The Role of Social Media on Electoral Education in Nigeria
Chapter One
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The study is focused on examining the role(s) of social media on electoral education in Nigeria; specifically, the following aims are highlighted:
- To examine the possibility of employing social media as a tool for electoral education in Nigeria.
- To examine the unique roles of social media in enhancing electoral education in Nigeria.
- To recommend effective ways of using social for a successful electoral education in Nigeria.
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED AND RELEVANT LITERATURES
INTRODUCTION
Democracy is widely acknowledged as the best form of government in most parts of the world today. Elections, which represent the most modern and universally accepted process through which individuals are chosen to represent a body or community in a larger entity or government is one of the cardinal features of democracy. This is so because in a democracy, the authority of the government derives from the consent of the governed. This is perhaps why democracy is commonly referred to as “the government of the people by the people and for the people”. Usually, a democratic election would characteristically be competitive, periodic, inclusive, definitive and free and fair. Nigeria’s democracy may be considered nascent when compared to the older democracies of the western world. Be that as it may, the 2011 general election has gone down in the history of the country as one of the best elections in the last few years of uninterrupted civilian rule in the land. [3], observes that one remarkable thing about the 2011 general elections was the adoption of social media especially the facebook by the politicians, the political parties and the electorates as a platform for political participation. The importance attached to social media in the 2011 general elections was better explained by President Goodluck Jonathan’s decision to declare his intention to run for the highest political office in the land on facebook.
Jonathan had on Wednesday, September 15, 2010 informed his 217,000 fans on the world’s most popular networking platform (facebook) of his intent; 24 hours later, 4,000 more fans joined his page, and by the day of the election, on 16 April 2011, he had over half a million followers. His closest rivals – Alhaji Mohammed Buhari of the CPC, Nuhu Ribadu of the ACN and Alhaji Shakarau of the ANPP were also among those that made heavy presence on facebook and other social media platforms. In addition to the approximately 3 million registered Nigerians on Facebook and 60,000 on Twitter, almost every institution involved in Nigeria’s elections conducted an aggressive social networking outreach, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political parties, candidates, media houses, civil society groups and even the police [4]. Apart from the presidential candidates, many governorship aspirants, senatorial and house of assembly seat contenders from the various states of the federation also embarked on aggressive use of social media platforms especially the Facebook to disseminate their political messages, woo electorates and support groups towards the actualization of their goals. Before the advent of the new media, the older or conventional media – radio, television, newspapers, magazines, etc, ruled the world, and had directly or indirectly blocked popular participation in the electoral process. This is because there has always been scarcity of space and airtime given by the conventional media to the citizens to have their say in politics, governance and in the electoral process.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research design
The researcher used descriptive research survey design in building up this project work the choice of this research design was considered appropriate because of its advantages of identifying attributes of a large population from a group of individuals. The design was suitable for the study as the study sought to examine the role of social media on electoral education in Nigeria.
Sources of data collection
Data were collected from two main sources namely:
- Primary source and
- Secondary source
Primary source:
These are materials of statistical investigation which were collected by the research for a particular purpose. They can be obtained through a survey, observation questionnaire or as experiment; the researcher has adopted the questionnaire method for this study.
Secondary source:
These are data from textbook Journal handset etc. they arise as byproducts of the same other purposes. Example administration, various other unpublished works and write ups were also used.
Population of the study
Population of a study is a group of persons or aggregate items, or things. The researcher is interested in getting information which will aid to examine the role of social media on electoral education in Nigeria. Two hundred (200) respondents were randomly selected randomly by the researcher as the population of the study.
CHAPTER FOUR
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA
Introduction
In this chapter, the focus will be on presenting the data we have collected and collated through the question. This presentation will be based on the responses from the completed questionnaires. The result of this exercise will be summarized in tabular forms for easy references and analysis. It will also show answers to questions relating to the research questions for this research study. The researcher employed simple percentage in the analysis.
CHAPTER FIVE
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
Introduction
It is important to reiterate that the objective of this study was to examine the role of social media on electoral education in Nigeria. In the preceding chapter, the relevant data collected for this study were presented, critically analyzed and appropriate interpretation given. In this chapter, certain recommendations made which in the opinion of the researcher will be of benefits in examining the role of social media on electoral education in Nigeria.
Summary
This study was undertaken to examine the role of social media on electoral education in Nigeria. The study opened with chapter one where the statement of the problem was clearly defined. The study objectives and research hypotheses were defined and formulated respectively. The study reviewed related and relevant literatures. The chapter two gave the conceptual framework, empirical and theoretical studies. The third chapter described the methodology employed by the researcher in collecting both the primary and the secondary data. The research method employed here is the descriptive survey method. The study analyzed and presented the data collected in tables and tested the hypotheses using the chi-square statistical tool. While the fifth chapter gives the study summary and conclusion.
Conclusion and Recommendations
In conclusion, this study contends that the significant use of social media during general elections in Nigeria can be a result of three key factors:
- the tendency of election stakeholders in Nigeria to follow the global trends in the use of social media as a political communication tool;
- the tendency of Nigerian politicians and political parties to tap into the opportunities offered by social media to reach and engage their constituents and voters; and lastly
- The tendency to use the social media tools to improve the efficiency of election observation.
The study argues that the four key stakeholders in the Nigerian electoral process (the INEC, Politicians/political parties, the electorate, and the CSOs) should make extensive use of social media during the 2019 elections. Each of these stakeholders in the past used the social media to achieve a number of interrelated objectives. INEC used social media basically to broadcast messages on the elections and receive feedbacks from the public on their experience with the process. Politicians/political parties used the social media to reach out to the voters and canvassed for vote and support. The electorates used social media to report their experiences and receive election related information, while the CSOs used the social media to mobilize and educate the electorates as well as to cover and report their observation of the electoral process. There are many questions about the reliability of the information collected and shared through the social media, especially in highly-disputed contests as Nigeria’s presidential election.
Crowd-sourcing often relies upon information provided by grassroots citizens in the local communities, who are sometimes anonymous reporters. Bearing in mind the fact that some of these citizen/journalists might be people with partisan interests, it is difficult to affirm the accuracy of the reports without subjecting them to a systematic verification process. Reliability improves if independent verification checks are built into the system; for example, if a random sample of reports are vetted by a trusted and independent agency, or if reports from multiple sources such as CSOs, local and international observers, election officials, security personnel and the media, are compared. Information shared through the social media during the 2011 general elections passed through only little or no form of vetting or verification which led to misinformation being circulated. Going by the outcomes of the 2011 general elections, it can be argued that Nigeria may have broken the cycle of flawed and bad elections, but the challenges that lie ahead are many and daunting. Between now and the next general polls in 2015, far-reaching electoral, political and economic reforms are needed to help consolidate the modest gains made in 2011 and launch the country on the path of permanent and sustainable electoral change. Be that as it may, INEC requires fundamental reforms ranging from organizational restructuring, including decentralization, strengthening of state and local government offices and staff recruitment and training. Institution-building should be pursued with vigour and rigour. There is no need to re-invent the wheel, however. Both government and INEC should revisit, widely disseminate and implement the remaining recommendations contained in the 2009 Uwais Electoral Reform Committee Report. The electoral process should continue to be improved, and complaints and litigation should be resolved quickly. The entire process needs to be made as simple and people-friendly as possible. INEC‟s legal framework should be addressed, and it should seek domestic and international help to alleviate its weaknesses. Government, working with other key political players and social actors, has the responsibility of constructing a system of disincentives to deter political and electoral malfeasance. This should be done through political and economic reforms that make the state relevant to most Nigerians. Besides, more attention should be paid to developing industrial and manufacturing capacity in order to create jobs for the army of restive and idle school-leavers and graduates who are readily used as agents of political violence and electoral malfeasance. The current post electoral system should be reviewed and consideration be given, as proposed by the Uwais Committee, to introducing some degree of proportional representation. More generally, the political system turns elections into a zero-sum game and this is not a recipe for national unity. Through civic and voter education, as well as public statements and concrete actions, the government should foster greater public consciousness of what Nigeria means to its people and the values guiding the country. Nigeria has the resources and the capacity to entrench a culture of credible elections, with all that would mean for sustainable democracy. But President Jonathan and his cabinet will need to summon the political will to lead that effort.
Based on findings of this study dwelling on the challenges and benefits of the use of social media in elections, the following are therefore recommended:
- The benefits of the use of social media outweigh its challenges, as such the civil society should adopt its use and equally encourage other election stakeholders to use social media in subsequent elections in Nigeria.
- The Electoral Act should be enhanced to provide specific guidelines on the use of social media in Nigeria’s future elections.
- INEC should establish guidelines for the use of social media as a political communication tool in Nigeria.
- INEC, CSOs, and security agencies should establish modalities to systematically verify information reported by citizen observers through the social media.
- INEC should establish a social media tracking center to monitor, collate, and interpret trends and reports during elections.
REFERENCES
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- Alemika, E.E.O. (2011). Post-Election Violence in Nigeria: Emerging Trend and Lessons. Retrieved from: Accessed on October 15, 2012
- Amuchie, M. (2012). Social Media Critical to Success, says Jega. Retrieved August 01, 2014 from Arthur, C. (2012). Encouraging Political Participation in Africa. Retrieved August 18, 2013
- Asuni, J. B. and Farris, J. (2011). Tracking Social Media: The Social Media Tracking Center and the 2011 Nigerian Elections. Abuja: Shehu Musa Yar‟Adua Foundation.
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