Anti-corruption Promises and Print Media: The Case of Nigeria

Assertions are held widely that the mass media play an important role in ensuring that an elected government fulfills its campaign promises. This paper examines the reaction of the Nigerian government headed by Goodluck Jonathan to corrupt practices and media’s response to that reaction. Newspaper reports of the alleged corrupt purchase of two bullet proof vehicles by a senior government official are used as a test case of the Jonathan’s promise to stamp out corruption. Content analysis was adopted to generate data for the study. Results show that government’s promise was not fulfilled, as public office holders emphasized the mundane aspect of corruption as a strategy to distract citizens’ attention from the real issue of corruption eradication. The citizens’ hope that the government would prosecute suspected corrupt officials, as reported by the media, was short-lived

E-Commerce Advertisement and Usage Experience: The Case of Nigeria

This study presents, at a glance, the level of awareness of some respondents about e-commerce platforms in Nigeria. It explores their preferences and provides some information on how they are responding to e-commerce commercials. The theoretical anchor is the Technology Acceptance Model. Some 97.5 per cent of the 200 respondents surveyed returned their completed questionnaire. The impressive number was as a result of the large number and efficiency of research assistants whoadministered the instrument in the Ado-Odo Local Government Area of Ogun State, a political subdivision of Nigeria. Results show low awareness, though respondents had opined that the e-commercials were helpful and factual. The results further indicate that the productivity expected by respondents as a result of e-commerce patronage is unimpressive owing to infrastructural deficit, insecurity, illiteracy and a weak legal system. Findings indicate that reading manuals in local languages can lead to a better user experience. The deployment of biometric applications for more security, extensive media campaign as well as better machine-customer interaction can also help.Keywords: Nigeria, E-commerce, Advertisement, Usage experience Digital wallet, Technology, ATM, POS

E-Commerce Advertisement and Usage Experience: The Case of Nigeria

This study presents, at a glance, the level of awareness of some respondents about e-commerce platforms in Nigeria. It explores their preferences and provides some information on how they are responding to e-commerce commercials. The theoretical anchor is the Technology Acceptance Model. Some 97.5 per cent of the 200 respondents surveyed returned their completed questionnaire. The impressive number was as a result of the large number and efficiency of research assistants whoadministered the instrument in the Ado-Odo Local Government Area of Ogun State, a political subdivision of Nigeria. Results show low awareness, though respondents had opined that the e-commercials were helpful and factual. The results further indicate that the productivity expected by respondents as a result of e-commerce patronage is unimpressive owing to infrastructural deficit, insecurity, illiteracy and a weak legal system. Findings indicate that reading manuals in local languages can lead to a better user experience. The deployment of biometric applications for more security, extensive media campaign as well as better machine-customer interaction can also help.Keywords: Nigeria, E-commerce, Advertisement, Usage experience Digital wallet, Technology, ATM, POS

CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AND NEW MEDIA USAGE IN SELECTED UNIVERSITIES IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Corporate communication is an essential tool for organisational management and employed by universities to engage both the internal and external publics. The emergence of the new media has reshaped communication channels and modified strategies for information gathering, processing, dissemination and utilisation. This has however created tension between stakeholders in universities. Therefore, this study sought to identify the dominant organisational structure of corporate communication units in universities; investigate the extent of involvement of corporate communication officers in strategic planning processes of administration and corporate events in universities; and the extent to which new media are utilised by corporate communication units in selected universities in South-West, Nigeria. The study adopted Systems theory, Technological Determinism model and Uses and Gratification theory as explanatory tools. The descriptive survey research design was adopted, involving the use of questionnaire and interview research instruments. The sample size of 415 respondents was selected from six universities in Lagos, Ogun and Oyo States. The sample was made up of 150 respondents who were employees in the corporate communication units and academic staff in Departments of Mass Communication and 265 students in Mass Communication Departments of the selected universities. The purposive and simple random sampling techniques were adopted. Interviews were also conducted with the heads of corporate communication units and Mass Communication Departments. The study found that the organisational structure of corporate communication units in the selected universities varied from simple to complex organograms. Each university’s corporate communication unit was structured and operated based on the communication needs of each of the university. Corporate communication officers were not fully involved in the strategic planning processes of university administration because they were not incorporated into university management; however, corporate communication officers organised, coordinated and served more in corporate events and protocol management functions. Moreover, the study revealed that although selected universities combined both the traditional and new media to enhance communication processes, new media technologies, particularly, the social media were also utilised by universities with WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter as the dominant platforms. The result of the tested hypothesis revealed the R-value as 0. 769, which suggests that the functionality of internal communication significantly influences employees’ level of satisfaction with the new media usage in selected universities. Thus, the alternate hypothesis (Ha) was accepted. The study, therefore, proposes a uniform organisational structure for corporate communication divisions in universities in Nigeria and the need for university management to invest more in corporate communication to align with global best practices in the field. Finally, the study recommends that all stakeholders in communication management in universities should join hands in formulating policies, structure, and functions that will help to improve corporate communication practice in the appropriate units in universities

Women Entrepreneurs in Nigeria:Where Is the Mass Media?

For ages, the African culture has limited the activities of women and conditioned, to a large extent,the mentality of most African countries about the place and positioning of women in the society. The mass media have been used as a tool in this. Promoting the abilities and achievements of women in the society is one of the important roles of the media in reducing the rate of gender discrimination. These achievements are becoming noticeable in politics and entrepreneurship; thus, setting a standard for other women in the society to build on. This chapter will explore the role of the media in promoting the woman entrepreneur in Nigeria. The study employed the survey research method for data gathering. Findings showed that women have equal opportunity to grow their businesses. Data shows that this growth is slow as there are no significant differences between respondents who agree or disagree with the availability of enabling environment for women to grow their business as compared to their male counterpart. The study recommends that the mass media need to give more voice to their businesses and activities to paveway and encourage the younger women in the society

SOBOTONE, PONKIRIYON, HERBAL MARKETING COMMUNICATION AND NIGERIA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

This study examined the sudden rise in the marketing, communication and consumption of herbal products and the challenge of Nigeria’s healthcare system. Specifically, it focused on the transformed traditional herbal blends named Sobotone and Ponkiriyon. Whilst locating the rationale for, as well as the consequences of rising intake of the raw herbal products, the study brought to fore the gains and pains experienced by their consumers. With a brief examination of the application of marketing communication tools that accentuated their local awareness and patronage, the study showed how herbal products fared within the reality of Nigeria’s healthcare system. Two Scopus-indexed journals provided arguments for this study concerning the capacity of the country’s healthcare system to address the possible outcomes of increased consumption of Sobotone and Ponkiriyon. Hinged on Uses and Gratification theory, the study adopted a qualitative method of analysis using ten Focus Group Discussions, ten Indepth interviews and content analyzed the two indexed reports on Nigeria’s healthcare system. Results from Focus Group Discussions conducted amongst regular consumers of Sobotone and Ponkiriyon revealed, among other things, the participants’ addiction to the herbal concoctions. Also, the Indepth Interviews with sellers of unregulated herbal concoctions indicated marketing communication assisted profiting, attenuated by the hazard of trekking to sell. The deteriorating condition of the country’s healthcare system was affirmed by the selected learned publications. The work concluded that urgent action needs to be taken by relevant agencies to avoid herb-addiction disaster which the current healthcare system in Nigeria is not equipped enough to counter. Further researches into the growing herbal industry were also recommended

Non-Governmental Organizations in the Eyes of Newspapers in Nigeria: 2013 – 2016 in Focus

This study examines the activities of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Nigeria that attracted newspaper coverage. Nine NGO themes in 488 stories of four leading titles – Daily Trust, The Guardian, The Punch and ThisDay – published between 2013 and 2016, were studied. Findings show that 82 reports appeared, representing 17%. NGOs reports occupied the least prominent, inner pages of the newspapers. Whilst Daily Trust appeared as the best NGO-friendly newspaper, 95% of the overall reportage was found positive. Infant and maternal health attracted 28% attention ahead of eight other themes. Also discovered were 12 dailies of “zero report†of NGO activities by all the newspapers. Overall results confirm the assertions that NGOs are poorly reported in Nigeria. The study recommends the creation of newspaper columns for NGO stories and a forum that connects both journalists and NGO operators

The Influence of the Audience’s Disposition towards Web Adverts on Product Awareness and Patronage

This study investigates how the audience views online advertisements and the implication of this for the interest and patronage of the products advertised. The upsurge of the use of the Internet in Nigeria has inspired several online businesses. This is not surprising since businesses must move to where the customers are. The increased activities and time spent online by Internet users has also made the virtual space an appealing platform for advertisements. So alluring is the Internet that businesses that are not online also attempt to use web advertisements to pull customers to their physical shops. However, the audience may not be as receptive to these adverts as most businesses may expect. In fact, some Internet users tend to consider web advertisements as nuisances. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to find out the extent of audience’s exposure to web advertisements, audience’s disposition towards the advertisements, and how this disposition influences audience’s attitude towards the product being advertised. The survey design was adopted with a sample size of 279 respondents. Analysis of the data suggests that not only were the respondents exposed to online adverts, they had a positive disposition towards the adverts and that influenced their purchasing decisio

GIRLS AND ICTS ORIENTATION

Female illiteracy, especially in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), has been identified by several scholars as a major social problem in developing countries such as Nigeria.This situation has caught the attention of various governmental and non-governmental organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF and concerned parents and individuals. The interventions and support brought in by these organizations and individuals have been of immense help as parents now see the need to allow their girl-child exposure to education, especially in the rural areas. However, the access,acquisition and expertise of the girl-child in the area of ICT are still limited. This paper, therefore,intends to look at this problem from the perspective of the Nigerian parent, a representative of government, a representative of an NGO working in this area, teachers in all facets of education, a sociologist and a psychologist. The worry of parents not wanting to expose their children, particularly girl children, to TV (foreign media fare), and in particular the Internet (over which they have no control), because of their supposed corrupting influences will also be examined. Incidentally, ICT promises to increase the girl-child’s access to quality education and quality development in a world that is fast becoming digital. Lack of exposure to or inadequate knowledge of ICT would not stand the girl-child in a good stead to compete favorably with her boy-child counterpart in an economy that is dominated by science and technology. This paper would also look at the strategies that have been put in place to checkmate child-online abuse which has become a major concern for parents and regulatory frameworks, regarding girl-child’s use of the internet and the benefits of ICT on the girl-child development; it would also serve to enlighten parents on the opportunities their girls stand to get when they become ICT savvy. The challenges to curricular designers are to fashion a mechanism for counter-balancing the threat to cultural values with the overwhelming advantages of ICT; and to convince parents that the benefits of the ICT far outweigh the fears of cultural pollution. A Focus Group Discussion (FGD) involving parents, NGOs working in this area and teachers in post primary and tertiary institutions will be the pivot around which the study will revolve