria’s current election umpire. 4 Several newspapers in the country also published editorials which supported this worrisome situation. 5 Punch is also interchangeably called The Punch 6 Okunna, a prominent academic-turned politician is known for canvassing bigger role for women while she occupies a political office. She is currently a commissioner in the Anambra State of Nigeria.

References Adedeji, Charles. “Nigeria: X-raying the Role of Women in Strengthening Democracy.” Daily Independent, July 13, 2009, p.10. Adu, Oluwabusayo. “The missing link: Women’s Representation and Participation in Nigeria’s Electoral Politics and their Effects on Nigeria’s Development.”http://thesis.haverford.edu/dspace/bitstreamhandle/pdf (accessed September 6, 2012). Agbaje, Adigun. “Political Parties and Pressure Groups.” In Elements of politics, edited by Remi Anifowose and Francis Enemuo,199-209. Lagos ad Oxford: Malthouse, 1999. Agbalajobi, Damilola T. “Women’s Participation and the Political Process in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects.” Journal of Political Science and International Relations 4, no. 2 (2010): 75-82. Aiyede, Emmanuel R. Electoral Governance and Women’s Political Leadership in Nigeria. Lagos: Dannise Publisher, 2006. Ajayi, Kunle. Gender Self-endangering: the Sexist Issue in Nigerian Politics. Journal of Social Science 14: no. 2, (2007): 137-147. Alemika, Etannibi O., and Omotosho, Babatunde. Nigeria’s 2011 Elections: Betrayal of Electorate Optimism and Participation. Lagos and Abuja: Alliance for Credible and Elections and Cleen Foundation, 2008. Anifowose, Remi. “Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects.” In Paradox of Gender Equality in Nigerian Politics, edited by A. Akinboye, 75-90. Lagos: Concept Publications, 2004.

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Baran, Stanley. J. and Davis, Dennis. K. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future. Belmont (USA): Thomas-Wadsworth, 2003. Berger, Guy. “What are the Media Preconditions for an Election to Qualify as being Free and Fair?” Discussion document compiled for SANEF, February 24. guyberger.ru.ac.za/fulltext/ELECTION.doc (accessed August 10, 2012) Cohen, Bernard C. The Press and Foreign Policy. Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1963. Eisenstein, Hester. Contemporary Feminist Thought. London & Sydney: Unwin, 1984. Iloh Emeka C., and Ikenna, Mike A. “Electoral Process and Gender Discrimination in Nigeria: A Case Study of 2003 and 2007 General Elections.” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 10, no. 4 (2009): 113-128. Irabor, Favour O. “Reviewing Women’s Participation and Performance at the 2011 General Elections in Nigeria.” http://www.baobabwomen.org/.pdf (accessed August 10, 2012). Landis, Richard J., and Koch, Gary. G. “The Measurement of Observer Agreement for Categorical Data.” Biometrics no. 33 (1977):159-174. Lang, Kurt., and Lang, Glady. “The Mass Media and Voting.” In Notable Selections in Mass Media, edited by J. Hanson, and D. Maxcy, 460-478. New York, McGraw-Hill, 1999. Lewu, Mary A. Women in Nigeria Politics. In Nigeria Under Democratic Rule (1999-2003) edited by A. Hassan, 22-36. Ibadan: University Press, 2005. McCombs, Maxwell., and Shaw, Donald. “The agenda-setting function of mass media.” Public Opinion Quarterly no.36 (1972):176-185. McQuail Denis. McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory: An Introduction. London: SAGE Publications, 2005. Nigerian National Elections. “Pre-election Assessment Final Report, 2012” http://www.iri.org/ (accessed June 15, 2012). Okolie, Anthony M. Political behaviour Enugu: Academic Publishing Company, 2004. Okunna, Chinyere S. “Women: as ‘Invisible’ as Ever in Nigeria’s News Media.” International Journal of Media and Cultural Politics 1, no.1 (2005): 127-130. Omenugha, Kate A. “Sexism and Culture: The Nigerian Scene.” Interdisciplinary Journal of Communication Studies no.3 (2007): 53-67.

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Omojola O. “Toward Global Ethics: Exploring the perspectives of local media stakeholders.” Ecquid Novi: African Journalism Series 29, no. 2 (2008):173-187. Umechukwu, Pantaleon. “The Role of the Mass Media in Political Mobilization: The Case of April 12 & 19, 2003 General Election in Nigeria.” Nsukka Journal of Mass Communication no. 11 (2004): 8-10. Wimmer, Roger D. and Dominick, Joseph R. Mass Media Research: An Introduction. (7th edn). Belmont, CA: Thompson & Wadsworth, 2003.

CHAPTER SEVEN AFRICAN WOMEN AND SOCIO-POLITICAL IMPERATIVES OF ICTS WILSON JOSEPH, NUHU GAPSISO AND MUSA USMAN

Abstract African women have generally accepted information and communication technologies as a critical factor in development mobilization. Unfortunately, acceptance has not translated any appreciably to adoption as their involvement with ICTs is still largely unimpressive. This paper examines the constraints on women with regard to ICT access and utilization in Africa. It looks at the political, socio-cultural and economic challenges as well as policy issues involved. In spite of these challenges, a few strides are noticeable but there is a long way ahead. In order to put women at the vantage point of technology and enhance their status politically and economically, the collaborative efforts of stakeholders should be strategically articulated and harnessed. Keywords: ICTs, constraints, Nigeria, socio-political development, women, Africa.

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Introduction Information and communication technologies (ICTs) wield a significant influence on humanity. It is restructuring politics and governance, economy, culture and health in many regions around the world. ICTs present immense development opportunities by facilitating information dissemination, providing an array of communication capabilities, increasing access to technology and knowledge, among others. It is accepted globally by individuals and groups as a tool for enhancing their interests (Levin, 1999). Women generally are aware of the power of information and knowledge sharing as a strategy for mobilization and advancement (Lee, 2000). In their quest for recognition, they have accepted ICTs as instruments of socio-political empowerment. Empowerment has remained a top priority of many organizations interested in pursuing the cause of women globally. The reason is not farfetched. It is obvious that empowerment could translate into participation in governance, decision making and policy formulation that would be of socio-political benefits to women. In Africa where women’s representation in the political arena is low, efforts are constantly being made by several advocacy groups to promote meaningful political participation among women. Politics in many African countries is an area in which women have always been involved but only in passive ways. For example, Garba (1999) points out that in Nigeria, long before the colonial masters came, women like Queen Amina of Zauzau,1 Moremi of Ife,2 were women of repute who sacrificed themselves in the service of their communities. However, these efforts have not impacted the political environment of Nigeria in any noticeable dimension. Although, over the years, there has been an increase in women's participation in politics in some parts of Africa, yet there is a pronounced level of underdevelopment of women when compared with their male counterparts (Agbalajobi, 2010). In many African countries, women's numerical strength is rarely reflected in the political life and decisionmaking processes. According to the Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development (2000), women are inadequately represented at the various tiers and arms of government, including the judiciary. The United Nations estimates that women make up less than 10 percent of the world's leaders, and less than one in five members of national parliaments is a woman. The 30 percent women's representation in national parliaments has been reached in only 28 countries (Kellerhals, 2011). Hillary Clinton, cited in Kellerhals (2011), describes this challenge as one of the “great pieces of unfinished business in the 21st century.”

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Expanding women's political participation and decision-making is crucial for the development of democracy and vital for achieving sustainable development. Ogbomo (2011) notes that women's equal participation in decisionmaking with men is not only a demand for justice, but can also be viewed as a condition imperative for women's interests to be taken into account. The low political participation of women is antithetical to equality, development and peace. Continued women's marginalization in governance and political positions has denied them access to resources, with concomitant disempowerment that unfolds in the inequitable participation in the development process. According to Women Environmental and Development Organization (2007), if women participate in governance, there will be equitable and sustainable development decisions that improve the quality of life of both the women and the communities. Political empowerment challenges are not peculiar to Nigeria. Kenyan women have been continuously sidelined in politics and in key positions since independence. This is in spite of the fact that they make up about 51 percent of Kenya's population. The patriarchal society in which Kenyan women operate ensures male domination of political and public life. Consequently, women have not had equal opportunities to contribute to the society, especially in decision making or leadership. In some communities, it is a taboo for a woman to compete with a man. As a result, men do not face any major competition for electoral positions (iKNOW Politics, 2007; Women Environmental and Development Organization, 2007). In South Africa, the Second National Conference of the Progressive Women's Movement of South Africa in Umthatha (July 2012) highlighted the position of the nation when President Jacob Zuma pointed out that the mere recognition of women's rights is not enough but that the country must do more to hasten the entry and participation of women in decisionmaking processes and positions. Similarly, Hillary Clinton, cited in Kellerhals (2011), notes that it is not enough for the United Nations to be committed to women's political participation, but it is also crucial that advocacy groups reach out to the new emerging democracies and societies, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa, where women have marched and demonstrated, blogged and put their lives on the line for a better future. Few moves, other than mere agitation, have been made to circumvent these challenges and set an enabling platform for women’s empowerment in Africa. These efforts have resulted in the emergence of ministries of women affairs at the local and national levels. Such ministries are

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noticeable in Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and a few other countries. Also, programmes on women’s empowerment have been introduced by governments, NGOs, development agencies and groups with appreciable results in some instances. However, the modest achievements should be built upon and sustained and one of the ways of doing these is through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The role of ICTs in facilitating (political) information exchange is made manifest in the way information flows faster, more generously and less expensive globally for decisionmaking and for development (Ahmed et al, 2006). ICTs can be a powerful catalyst for political and social empowerment of women and the promotion of gender equality (United Nations, 2005). The importance attached to information and knowledge sharing by women in pursuing their cause was manifested in their previous two world conferences in Nairobi, 1985 and Beijing, 1995, where, among several areas of concern, the role of the media in subordinating women featured prominently. The Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995 recommended: women equal access to economic resources, including land, credit, science and technology, vocational training, information, communication and markets, as a means to further the advancement and empowerment of women and girls including through the enhancement of their capacities to enjoy the benefits of equal access to these resources by means of international cooperation.3

Therefore, it is a fact that women the world over have had an unfair distribution of power resources and that access to the media and information and communication technologies provides a considerable leverage to achieve a level playing field especially with regard to their male counterparts.

Study Objectives As part of its objectives, the Beijing 1995 Conference craved a balanced and non-stereotyped portrayal of women in the media. It also desired an increase in the access of women to the mass media and new technologies of communication. This paper sets out to identify current and pressing challenges of ICT utilization by African women for their socio-economic and political empowerment and to also explore the various strides so far recorded in the amelioration of the challenges.

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Women worldwide are striving to ride the storm of male-dominated technological environment. ICTs, to some extent, have been adopted and appropriated in the routine existence of women in the western countries but it is still a far cry in most developing countries (Wilson and Ndomi, 2007). In semi-urban and rural areas of Africa, the problem is even more conspicuous owing to non-existent or dilapidated infrastructure. Scholars in development studies have argued that information and communication are catalysts for empowerment (Moemeka 1994; Shepherd 1998). Information in this sense is perceived, first, as a resource and if mixed with other inputs like labour, capital and land, it results in the production of goods and services. Second, it is a source of power that gives the individual or group the capacity to make informed choices and decisions, thereby leading to self-actualization (Castels, 2000; Nassanga, 2001). This paper accepts the central role of information in the drive for societal development and the vital position of women in this drive. It also examines the challenges of ICT utilization among women in Africa. According to Wilson and Gapsiso (2009), identifying the challenges in respect of ICTs has become imperative as it helps in proffering relevant solutions that would allow for effective ICT utilization by women. Akanbi et al (1995) note that the 21st century is a pack of challenges for women worldwide and those from Africa would need all it takes to make their impact felt and bring down the walls of marginalization, negative portrayal in the news media, stereotyping, inaccurate/violent images of women and perception of women in appearance rather than abilities.

Theoretical Perspective Wilson and Gapsiso (2009) place African women’s use of ICTs and the challenges they face in this regard within the context of the feminist theory. This is the extension of feminism into theoretical or philosophical discourse that attempts to explain the nature of gender inequality and the promotion of women's rights, interests and issues. This paper agrees with this and corroborates Young’s (1997) view that female subordination is rooted in a set of customary and legal constraints that hinder women from achieving success. Society operates the false belief that women are by nature intellectually and physically less capable than men, thereby hindering them from taking advantage of several opportunities. Yong also highlights Marxist feminists’ opinion that it is unworkable for women to legitimize equal opportunities in a class society where men are considered privileged. This implies that patriarchy is a major impediment to women’s development.

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The historic dominance of the science and technology subsector by men is a practical demonstration of the feminist theory. The unequal access to the creation, innovation and adoption contexts of ICT needs to be overcome by women who must get themselves freed from the class society (Wilson and Gapsiso, 2009). The constraints on women in terms of access to education and skills, income and available time are all in play when one considers their potential for full engagement and empowerment in the ICT era, especially in poorer societies and sectors. Huyer (1997) has explained that there is the need for an enabling environment that supports women's equal access to ICT and their benefits, and that such should incorporate policy and regulatory frameworks. Other issues that need attention include the following: x women's social and economic concerns, x efforts to increase their representation in science and technology education and training, x expanded women's employment in ICTs, and support for women's small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and earning in this area, and x “e-governance” processes that include women, their interests and rights (Yong, 2007). Women's capacity to benefit from the potentials of ICTs as tools of empowerment is hampered in different ways. Jorge (2002) notes that like other areas of development such as education, agriculture, health, etc, women face peculiar challenges in respect of ICT access and effective use. Several researchers (Jorge, 2002; Wilson and Gapsiso, 2009; Hafkin and Taggart, 2001) have identified these challenges including those that have to do with technical/ infrastructural issues, connection costs, computer literacy and language skills. The gender-based manifestations of the challenges particularly put the women in a disadvantaged situation (Primo, 2003). It is noticeable that benefiting from ICT requires learning, training, affordable access to the technology, information relevant to the user and a great amount of support from stakeholders. Since women have found themselves in this challenging situation, it would take commitment on their own side to benefit from the numerous advantages that ICT offers.

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The Storm: Barriers to Effective use of ICTs by Women in Developing Countries Barriers to effective use of ICTs by women for socio-political and economic empowerment are a global phenomenon. But the situation is more obvious in developing countries. This is not unrelated to the numerous problems peculiar to developing nations, such as poverty and illiteracy. Some of the obstacles listed below have put the African women in the eye of the ICT storm.

Policy Constraints ICT policy framework in most countries of the world is devoid of provisions that strengthen women’s capacity. Jorge (2002) corroborates this, saying that most policies hardly focus on women. Women’s participation in decision-making in many developing countries is negligible, as already pointed out. As observed by Jorge, many challenges related to ICT use for women's economic empowerment are the result of lack of gender awareness in the policy-making process, though with a few exceptions (e.g., South Africa and South Korea). Therefore, increasing women’s participation in decision making or project management that has direct impact on ICT for women would create a platform for ICT utilization. Munyua (2005) holds the view that the challenge of integrating gender issues into recent ICT policy processes worldwide requires an advocacy campaign from two perspectives: sensitizing ICT policy makers to gender issues and sensitizing gender advocates to ICT policy issues. Gender advocates have consistently called for the realization of gender equality within the ICT sector and for ICT diffusion that contributes to positive changes in gender relations.

Lack of Access to Affordable Services Availability of ICT facilities is good but affordable access is crucial. Gaining access to affordable ICT services is a major problem in most African countries. Access depends largely on telecommunications infrastructure with regard to the new media such as the internet, mobile phone and so forth. Services provided are, in most cases, only affordable to a few. Most women fall within the disadvantaged groups who find it difficult to gain access to these technologies. While the cost of phone calls has plummeted in many countries of Africa, the situation in terms of data access is still dire as the service is out of the reach of most phone owners.

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More disturbing is that the quality of service is generally poor. Bandwidth and transmission costs incurred by internet service providers are high and are transferred to users through prohibitive subscription fees. In rural areas, where women make up the majority of the population, ICT infrastructure is little or unknown and services are generally too expensive. Okon (2001) notes that the ICTs are seen as tools for transformation and are expected to change the status quo. But this depends on access. In Nigeria, there are no libraries or information centres in rural areas. Some cities have just one library, which in some instances is thought to exist only for students. Lagos, a mega city of nearly 20 million, has only 10 noticeable libraries. One of them is owned by the federal government, one by the state government and the rest run by some local government authorities. Owing to the slow growth of basic telecommunications infrastructure, such alternatives as cellular telephones have increased greatly. In Uganda, South Africa and Nigeria, cellular phone penetration has surpassed or reached equal levels as that of main fixed lines (Hafkin et al, 2001; Jorge, 2002). This indicates a huge crave. Even then, rural areas still have some time to wait to enjoy affordable ICT services.

Poor Financial Base Financial constraint is a major factor contributing to poor access. Several women in Africa are full housewives, without paid employment. ICT use has its financial implications. Phone recharge cards, internet browsing and emails have to be paid for in amounts not easy to come by (Olabisi, 2005). Some women who have the money believe it is better spent on something else (Wilson, 2007). Broadhurst (1996) and Olatokun (2007) have identified the peculiar problems encountered by women in ICT utilization: x x x x

women do not have so much time as men since they have to give attention to both job and house chores; women do not make as much money as men, so they cannot always service ICT costs; women are less likely than men to own radios and televisions or to access them when they want to. When it involves paying for information access at a rural information centre or a cybercafé, women are either less likely to have the funds to do so or hesitate to use the resources meant for food, education and clothing for information.

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Socio-Cultural and Psychological Constraints The various forms of discrimination also extend into the realm of ICTs. For example, women generally tend to have more limited direct access to information than men. In some African countries including Cameroon and Mali, women are restricted because of culture and religion and cannot access the internet at will. One can imagine the disapproval that would follow a woman's request for overnight browsing in a public cybercafé! The African Gender Institute (2003) has, over the years, advocated the freedom of women to access information. Low literacy level remains a major barrier to development in Africa. Today, women account for more than two-thirds of the world's 771 million illiterate adults. The discrepancy between male and female literacy rates remains strong in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and Latin America. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, women on the average have a literacy rate of about 30 percent, and less than half of the girls aged 6 to 11 are estimated to be in school. For every 100 boys not in school, there are 115 girls also out of school. In some developing countries, nearly 1 in 5 girls who enrolled in primary school would not complete primary education (Work of Women, 2008). The low ICT literacy level among most African women is a concern. Several educated women in Africa are ICT illiterates as they lack the basic computer skills for effective utilization of ICT facilities such as the Internet. In fact, some cellular phones require some skills to operate. The low level of literacy is an issue that must be addressed by training women in the use of ICT facilities (UNESCO, 2006). According to Diop (2003), at a personal level, African women are expected to build up more efforts to expand their access to ICT than men. Most women have developed phobia for ICTs owing to the negative perception of ICT as a tool for domination and oppression of the womenfolk. Hughes (2002) points out that through the use of ICTs, more women and children are increasingly becoming commodities to be bought, sold and consumed by tourists, military personnel, organised crime rings, traffickers, pimps and men seeking sexual entertainment. Many women find the internet as a cold, impersonal place. They feel this technology has given the sex industry new means of exploiting, marketing and delivering women and children as commodities to male buyers. This perception has kept some women away from using ICTs, especially the internet. Increased education is needed in this regard especially by women-related NGOs to disabuse the minds of women on ICTs as a negative tool. Lack of local and community-related content as well as content in local languages also hinder women's utilization of ICTs. Most content is

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produced either in developed countries or in the urbanized capitals of developing countries. It often fails to reflect the physical conditions, the culture, the experiences and the development priorities of many current and potential users (Wilson and Ndomi, 2007). ICT can only be useful and meaningful, particularly to rural and poor women, if they provide relevant information and the tools needed to address women's needs and demands. The challenge is to develop content that is relevant and useful to communities in their own language. In this case, NGOs and ICT advocates for women should work hard to ensure that such content is developed. With the high percentage of illiterates and many speaking local and regional languages, ICT usage by African women faces a tremendous challenge. Jorge (2002) remarks that ICTs can only be useful and meaningful, particularly to rural and poor women, if they provide relevant information and the tools needed to address women's needs and demands. Multimedia tools are essential as they can be developed to provide information both in spoken and written language. The challenge is to develop content that is relevant and useful to communities in their own languages or dialects. Women's time constraints also affect their access to the form and content of ICTs. Most women will not perceive the benefits of ICTs nor will they be able to use them to their full potential unless they can have an immediate benefit. Personal experience with other gendered electronic gadgets indicates that women generally do not have the same time or patience for philosophical discussion and generalized networking, but instead are much more practical in their assessment of the benefits of ICTs. Women want hard, factual data, e.g., information, on practical health and educational issues, and government policy documents in their country and in other African countries. They are, therefore, interested in specific thematic information systems which they perceive as fulfilling certain practical goals.

Infrastructural Constraint Infrastructural limitation cuts across users in Africa irrespective of gender. But women are still worse off with regard to their financial incapability. After a good policy framework comes implementation and subsequently deployment of facilities. Availability of infrastructure is the basic requirement for providing an enabling environment for the proper utilization of ICTs. Unfortunately, infrastructure is still limited in most developing countries and costs are exceedingly high, thus making it difficult for women to access and freely use. Nations have often invested

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heavily in a particular technology only to discover in a short while or few years of procurement that the facilities are obsolete (Internet World Stats, 2006). The dynamism of technology has often left many developing nations behind due to the huge foreign exchange required to procure latest facilities. The scenario in most African countries, especially Nigeria, is such that most ICT operators run their facilities on power generators owing to the cataleptic public electricity supply. The costs are transferred to users. Many users, especially women, would rather use their money for other purposes (Kole, 2000).

Efforts so Far In spite of the numerous challenges faced by women, some achievements have been recorded. There are several initiatives by both local and international agencies to make ICTs accessible to women and other less opportune persons. For instance, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) are working in Rwanda to open up access to ICTs for women, thereby empowering them. The United States of America, in her efforts to bridge the digital divide, continues to actively utilize her multilateral partnership with the G8 countries, Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force), Organization for Economic Corporation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations (UN) to make ICTs available to other nations. Some United States government agencies, such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), also strive for complete Internet success in Africa especially for women. Leland Initiative, an NGO, has established an internet gateway in ten African countries. Millions of Africans are now connecting to the internet on a regular basis at affordable rate because of the USAID initiative. All these help provide access and training for people who will, in turn, teach others how to effectively use the Internet for communication and information (USAID, 2001) in such a manner that makes life meaningful to people, especially women. Similarly, Green Net, an NGO internet service provider based in the United Kingdom and one of several organizations that have been linked to building communication network in Africa, is working to make access affordable in remote rural areas and to women worldwide (USAID, 2001). The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the computing company, Intel, have unveiled a joint effort to strengthen the skills of

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midwives and community health workers through technology (Akosile, 2012). The Economic Commission of Africa and UNESCO are concerned over the North-South uni-directional flow of information, where developed countries often set the global agenda through their contents. The body has embarked on a project to develop relevant content to upload onto the Net and send to libraries in Africa and other developing countries (USAID, 2001). WomensNet, an organization in South Africa, is aware of the need for access and usage of the internet among women and, thus, is exploring a partnership with the private sector to provide computer software and Internet connectivity in that country. It is also working in partnership with business organisations interested in empowering women to assist in funding training and workshops on internet usage and computer skills. There are other women organisations with similar target. They include End-Synfev/Gender and Development based in Senegal and Gender in Africa Information Network with branches spread across the continent. Ghana's MoTech gives women updated health information on their mobile phones with their “Mobile Midwife” project. Women of Uganda Network (WUN), established in 2000, agglomerates several organizations using ICTs as tools among women to share information and collectively address gender-related issues (Association for Progressive Communications, APC, 2007). The Fanstuam Foundation is a Nigerian based NGO that provides Internet connectivity training and effective usage in rural areas of Nigeria. It presently works in partnership with Connectivity Africa (a foreign NGO) to explore the low cost wireless option to take internet connectivity to rural schools and health institutions in Nigeria. The foundation runs a scholarship scheme for women to enroll in various levels of training programmes in computer skills and Internet usage. Corporate organizations located in the Ogun State of Nigeria are providing their host communities with ICT facilities as part of their social responsibility. Lafarge (a well-known cement producer) is an example. The company has a well equipped ICT centre where the indigenes of Ewekoro (where its world class factory is sited) are trained periodically. Several women of that community have benefited from the centre. The Internet Society has also launched its visiting experts programme for supporting development in emerging countries by aiding government, private sector and NGOs in their efforts to implement stable ICT access (Association for Progressive Communications, 2007). All the efforts listed have to be sustained in order to make any appreciable impact in the lives

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of women. In some cases such efforts have to continue for as long as 10 years in order to achieve their objectives.

Conclusion Women in Nigeria and Africa face enormous challenges regarding the use of ICTs as a tool of empowerment. Some of these challenges have been highlighted in this paper. One way out is that definite ICT policy and programme should be formulated to specifically address the needs of women. Besides that, women should be involved in this formulation. Observations and experiences in other communication media indicate that if women should get actively involved in defining and developing ICT policies, it would create conducive platform for ICT utilization that is representative of their interests. The use of ICTs requires learning, training, affordable access to the technology, availability of information relevant to the user and a great amount of support for an enabling environment. Unless gender issues are incorporated in national ICT policies in Africa, the digital divide may continue to widen. The consequence of this has been explained: women, especially those who live in the rural areas, will be disadvantaged. In order to put women at the vantage point of ICTs and enhance their status politically and economically, the collaborative efforts of stakeholders should be strategically articulated and harnessed. It is time authorities in various African countries realized that ICTs are crucial to the sociopolitical and economic wellbeing of women. Not prioritising it is a big risk.

Notes 1

The story of this queen is a prominent part of the Hausa folklore in the northern part of Nigeria. 2 Moremi’s story is also popular among the Yoruba people of southwest Nigeria. 3 This was restated during the African Development Forum in Addis Ababa in 1999.

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Agbalajobi, Damilola T. “Women's Participation and the Political Process in Nigeria: Problems and Prospects.” Africa Journal of Political Science and International Relations 4, no.2 (2010): 75-82. Ahmed, Alauddin., Islam, Durdana., Hasan, Ryadh A., and Rahman, Nayel, J. “Measuring the Impact of ICT on Women in Bangladesh.” http://ww1.ucmss.com/books/EEE4168.pdf (accessed September 13, 2011). Akanbi, A., Alhamdu, E., and Mohammed, R. “Constraints to Participation of Women in the Society.” Women and Education, A Journal of Federal College of Education Women Association 1, no.1(1995):65-69. Akosile, Abimbola. “Nigeria: UN, Intel Unveil ICT Initiative for Midwives.” http://allafrica.com/stories/201202020263.html. (accessed May 4, 2012). Association for Progressive Communications (APC 2007). “Internet and ICTs for Social Justice and Sustainable Development.” http://www.apc.org/ (accessed April 5, 2008). Broadhurst, Judith “Bridging the Gender Gap.” Netguide 1, no.301(1996): 85-88 (accessed November 12, 2012) . Castels, Manuel. The Rise of the Network Society (2nd edn). Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, 2000. Diop, Ngathie. “Gender Digital Gap in Africa - How to Expand Women's Access to ICTs.” http://africa.rights.apc.org/news (accessed April 8, 2009). Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development. National Policy on Women. Abuja, Federal Government of Nigeria, 2000. Garba, Kassey. “An Endogenous Empowerment Strategy: A Case Study of Nigerian women.” Development in Practice 9, nos.1&2 (1999): 138141. Hafkin, Nancy., and Taggart, Nancy. “Gender, Information Technology and Developing Countries: An Analytical Study.” Washington DC: Academy for Educational Development, 2001. http://www.portal.unesco.org/ci/en/file.pdf (accessed June 6, 2009). Hughes, M. Donna. “The Use of New Communications and Information Technologies for Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children.” Hastings Women’s Law Journal 13, 1(2002):129-148. Huyer, Sophia. “Supporting Women's Use of Information Technologies for Sustainable Development.” http://archive.wigsat.org/it/womenicts.html (accessed March 4, 2008). iKNOW Politics. “Experiences in the Last Decade on Fostering Women's Political Participation in Kenya.” http://www.wedo.org/library/kenyaexperiences-in-the-last-decade, (accessed December 10, 2011).

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Internet World Stats “World Internet Usage Statistics.” http://www.allaboutmarketresearch.com/internet.htm (accessed September 8, 2007). Jorge, Sonia. “The Economics of ICT: Challenges and Practical Strategies of ICT Use for Women's Economic Empowerment.” (Paper prepared for the Expert Group Meeting on Information and Communications Technologies and their Impact) Korea, November 11-14. Seoul, 2002, Kellerhals, D. Merle (2011). “Africa: Clinton - Women's Political Participation vital to Democracy.” http://allafrica.com/stories/201109210884.html (accessed August 17, 2012). Kole, Ellen S. “NGOs between Grassroots and Citizens.” In Cyberimperialism? Global Relations in New Electronic Frontier, edited by B. Ebo, 205-222. Westport: Praeger, 2000. Lee, Rainie. “Tracking On-line Life: How Women use the Internet to Cultivate Relationship with Family and Friends.” http://pewinternet.org/Press.aspx (accessed September 20, 2010). Levin, Lydia. “Women`s Net Information Technology to Empower Women in South Africa.” http://www.unsystem.org/ngls/documents.htm (accessed July 7, 2010). Moemeka, Andrew. Communicating for Development: A New PanDisciplinary Perspective, NY: State University of New York Press, 1994. Munyua, Alice. “Positioning for Impact: Women and ICT Policy Making.” In At the Crossroad in East Africa, edited by Florence Etta and Laurent Elder,183-198. Kenya: East African Educational Publisher/IDRC, 2005. Ogbomo F. Esoswo. “Harnessing ICTs for Political Empowerment of Rural Women in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State, Nigeria.” PNLA Quarterly 75, no.3 (2003): 80-91. Okon, Emem. “Successes in ICT as a Tool for Women's Participation in Public Life.” Division for the Advancement of Women - United Nations, http://www.un.org.html (accessed June 3, 2009). Olabisi, Bola. “Bridging the Gap for Women in Africa Using Engineering and Technology.” World Summit of Information Society Report. Geneva: World summit of the information Society, 2005. Olatokun, Michael. “Availability, Accessibility and Use of ICTs by Nigerian Women Academics. Malaysian Journal of Library and Information Science 12, no.2 (2007): 13-33. Primo, Natasha. “Gender Issues in the Information Society.” http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images.pdf (accessed June 4, 2009).

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Shepherd, Andrew. Sustainable Rural Development. NY: Macmillan Press Ltd.,1998. UNESCO. Literacy Initiative for Empowerment 2006-2009. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images.pdf (accessed May 12, 2006). United Nations. Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women through ICT, Women 2000 and Beyond. New York: UN Division for the Advancement of Women. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/public/w2000.html (accessed December 3, 2013). USAID. USAID Leland initiative: Africa GII Gateway 2000-2001. http://library.columbia.edu/content/libraryweb/indiv/global/cuvl/africa n_studies/usaid.html (accessed December 20, 2006). Wilson, Joseph and Ndomi Madi. Women and Internet Application. Journal of Issues in Technical Teacher Education 3, no.2 (2007): 7581. Wilson, Joseph. “Internet Access and Usage Among Female Students in University of Maiduguri.” Master’s thesis, University of MaiduguriNigeria, 2007. Wilson, Joseph., and Gapsiso, Nuhu D. “Feminist Analysis of African Women’s Use of ICT.” Unimaid Journal of Women Studies no.2 (2009):149-160. Women Environmental and Development Organization. “Kenya Experiences in the last Decade on Fostering Women's PoliticalParticipation in Kenya, country reports, 2007.” www.wedo.org/wp-content/uploads/kneya.doc (accessed July 5, 2010). Work of Women (2008). “Investing in Women Literacy.” http://www.workofwomen.org/2008-09-Issue-Brief.php (accessed July 5, 2010). Young, Gillian. “Cyber futures and Gender Equality.” http://www.barnard.columbia.edu/sfonline/blogs/youngs_05.htm (accessed July 7, 2012).

CHAPTER EIGHT COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES FOR NIGERIAN WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS CHIJIOKE ODII AND LUKE ANORUE

Abstract This article discusses two ways by which women’s participation in politics can be enhanced in Nigeria. They are adaptations of the development communication strategies of the United Nations for mobilizing an audience for a particular action. First is the applied Communication for Development model, which involves advocacy, social mobilization and programme communication. Second is the Assessment, Communication, Analysis, Design and Action system, which also entails mobilization but emphasizes situation evaluation, behaviour scrutiny and communication analysis. These models, when operated with women in focus, can moderate the uncompromising masculinity and the fanatic patriarchy that the Nigeria’s political process is known for. Keywords: communication models, Nigeria, political visibility, women.

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Introduction Politics, writes Nnoli (1986), may be correctly defined as all those activities which are directly or indirectly associated with the seizure, control, consolidation and use of state power. This definition brings to the fore the centrality of politics to humanity. Aristotle, it was, who described man as a political animal. Human beings have always been engaged in different forms of political activities at various levels - family, community, government. Due to the importance of politics to nation-building, every rational being wants to be included in the process. Unfortunately, women have critical issues that should be addressed regarding their involvement in politics. The near total exclusion of women from party politics in Nigeria is traceable to the colonial period when they were forced to give up many of their rights. In spite of the clamour for women’s political empowerment by many international organisations, including the United Nations, women’s representation in government and other public decision making positions is still very low the world over. Although there are regional disparities, a situational analysis still points to one fact: there is a huge gender gap between women and men’s representation in political leadership as in several other aspects of public life. This paper discusses two communication strategies as possible solutions to the critical problem of women’s systematic exclusion from electioneering activities in Nigeria.

Women in Politics in Nigeria Government, organizations and prominent individuals in Nigeria have professed love and respect for the Nigerian woman. Ndolo (2011) stresses women are the conscience of the nation. It is also said that any nation that trifles with women puts her existence at risk, on the premise that the woman is the hub around which the family revolves. Women are the custodians of peace in the family, many opine. Unimpressively, however, women have always played the role of the under-dog in Nigerian politics. They have not created, or have not been given, enough space to effectively exercise their political rights. This has resulted in the subordination of women in several aspects of public life. Nwankwo (2003) captures the situation with some data. According to him, Nigerian women, like their counterparts the world over, are poorly represented in politics and decision-making positions. This is despite the fact that they constitute roughly half of the current estimated population of 167 million. He adds that while the global average representation of

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women in national politics is five percent, the figure in Nigeria has hardly ever been more than three percent. Key executive and legislative positions in Nigeria have always been occupied by men. Nigeria has not had a female elected President, Vice President or Senate President since her independence in 1960. Despite the noise about “35 percent affirmative action” for women (a popular men’s campaign slogan), women’s representation on the country’s political landscape is still incredibly low. The outcome of the 2011 general elections clearly showed that women maintained their unenviable minority position in Nigerian politics. The results of the 2011 elections were not surprising to many observers as the process of exclusion started right from the composition of the party leadership in which men occupied all the key positions. Female politicians are always marginalized or discriminated against and excluded at the level of primaries. To a typical political party, female candidates are bad news. It is difficult to consider them as viable candidates.

Factors Promoting Under-Representation of Women in Nigerian Politics Several reasons can be adduced for the low participation and representation of women in the politics of Nigeria. Akiyode-Afolabi (2010) notes that the factors are related to the prevailing gender and cultural patterns in the country, ideology, pre-determined social roles assigned to women, male dominance and control, conflicting demands on the time of women candidates due to their domestic and social responsibilities and women’s lack of confidence in themselves to run elections. Others according to her, include women’s perception of politics as a dirty game, lack of funds and resources as politics is heavily monetised, poverty and unemployment, illiteracy and limited access to education, the dual burden of domestic task and professional obligation, women’s lack of confidence in other women, lack of access to information and the multiple effects of violence against women. The political structure of Nigeria is another factor that naturally works against women. In this direction, Ndolo (2011) observes that from the beginning, Nigerian politics was designed for the very rich; people with ethnic following, people with capacity for violence, deceit and dishonesty. Of course, only very few women can cope with these intimidating characteristics of Nigerian politics. Most worrisome is the belief in some quarters that women do not have anything appreciable to offer in politics. This particular reason has been

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behind the reluctance of many Nigerians to support female candidates for elective positions. Elechi Amadi (1981) explores this reason in his novel, The Slave, where one of the characters observes that the thoughts of women are nearly always crooked, and the older they get the worse, adding that is why they are not allowed to run the affairs of any community. However, excellent performances in the recent time have shown that women can handle political positions efficiently if they are given the chance to serve. For example, the works of Professor Dora Akunyili as National Agency for Food and Administration Control (NAFDAC) boss (and later Minister of Information) and Ngozi OkonjoIweala as Minister of Finance, are eloquent testimonies of the capability of women serving in government. The negative perception of female politicians as prostitutes, ill tempered and the like also affects women. This perception makes it difficult for them to be taken seriously in politics. As Ogbuehi (1999) puts it, when terms like “feminism”, “women’s rights”, “equality” and “empowerment” are mentioned, they evoke negative feelings in some people and consequently generate resentment. Men think these words and phrases are linked to a conspiracy to upset the patriarchal status quo and destabilize the services they enjoy from their women as mothers, wives, lovers, sisters and friends. Some women equally think some starry-eyed female propagandists want to strip the womenfolk of its femininity and the flattery they enjoy from the men. Godfatherism, a popular term in Nigeria for immoral imposition of candidates for elections by powerful party elements, has also been identified as a factor that works against women’s participation. Of course, there are no godmothers in the country’s politics! Anorue et al, (2012) observe that the godfathers prefer to deal with the male folk, who they find easy to influence and bind to an agreement. This situation makes it more difficult for women to play with men where it is not a level-playing field.

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Communication Strategy Designs for Enhanced Women’s Participation in Politics Introduction This paper proposes the strategy of advocacy, social mobilization and communication for increasing women’s participation and representation on the Nigerian political scene. The strategy is aimed at awareness creation, basic need orientation, mobilization of local resources and capacity building. The strategy involves two communication models, namely, Applied Communication for Development Model (ACD) and Assessment, Communication, Analysis, Design and Action Model (ACADA Model). These models encourage active audience participation in the communication and mobilization processes.

The Applied Communication for Development model (ACD) This ACD model involves three major activities – advocacy, social mobilization and programme communication – which are carried out to generate the necessary information and knowledge and for disseminating same to the target audience. Advocacy in the ACD model is used to raise the much-needed political will, local leadership support and commitment to facilitate the realisation of the programme objectives. Social mobilization is targeted at a wider partnership, participation, training and mobilization of stakeholders. The part played by programme communication in the design is to elicit a robust audience participation, knowledge base, positive attitude and behavioural change. Table 8-1 shows the strategies, participants/targets, activities and expected outcomes of the adoption of the ACD Model for increasing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria.

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Table 8- 1: Applied communication for development model Strategy Advocacy

Activity Advocacy visits, advocacy, luncheons, meetings, seminars/ workshops, rallies, lobbying, special events. Political parties, Seminars, party leaders/ symposia, training officials, NGOs, workshops, meetings, journalists/media producers, monitoring tours, advertisers, interpersonal artistes, leaders of communication, women sensitisation, organisations, mobilization, community leaders, motivation, school teachers and training feedback, government supervision. officials.

Outcome More interest in politics, awareness of leadership qualities of women, financial support for women in politics, change of orientation. Formation of women’s associations to support female candidates. Motivation of women to participate in politics, removal of social stigma against female candidates.

Social mobilization (2)

Leaders of women’s associations, religious leaders, leaders of political parties, community leaders, opinion leaders.

Orientation programmes, social research, financial intelligence activities, party membership sensitization activities.

Participation in political activities, increased financial support, encouragement, increased interest in politics, increased membership of political parties.

Program communication

All citizens of the country.

Information dissemination, behaviour analysis, audience survey, impact assessment.

Change of orientation, attitude change, increased participation of women in politics, support for women in politics, financial assistance, enabling socio-cultural environment.

Social mobilization (1)

Participant/Target Political leaders, political parties, women’s associations, decision makers.

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ACADA Communication Planning Model Situation analysis/ assessment report Situation analysis or assessment report in the ACADA model reviews the whole social development activities under study so as to identify various issues that may need communication support in order to ensure a successful implementation and outcome. The major aim of this project is to increase the level of women’s representation in politics in Nigeria. The expected outcomes or performance indicators of this project are: x increased number of women in politics at local, state, federal levels x increased number of female candidates contesting political positions x financial support for female candidates by organizations and individuals x higher level of support and elimination of all forms of discrimination against female candidates at all levels.

Communication analysis In the ACADA Model, communication analysis is carried out to enhance integrated use of communication for the purpose of achieving development goals and objectives. Problem, behaviour, participant and media/channel issues are the elements associated with communication analysis in this model. Other elements closely linked to it are the identification of communication objectives associated with the solution of the problems and the identification of the monitoring and evaluation processes as well as impact indicators.

Problem analysis In this model, problem analysis has to do with the identification of the issues that require solution, their causes, manifestation, degree of occurrence and effects. As noted earlier in this paper, women are poorly represented in politics in Nigeria. This is the problem that craves attention.

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Immediate Causes of the Problem Some of the identifiable immediate causes of these problems will include: money politics and the pay-off syndrome, lack of financial support, unprofitable family ties, insufficient interest in politics by women, violence and the roguery associated with the political processes.

Basic and Underlying Causes of the Problem The basic problem is the marginalization of women in the male-dominated politics of Nigeria. Some of the identifiable underlying causes of the problems include: the patriarchal system in the country that considers men superior to women, marginalization of women in political parties, social stigma against female politicians who are viewed sometimes as prostitutes.

Behaviour Analysis The analysis of the identified behaviour problems associated with low women’s participation and representation in politics in Nigeria indicates that discrimination or social stigma against women in politics is a common issue that has had adverse consequences. The identified problem behaviours are well established. For instance, the existing patriarchy in Nigeria is in consonance with the socio-cultural norms and practices in Nigeria. Most cultures in Nigeria create room for male superiority and female subordination. Some known significant efforts have been made to reverse the problem. Such efforts include the ratification of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) by Nigeria in 1985. Efforts have also been made by the female groups at the national level to stamp out the problems. However, no corresponding successes have been recorded. Nevertheless, the ideal behaviour, if achieved, will bring an appreciable increase in women’s participation in politics in Nigeria. The question, therefore, is: what are the ideal behaviours to promote?

Ideal Behaviours to Promote The following behaviours are vital and should be promoted as part of the ACADA communication model with women in focus: x Women show more interest in politics x More women join political parties as active members

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More women contest political positions Women form groups to support female candidates Political parties give more women chances to contest Cultural impediments to women participation in politics removed Individuals and groups treat male and female politicians equally Funds established to support female candidates Individuals and groups remove social stigma against female candidates.

Social Mobilization Partners and field Workers For the social mobilization to be successful, leaders and members of women’s organizations, community leaders, religious leaders, party officials, teachers in schools and opinion leaders should be involved.

Programme Communication The primary target audience of this programme communication project comprises the citizens at the federal, state and local levels. The target audience is required to participate actively to ensure a successful implementation.

The Target and User Audience Audience in this model comprises primary participants who are individual citizens, women’s associations, political parties and their leaders and secondary participants/target audience who are religious leaders, community leaders, school teachers, opinion leaders and so forth.

Media Analysis Media analysis helps in locating where the target audiences are likely to seek information on the political issues affecting women. Conducting a survey to allow the citizens identify and rank various media and interpersonal channels they are likely to use in seeking information on political issues affecting women is important. The communication channels that are available and accessible to the target audiences as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the channels are ascertained with a view to establishing their effectiveness and reach.

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Suggested Media for Advocacy and Social Mobilization The following media channels can be studied to determine their suitability for the advocacy and social mobilization in support of women. Electronic Media x Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) for nationwide broadcasting. x All state-owned radio and television stations and all private radio and television stations across the nation. x Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) for nationwide telecasting. x British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Focus on Africa, Voice of Nigeria (VON), audio-visual materials.

Print Media x All national newspapers. x All major news magazines published in Nigeria. x Leaflets, posters, handbills, interpersonal channels, advocacy visits, advocacy luncheons. x Visual presentation, rallies, workshops, meetings, seminars, lobbying.

Interpersonal Channels x x x x x

workshops/seminars rallies meetings churches and mosques women’s conferences.

Communication Objectives Communication objectives stem from the identified problems and ideal behaviours to promote in order to increase women’s representation in politics in Nigeria. The communication objectives here will include those listed in Table 8-2. It is important to state that the communication that

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emerges should be time-bound to ensure a good assessment. The year 2015 is used to qualify the objectives. Table 8-2: Problem behaviour, communication objectives

behaviour

to

promote

and

Problem Behaviour Lack of interest in politics by women in Nigeria.

Behaviour to Promote Communication Objective

Lack of financial support for female politicians in Nigeria.

Funds established to support female candidates.

Marginalization of women in political parties.

Political parties create a level play ground for male and female members.

Unawareness of leadership qualities of women in Nigeria. Social stigma against female politicians that makes people regard them as prostitutes.

Women are aware of their leadership qualities in Nigeria.

Women show more interest in politics in Nigeria.

Individuals remove social stigma against female politicians.

Objective1: By the end of 2015, Nigerian women will show interest in politics in Nigeria. Objective 2: By the end of 2015, funds will be provided and sustained by governments, NGOs and public-spirited individuals to support female candidates. Objective 3: By the end of 2015, political parties in Nigeria will create equal participation opportunities for male and female members. Objective 4: By the end of 2015, women with leadership qualities will be identified and trained. Objective 5: By the end of 2015, social stigma against female politicians in Nigeria will be removed.

Monitoring and evaluation indicators Monitoring and evaluation indicators are derived mainly from programme objectives and activities. They could be categorized into three, namely, process, impact and outcome indicators, depending on the aspects of the

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programme to be assessed (Nwuneli, 2001). Impact indicators deal with medium-term effects of the development programme. Impact studies normally adopt quantitative research methods and provide information on the extent to which programme objectives have been achieved. Outcome indicators evaluate the long-term effects of the programme. Below is the use of communication objectives earlier indicated to collate some of the strategy designs and implementation approaches.

Using Communication Objectives to Outline Action Plan One of the objectives (Objective 5) stated in Table 8-2 is used here to outline the action pan: By the end of 2015, social stigma against female politicians in Nigeria will be removed.

Objective Implementation x Design and develop appropriate information package for government officials on increasing women’s participation in politics. x Disseminate information through the media. x Monitor and evaluate activities.

Activities Preparation Work/Action x Produce the advocacy information kit, prepare advocacy/briefing presentation. x Conduct attitudinal baseline study of selected communities in the country. x Produce attitude change (radio) jingles based on the findings of the baseline study.

Advocacy activities x Advocacy briefing sessions with political leaders at federal, state and local government levels. x Annual briefing sessions on activities, information dissemination through the media.

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x Airing of video documentary on increasing women’s participation in politics. x Distribution of advocacy information kit and other related media products to national, state and grassroots target audiences.

Media Monitoring and Qualitative Evaluation of Programme Implementation This involves: x Receiving monitoring data on distribution of print media products and electronic spot placements. x Conducting impact assessment of knowledge and behavior change of executive, legislative and judicial arms of government. Table 8-3: Monitoring and evaluation indicators for Objective 5 Process indicators Quality and number of information kits produced and distributed. Number of radio jingles on attitudinal change towards female politicians aired. Quality and type of advocacy briefing to political leaders, leaders of women organizations, traditional rulers. Number of TV documentaries produced and aired on increasing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria.

Impact indicators Percentage of federal, state and local government (LG) council political leaders identifying with increasing women’s participation in politics. Percentage of federal, state and LG council officials with changed attitude towards increasing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria. Percentage of political leaders, women organizations’ leaders, traditional rulers who are knowledgeable about increasing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria. Number of media reports on increasing women’s participation in politics in Nigeria.

Below is the sequence of activities in the ACADA model as presented in Figure 8-2.

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Fig.8- 2: The slightly adapted ACADA communication model. (Also see http://www.unicef.org/cbsc/files/UNICEF_ACADA)

Conclusion This paper highlighted the abysmal participation and representation of women in politics in Nigeria. Various factors responsible for the seeming perennial subjugation of women in the country’s politics such as godfatherism among several others, were discussed. The need to increase the visibility of women in Nigeria’s political terrain is now obvious. To achieve this objective, two communication strategies, Applied Communication for Development (ACD) Model and the Assessment, Communication, Analysis, Design and Action (ACADA) Model were recommended. One thing stands out here: The task of making women more relevant in politics in Nigeria calls for a concerted effort. If women are left alone in this struggle, they are not going to go far.

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References Akiyode-Afolabi, A. “Nigerian Electoral Reform and the Prospect for Women’s Participation in the 2011 Elections.” http://www.ng.boell.org/web/gender-223.html (accessed October 10, 2010). Amadi, Elechi. The slave. London: Heinemann, 1981. Anorue, Luke., Obayi, I., Paul, M., and Onyebuchi Chima A. “The Mass Media, Gender Balance and Politics in Nigeria: An Assessment.” AFRREVLALIGENS: An International Journal of Language, Literature and Gender Studies 1, no.3 (2012): 14-35. Ndolo, Ike S. “Changing the Images of Women in Nigerian Media.” In Contemporary Issues in Communication and Society, edited by I.S. Ndolo. Enugu: Rehyee Kerex Ltd, 2011. Nnoli, Okwudiba. Introduction to Politics. Hong Kong: Longman Group (FE) Ltd., 1986. Nwankwo, N. “A Challenge Dated in History (1914-2003).” In Gender Audit -2003 Elections and Issues in Women’s Political Participation in Nigeria, edited by A. Akiyode-Afolabi and L. Arogundade, 7-20. Lagos: WARDC, 2003. Nwuneli Onuora E. “Communication Strategy for Abia State Communitybased Poverty Reduction Project (ABCPRP).” National Planning Commission (World Bank Community-Based Poverty Reduction Project), 2001. Ogbuehi, C.U. “Women, Literature and Empowerment.” Nsukka Journal of the Humanities no.10 (1999): 42-54. Sarvaes, Jan. Approaches to Development Communication. Paris: UNESCO, 2002. UNICEF (2011). “The ACADA Communication Planning Process.” http://www.unicef.org/cbsc/files/UNICEF_ACADA (accessed October 20, 2011).

CONTRIBUTORS

Ajala, Victoria Victoria Ajala, Associate Professor at Bowen University, Iwo, Nigeria, bagged her Ph.D. (Communication Arts) in 1992 at the University of Ibadan. She graduated in 1979 with First Class Honours at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; M.S. Advertising from Boston University, USA (1982) and M.Sc. Public Relations from Stirling University, Scotland, UK (1991). She won the 1990/1991 Association of Commonwealth Universities scholarship for the M.Sc. (PR) in Stirling University. She is the first Nigerian to earn such a degree and also the first Nigerian female PR textbook author. She has published three books, contributed several chapters in books and written numerous articles in local and foreign journals. Dr. Ajala is a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), Nigeria and member of African Public Relations Association (APRA). Tijani Adenle, Ganiyat Ganiyat Tijani Adenle is a lecturer in the Journalism Department of Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication, Lagos State University, Nigeria. She obtained a Master’s Degree in Mass Communication from the University of Lagos. Her interests are in news and gender, new media and technologies, film, African studies, politics and advertising. Aririguzoh, Stella Stella Aririguzoh obtained her Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. She acquired a B.A (Mass Communication) and MBA (Management) degrees from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. She also obtained M.A (Broadcasting) and M.Sc. (Industrial Relations/Personnel Management) from the Abia State University, Uturu, and the University of Lagos, Akoka, respectively. She has been teaching mass communication since 2000. At present, she teaches broadcast courses in the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University. She has deep interests in political communication.

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Contributors

Oso, Lai Lai Oso is a Professor of Journalism and the Dean, Adebola Adegunwa School of Communication, Lagos State University, Nigeria. He obtained his Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Leicester University, United Kingdom. His teaching and research interests include political communication, sociology of news, development communication, and new media technologies. Popoola, Ibitayo Ibitayo Popoola, a former editor of Diet Weekend newspaper, Vision Express evening tabloid and CreditNews magazine (Lagos), is a lecturer at the World Bank Centre of Excellence in Multi-Media & Cinematography as well as UNESCO Centre of Excellence in Media Training and Mass Communication, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos. He holds an M.Phil in Political Communication from the University of Lagos. His articles have been published both locally and internationally, especially in USA, India, South Africa, Ghana and Botswana. He is a member of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and African Council for Communication Education (ACCE). Anorue, Luke Ifeanyi Luke Anorue is Senior Lecturer, Mass Communication Department, University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He has published many articles in reputable and high impact journals. Gapsiso, Nuhu Nuhu Gapsiso is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria. His teaching and research interests are in Health Communication and Public Relations. He is a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE). Morah, Ngozi Doris Ngozi Morah is a lecturer at the Department of Mass Communication, Madonna University, Okija, Anambra state. Her doctoral research is ongoing at the Nnamdi Azikwe University, Awka, Nigeria. Her interest is in new media and Development. Odii, Chijioke Chijioke Odii is a lecturer in the Mass Communication Department of Samuel Adegboyega University, Ogwa, Edo State, Nigeria. He is an

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experienced journalist, having served in several newspapers including the Leadership newspaper in Abuja, Nigeria, where he worked as a sub-editor. Omojola, Oladokun (Editor) Dr. Oladokun Omojola is Senior Lecturer at Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. Prior to his career in academics, Dr. Omojola practised as a writer for Daily Times and senior editor with The Guardian newspapers both in, Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Mass Communication and graduated with an M.Sc. and a Ph.D from the University of Lagos and Covenant University respectively. He consults for the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), a federal government body and was the chair of the Local Organizing Committee of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) Conference (2011) held in Ota, where the issue of violence against women featured prominently. Dr. Omojola invented the House Sign®, an advertising design system of three elements - house number, street name and a message – through which social and commercial messages directed at micro targets in homes (families, women and children) are posted on house frontages, as seen in parts of some West and East African countries, including Nigeria and Kenya. He has contributed articles to several high impact books and multidisciplinary journals published locally and internationally. Some of his works have been presented at conferences and published in journals with world class indexing, including Reuters’ SSI and CPCI. His areas of interest are in media and gender, media performance, advertising and new media technologies. Oyero, Olusola Dr. Oyero lectures in the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria. His research interests cuts across media and children/youth, development communication and democracy, as well as indigenous language media. Mailing address: Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria. Dr. Oyero is currently a visiting lecturer at the Northwest University (Mafikeng Campus), South Africa. Oyesomi, Kehinde Dr. Kehinde Oyesomi is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, Covenant University, Ota, Nigeria.

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Contributors

Usman, Musa Musa Usman teaches in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. His research interests are in international broadcasting, advertising, communication theory and communication research. He has served as a resource person in several capacity building workshops in Nigeria. He is a member of African Council for Communication Education (ACCE). Wilson, Joseph Joseph Wilson is a lecturer in the Department of Mass Communication, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri, Nigeria. His teaching and research interests are in information and communication technologies and African communication system. He is a member of African Council for Communication Education (ACCE) and European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA).