Performance of Nigerian Newspapers in Accurate Reportage of Selected Supreme Court Decisions

Abstract: Previous studies have focused on the Supreme Court of Nigeria (SCN) from a wide range of perspectives. But literature search reveals a dearth of studies on media reportage of SCN’s decisions and the extent to which the media accurately communicate the judgments to the public. This study evaluates the magnitude and accuracy of media reports on six selected decisions of the apex court. Social responsibility theory provided the theoretical framework. Primary data was collected from the reports of the selected newspapers while certified Supreme Court judgments of the selected cases formed the secondary data. The decisions evaluated included the Ibori's ex-convict status controversy; the legality of ex-Governor Ladoja's impeachment; the validity of 2007 electoral victory of Governor Wamakko and President Umaru Yar'Adua; the ownership tussle between Akwa Ibom and Cross River over 76 oil wells and the tenure elongation suit. The Guardian, The Punch, Daily Trust and Daily Sun newspapers were selected for the study based on ownership and national circulation. Twenty-four editions of the newspapers were selected for content analysis. A 14-item coding sheet was the instrument of data collection. Quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics. The selected newspapers were fairly accurate (57.5%) in communicating the decisions of the SCN. The Guardian newspaper had the most accurate reports (76%), while the Daily Sun had the least accurate reports (44.7%). The study found that the magnitude and degree of accuracy of the newspaper reports depended on the nature of the case facts, the political weight of the parties involved in the dispute, nature of the judgments handed down by the SCN in the cases, and the individual newspapers owing to ownership interest, location and their editorial policies

Culture in sustainable infrastructure

The high failure rate of infrastructures around the world is alarming, most especially when such failures constrain economic growth and development. In most cases, existing institutions or strategies designed to maintain and reproduce effective infrastructures in areas that lack them have been mostly unsuccessful, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. A carefully conducted survey covering the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria confirms the low-level stability, supply, quality and maintenance of infrastructure and its services. Using the severity index in matrix order model developed in this study, major factors responsible for unsustainable infrastructure delivery and failures are identified. The paper further argues that these major factors are interrelated rather than being peculiar to Nigeria or sub-Saharan Africa. Suffice it to say that the effects of these problems are widespread and of global impact. However, what cuts across all the major factors responsible for unsustainable infrastructure delivery and high failure rates are gross institutional lapses. In view of the fact that sustainable infrastructure is essential for sustainable development, this paper emphasises the uniqueness of the recipients' cultures and values alongside the integration of indigenous communities and infrastructure users: from conceptualisation to delivery within the framework for institutional building and sustainable infrastructure provision

A Critical Study Of Vehicle Sticker And Inscription Texts That Transport Group and Individual Identities in Nigeria

Previous studies have focused on vehicle sticker and inscription texts from a wide range of perspectives. They include the stylistic, linguistic and pragmatic analyses of vehicle inscriptions, the transmission of moral and cultural values of sticker texts across borders, vehicle writings as conveyors of humours, slang and witticism and inscription and sticker texts that construct social, political and economic vices that are prevalent in Nigeria. However, none have worked on individual and group identity sticker and inscription texts in relation to agitation, high-handedness, over-bearing manner and all forms of lawlessness in Nigeria. In this paper, we examine individual and group identity sticker and inscription texts that relate to agitation, high-handedness, over-bearing manner and all forms of lawlessness in Nigeria. The Ethnography of Communication forms the kernel of our theoretical framework. Our data include nine pieces of sticker and inscription texts that communicate the inherent identities of the different academic and professional organizations, the perception of the public about the organizations, information from some Nigerian dailies and captions of the popular EndSARS protests in 2020. We argue that group and individual texts on automobiles signal to the reading public a lot about the organizations which include agitation, high-handedness, over-bearing manner and other forms of lawlessness in Nigeria. The paper reveals that what is contained on the bodies of most of the organizations’ vehicles does not always reflect the activities of such organizations