African Renaissance
ISSN: 1744-2532 (Print) ISSN: 2516-5305 (Online)
Indexed by: SCOPUS, IBSS, EBSCO, COPERNICUS, ProQuest,
J-Gate and Sabinet
Vol. 19, (No. 2), June 2022
pp 193-211
Safeguarding Democracy through the Lens of a Nigerian
Advertiser: Evidence from three Newspapers
DOI: https://doi.org/10.31920/2516-5305/2022/19n2a10
AYO-OBIREMI, IfeKristi
Department of Mass Communication
Redeemer’s University
Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
Email: Ifeyoobi14@gmail.com
ADELABU, Omowale
Department of Mass Communication
Redeemer’s University
Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
Email: adelabuo@run.edu.ng
SANUSI, Bernice
Department of Mass Communication
Redeemer’s University
Ede, Osun State, Nigeria
Email: sanusib@run.edu.ng
TALABI, Felix
Department of Mass Communication
Redeemer’s University, Ede, Osun State
Email: talabif@run.edu.ng
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Abstract
In the struggle for continuous democracy in Nigeria, gained many years ago,
brands, organisations, individuals and government agencies seek to leverage
democracy celebration to promote themselves, make a profit, felicitate with the
country and, at the same time, use their messages to sustain democracy.
Hinged on the social/ethical responsibility of the media and the agenda-setting
theory, advertisers go beyond promoting their brands to generating and
advertising messages that will safeguard rather than hinder democracy.
Adopting the qualitative and quantitative content analysis method and selecting
three national newspapers, this study examined the frequency of democracy
day celebration messages in the selected newspapers, advertisers’ focus on the
messages, and the appeals adopted. The study found that Nigerian democracy
is declining while the annual celebration continues and is used to promote
brands and encourage the democratic process. Advertisers and the media, if
consistent, will help safeguard continuous democracy.
Keywords: Advertiser, Advertising appeals, Democracy, Media, Nigeria.
Introduction
Nigeria, one of the nations colonised by Britain, peacefully gained its
independence on October 1, 1960. After independence, Nigeria
experienced a severe internal crisis that claimed many lives and
prevented the citizens from enjoying their freedom (Norwich University,
2017; Rescue, 2016). Nigerians yearned for an administration ruled by
themselves, for themselves, and not an administration governed by a few
representatives in government. However, the dream to experience
complete independence was not in sight as the existing constitution only
allowed for representative government. Through internal mass
media/citizen and external international pressures/interference, the
death of the dictator military leader in 1998 alongside a successfully free
and fair election, Nigeria gained democracy on May 29, 1999 (Ajani,
2012).
Democracy was celebrated annually by Nigerian citizens on May 29,
and the citizens looked forward to a continuous representative
government. In 2018, however, the federal government changed the
celebration date to June 12 to commemorate the annulled free and fair
election held in 1993 and in honour of the late Moshood Abiola (Addy,
2019). Over the years, the state of the country in enjoying ‘true’
democracy has been questioned because of the prevalent corruption,
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self-serving
politicians,
violence/disintegrative
conflicts,
social/economic/religious crisis, irregularities in conducting free and fair
elections, and ethnic discrimination among citizens (Egbefo, 2015;
Nwogu, 2015).
These, however, are not enough to give up on democracy in Nigeria,
as the solution to a failing cause is not abandonment. Thus, individuals,
organisations, brands, and the government annually celebrate democracy
with an annual presidential democracy speech, a national holiday, and
reflections on the fathers’ efforts who pushed for democracy and
democracy debates (Addy, 2019; Akinnuga, 2020).
Media houses, brands and advertisers celebrate democracy as a social
and ethical responsibility by airing programmes that encourage
continuous democratic practice during democracy celebration, inviting
prominent citizens for democracy discussions, and organising shows
that promote democracy (Olatunji, 2018). They further give citizens
helpful information needed to make rational decisions and be a part of
the democratic government. Advertisers, a primary bedrock for the
survival of the media and whose messages are disseminated to the
audience via media channels, are not left out of the struggle for
safeguarding Nigerian democracy. The advertising industry, a business
entity whose main aim is to make a profit, leverages on national
celebrations by creatively putting its brand messages in the media during
these occasions (Olatunji, 2018). These advertisers use creative
techniques like rational and emotional appeals to entreat their audiences’
human nature/feelings and their decision-making thought process,
which helps put their brands in the audience’s minds and achieve their
aims (Dix & Marchegiani, 2013). Beyond making money, these
brands/advertisers, as a means of being socially and ethically
responsible, place brand messages during special occasions to celebrate
with the nation and its citizens (Olatunji, 2018) and encouraged to
uphold and safeguard development.
Existing literature abounds on the use of advertisements to push
political agenda, inform citizens on the necessity of voting for selected
candidates, state their political agenda and thus encourage democracy in
an election year (Ademilokun & Taiwo, 2013). Beyond political
advertising, the researcher did not come across existing literature on
how brands celebrate democracy annually, nor how advertising messages
during democracy celebration safeguard or hinder democracy.
Advertisements and the democratic process should not be limited to
political parties and aspirants using political advertising during elections.
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Still, as a social responsibility and agenda-setting mission, brands and
regular advertisers should creatively safeguard the democratic process
for societal development.
This study, therefore, seeks to identify how, as a social and ethical
responsibility, brands have celebrated democracy and ascertain the
frequency of brand democracy advertising messages over the years in
Nigerian newspapers. Also, the study will examine the focus of
advertisers’ messages during democracy – if advertisers
congratulated/promoted their brands during Nigerian democracy
celebration over the years or if they have, through their messages,
safeguarded democracy. Furthermore, the study will identify significant
categories of brand messages in Nigerian newspapers during democracy
celebrations and ascertain the dominant appeals used in disseminating
the messages.
The Media, Advertising and Nigerian Democracy
Although advertising became officially recognised with the
‘establishment of the West African Publicity Company in 1928’
(Olatunji, 2018: 54), it has been an integral part of the media since media
inception. The Nigerian media and advertising date back to the
publication of Iwe Irohin fun awon Egba ati Yoruba by Henry Townsend in
1859, which was used to promote the Christian religion, western
education, and intellectual discussion (Bourne, 2018; Santas & Ogoshi,
2016). This newspaper, which did not have pictures in its news stories,
carried local firms and government agencies’ advertisements as the
adverts provided revenue for the newspaper (Akinbode, 2018;
Omipidan, 2020). Besides the print media and its advertisements, radio
advertisement commenced in 1955 when Western Nigerian
Broadcasting Service was born (Bardi, 2010). The advertisements aired
in the radio station helped provide funding for the Nigerian
Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) beyond government allocation.
Television broadcasting began in 1959, and the first advertisement aired
was for Star Beer and Krola Soft drink (Bardi, 2010). Literature is silent
on the advertisements aired during the military regime, but by extension
of media content, advertisements at this time mainly promoted
government brands and could not disseminate any information against
the government (Abubakar & Fadeyi, 2017; Targema & Suntai, 2018).
Despite the hostility against the press, particularly between 1914 and
1939 (Bourne, 2018), a few individuals and media houses distinguished
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themselves and went against all odds to publish newspapers. A profound
example was the West African Pilot newspaper, founded in 1937 in
Nigeria by Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, whose content fought for Nigeria's
independence from colonial rule (Uche, 1989 in Nwogu, 2015) and
ensured the spread of racial consciousness and nationalistic ideas
(Coleman, 1971 in Nwogu, 2015).
Mencken says democracy “is the theory that the common people
know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard” (Wallace,
Kundnani, & Donnelly, 2021). The media in any nation that will enjoy
democracy should be free to disseminate information, report on the
activities of the government, and relay people’s needs/expectations to
the government and vice versa (Nwogu, 2015). Where the media is free,
there will be a “marketplace of ideas for political thought” (Santas &
Ogoshi, 2016), constant check on the faithfulness of elected
representatives to their oath of office, citizens will make steered rather
than ignorant choices and ordinary people will affect and/or influence
community decisions (Nwogu, 2015; Santas & Ogoshi, 2016). Also,
advertisers will freely place their advertising messages, and the citizens
will be free to make informed choices.
Unfortunately, the media in Nigeria has experienced many
democratic successes and failures as they have struggled to survive and,
at the same time, experienced many setbacks and political interference
over the years since her democracy. The dearth of critical analysis of
government issues, security challenges, corruption and, further down the
list, the lack of modern communication equipment/infrastructure have
hindered the Nigerian media from adequately safeguarding democracy
(Santas & Ogoshi, 2016). Similarly, since their official recognition,
advertisers and advertising agencies have experienced successes and
challenges that have threatened their survival and constant advertising
placements. A few of these include the proliferation of advertising
agencies, which affects the quality of adverts produced, the poor
Nigerian economy, poor consumer purchasing power, lack of trained
advertising professionals, and unavailability of accurate media data
(Bardi, 2010). These challenges in the Nigerian media and the
advertising industry have negatively impacted their efficiency to
safeguard democracy.
Despite these challenges and inadequacies, John Dewey in Wallace et
al. (2021) notes that “the cure for the ills of democracy is more
democracy.” The media and advertising industry in Nigeria have not,
over the years, given up on the fight for sustained democracy,
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notwithstanding the trials faced daily. The broadcast media especially
included distinct political presentation shows in their programme
schedules that help citizens understand politics and the tenets of
democracy. As identified by Santas and Ogoshi (2016), some of these
include 'The President Explains,' 'Political Platform,' 'Inside the Senate,'
'Democracy Today' and ‘Radio Link,' among others. Print media platforms
are also included, as sections in daily newspapers and particularly around
democracy, addressing political issues and enlightening the people. With
the advent of the new media, active political participation and, by
extension, democracy has been made more accessible, has expanded,
and citizens of a country can fully participate in their government’s
activities via the Internet (Okusaga, 2018; Targema & Suntai, 2018).
Apart from these media contents, political advertising, especially in an
election year, has helped to safeguard democracy as political parties and
aspirants persuade electorate to exercise their democratic rights.
Advertising, Safeguarding Democracy
Advertising, an essential part of mass communication and a great source
of revenue for media houses, has been an indispensable part of mass
media channels since its inauguration as it seeks first to disseminate
truthful/accurate information, educate and entertain while pursuing the
long goal of making a profit and keeping customers (Olatunji, 2018).
Like other media forms, advertising ‘turns the mind’ of an individual
towards a brand, product, service, cause, or happening in the society
(Pandey, n.d.).
In a bid to encourage and sustain democracy, political candidates
and aspirants have, over the years, used political advertising messages to
set the agenda for public discourse. Active political participation, an
integral aspect of democracy, has thus been interwoven into advertising
(Nott, 2020). Using a structured questionnaire to gather data from 385
respondents across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, Okwechime
(2015) records the effect of political advertising on Nigeria’s voting
patterns during the 2007 presidential election. Setting the agenda, the
study notes that these advertisements provided convincing information
about the candidates, aided voters’ understanding of issues raised,
increased positive approval of specific candidates, and reinforced their
decision to vote for them (Okwechime, 2015). Similarly, a survey on the
extent to which political advertising messages influenced voters’
candidate choice in Anambra state’s 2015 election revealed that political
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aspirants encouraged the electorate to be a part of the democratic
process by disseminating messages that aided the election of confident
leaders (Ezegwu, Etukudo, & Akpan, 2015). With the recorded success
of political advertising campaigns, advertisers have, and can, safeguard
democracy with their brand messages, like the other mass media outlets.
In the print media, advertisers can disseminate their messages
through classified, display and business directories. To creatively invent and
circulate these democratic messages, advertisers use unique strategies
(Darstaru, 2020) like pre-emptive, brand-image, generic, puffery, and
advertising appeals that capture readers’ attention and sustain them
listening to read or watch the advertisement to the end (Irivwieri, 2014).
The broad categories of appeals are rational and emotional appeals.
Rational appeals communicate with the logical and realistic reasoning of
the reader or viewer where the features and/or benefits of responding to
the advertising message will be enumerated by the advertiser (Dix &
Marchegiani, 2013), while emotional appeals use text, images or pictures
to connect with the reader based on feelings or emotions which can be
sorrow, fear, nostalgia, joy, loyalty, hatred, excitement, achievement,
trust or love (Folliero, 2018; Saurav, 2020). With the options available to
the advertiser, democracy advertising messages can be created using one
or more of these appeals.
Advertising and Social Responsibility
Businesses and advertisers ensure advertisements are geared towards
making a profit and keeping customers, alongside focusing on corporate
social responsibility, which shows they are responsible to their
stakeholders and society (Das & Mishra, 2020). Through their economic,
legal, ethical and philanthropic activities, corporate social responsibility
explains how businesses contribute to the growth and development of
society (Asumah, 2015; Kendrick, Fullerton, & Kim, 2013). Safeguarding
and promoting a nation’s democracy is an ethical responsibility of
advertisers, achieved by creating democracy advertising messages that
reflect their commitment to the country (Das & Mishra, 2020). As a
matter of importance, Brand advertising messages should ethically create
awareness for and uphold political participation/democracy. Doing this
will project the brands as loyal national citizens, democratic supporters,
and not just profit-making ventures. By safeguarding democracy through
their advertising messages, brands enjoy professional growth,
continuous patronage, improved financial performance, community
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development, and improved organisation perception (Wezenbeek, 2019).
Agenda Setting Theory
The agenda-setting theory, initially propounded for the mass media in
1972/1973 by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw, assumes that the
mass media “pre-determines issues they regard as important at a given
time in the society” (Folarin, 1998). The press in this theory do not tell
people what to think but by prominence, structuring, repetition and
placing importance on certain issues, give the people what to think
about. Discussions and conversations that can make or mar a society are
birthed from the issues prominent in the media. As Marshall McLuhan
rightly concluded, “the press can colour events by using them in a particular way,
or refusing to use them at all” (Folarin, 1998: 76). Advertising, which is ‘huge
business,’ generates the highest revenue for media houses and thus
becomes a vital part of the media construct. Media houses then create
and specially assign ‘spaces’ or ‘airtime’ for advertisers with the highest
revenue. This, by extension, makes the advertisers and their messages an
important aspect of media information and agenda-setting (Hazaparu,
2014). A synergy between advertising and agenda-setting brings to the
fore ‘political advertising’; however, organisations and brand owners
influence their audience’s perception of various societal issues beyond
politics by creatively coining their messages to set the agenda for
discussion and participation, and public growth. Strategically placing
these advertising messages and the amount of attention given to similar
advertisements will drive the audience to emphasise those issues
(Anaeto, Onabajo, & Osifeso, 2012; Ustaahmetoølu, 2014). Advertisers
and brand owners, therefore, with the assistance of the media, can
safeguard and sustain democracy by including messages that will
encourage continuity and perseverance of democracy in their messages,
especially those on democracy celebration days. Setting the agenda for
discourse will silence other issues and make the audience pay attention
to and discuss democracy (Hazaparu, 2014).
Methodology
Seeking answers to the questions stated in the introduction, this
study adopted the quantitative and qualitative content analysis methods
— the quantitative content analysis analyses the frequency of brand
messages in Nigerian newspapers on democracy day. The qualitative
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examines the appeals used, identifies the brand categories, and ascertains
the brand messages’ focus.
Three national newspapers – The Punch, Tribune and The Nation –
were purposively selected as they are reported to have a circulation
figure of at least 100,000 copies daily (Aliagan, 2015; Olaniyan, 2019)
published and distributed in different parts of the country. Punch
newspaper is a politically-independent paper, Nation is believed to be
owned and associated with Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a leader of
Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and Tribune was
established by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Nigerian statesman known
for his influence in the struggle for independence, nationalism and
federalism (Adeseun, 2015; Nigerian Tribune, n.d.). All democracy day
celebration messages/advertisements over five years (2017 to 2021) in
the three newspapers were selected to be analysed. Two years before the
change in democracy, celebration dates were chosen, the year the date
changed, and two after.
For proper analysis, a researcher-designed coding sheet, which
includes content categories on brand category, brand name, advert
message prominence, advert content (celebrating heroes, celebrating
democracy, safeguarding democracy, brand promotion), and classes of
appeal, was used for the study. Results generated from the coding sheet
were compared, analysed and presented in tables and further discussion.
Analysis and Discussion and Findings
A total of 83 democracy celebration messages/advertisements were
found in the selected newspapers over five years – 44 from Punch, 23
from Nation, and 16 from Tribune. Brands, institutions and organisations
on democracy celebration day placed different unique, engaging and
creative messages to join the celebration. All these messages were placed
on the inside pages of the analysed newspapers, and none had
prominence on the front pages. In the Punch and Tribune newspapers,
there was a drastic decline in the number of democracy messages in
2020 and 2021 after the democracy celebration date was changed to
June, compared to the years democracy was celebrated in May. The
Punch newspaper had 10 messages in 2017, 13 in 2018, 8 in 2019 and
2020, respectively, and 5 in 2021.
However, Tribune had 11 messages in 2018, 2 in 2020, and 3 in 2021,
as the researcher couldn’t access the newspaper democracy messages for
2017 and 2019. This disparity might result from a change in dates or the
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negative aftermath of the economic and financial implications of the
COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020 that hindered the effective
productivity and profits of brands and organisations. However, in the
Nation newspaper, June 2019 (the year democracy was first celebrated on
another date) recorded the highest number of messages compared to the
other years analysed. The messages recorded in 2017 and 2018 were five,
respectively, 7 in 2019, 2 in 2020, and 4 in 2021.
Table 1: Brand categories of democracy messages in the Punch
newspaper
Brand Category
Punch
2017
Punch
2018
Telecommunication
1 (10%)
1 (7.7%)
Banks/
Financial
Institutions
Automobile
Alcohol/Beverages
Oil and Gas
Government Parastatals
Fast Moving Consumer
Goods
Construction
Total
4 (40%)
6 (46.2%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (10%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
1 (7.7%)
2 (15.4%)
10
(100%)
13
(100%)
Newspaper
Punch
Punch
2019
2020
Total
Punch
2021
1 (12.5%)
4 (50%)
5 (62.5%)
3 (6.8%)
2 (40%)
1 (20%)
1 (12.5%)
1 (12.5%)
2 (25%)
2 (25%)
1 (20%)
8 (100%)
8 (100%)
1 (20%)
5 (100%)
21 (47.7%)
2 (4.5%)
3 (6.8%)
3 (6.8%)
6 (13.6%)
5 (11.4%)
1 (2.3%)
44 (100%)
Brands across different categories placed their messages in the Punch
newspapers over the years analysed. The major categories are identified
in the table above, where banks and financial institutions had the highest
percentage (47.7%) of messages in all the years. FCMB, Stanbic IBTC
and Zenith banks regularly placed democracy messages in the years
analysed, while other banks include Fidelity, Wema, Sterling, Polaris,
Diamond and First Bank. The higher percentage of brand messages
from banks and financial institutions suggests that these organisations
have a sizeable amount earmarked in their budgets for advertising and
brand messages via various media channels instead of other brand
categories. This submission is in line with Oyekanmi’s (2020) thought in
an article during the country’s 2020 independence celebration that recent
reforms of the Nigerian banking industry have propelled it to a “major
economic driver of the nation.” Next, government parastatals like state
government messages and government sectors also placed their creative
messages over the years. Organisations in the other brand categories,
including telecommunications, oil/gas, FMCGs, etc., had their messages
dispersed in similar proportions.
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Table 2: Brand categories of democracy messages in the Nation
newspaper
Brand Category
Nation
2017
Nation
2018
Telecommunications
Banks/
Financial
Institutions
Government
Parastatals
Construction
Total
2 (40%)
1 (20%)
3 (60%)
3 (60%)
5 (100%)
1 (20%)
5
(100%)
Newspaper
Nation
Nation
2019
2020
1 (14.3%)
Total
Nation
2021
1 (4.4%)
1 (50%)
1 (25%)
5 (21.7%)
6 (85.7%)
1 (50%)
3 (75%)
16 (70%)
7 (100%)
2
(100%)
4
(100%)
1 (4.4%)
23
(100%)
Unlike the Punch newspaper democracy messages identified above, the
Nation had more messages from government organisations and
parastatals in the years analysed, which amounted to 70% of all the
messages. Over the years, state governments, local governments and
individuals associated with the government, particularly Nigeria’s leading
political party (APC), placed their messages in the paper. These
messages included goodwill and felicitation pieces that joined others to
celebrate democracy. This is expected as the Nation newspaper is
believed to be owned and linked to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the
former Lagos State Governor and a national leader of the All
Progressives Congress (Adeseun, 2015). The highest number of
government-associated messages (85.7%) in 2019 was more messages
acknowledging the president’s move in the change of democracy
celebration dates, emphasising that the move was a brave one and
represented the ideals of true democracy. Furthermore, 21.7% of the
messages came from banks/financial institutions, while the others were
from construction and telecommunication organisations.
Table 3: Brand categories of democracy messages in the Tribune
newspaper
Brand Category
Tribune 2018
Telecommunications
Banks/ Financial Institutions
Government Parastatals
Construction
Total
Newspaper
Tribune
2020
1 (9%)
Total
Tribune
2021
1 (33.3%)
2 (12.5%)
10 (91%)
2 (100%)
1 (33.3%)
1 (33.3%)
1 (6.25%)
13 (81.25%)
11 (100%)
2 (100%)
3 (100%)
16 (100%)
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Similar to the Nation democracy messages, Tribune newspaper democracy
messages in the three years the researcher could access had 81.25%
government sector messages compared to other organisations. State
governments, local governments, and government organisations placed
their felicitation messages in this newspaper, owned and founded in
1949 by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, a Pan-Africanist and former Premier
of the Old Nigeria’s Western Region government (NHC, 2021; Nigerian
Tribune, n.d.). In 2018 and 2021, telecommunication organisations placed
democracy messages in the newspaper.
Table 4: Advertisers’ focus in democracy brand messages
Newspaper
Celebrating
Heroes
Democracy
Celebration
Brand
Promotion
Messages promoting and
safeguarding Democracy
Punch 2017-2021
5 (5.2%)
14 (14.6)
11 (11.5%)
22 (23%)
Nation 2017- 2021
5 (5.2%)
4 (4.2%)
13 (13.5%)
5 (5.2%)
Tribune 2018-2021
Total
1 (1%)
11 (11.5%)
2 (2.1%)
20 (20.8%)
13 (13.5%)
37 (38.5%)
1 (1%)
28 (29%) ∑= 100%
Table 4 above summarises the major categories of advertisers’ focus in
their democracy messages placed over five years in the selected
newspapers. The major categories include messages celebrating the
achievements and loyalty of Nigerian heroes, congratulatory messages
on democracy celebration, brand promotion messages, and messages
encouraging/safeguarding democracy. Generally, the highest percentage
of messages (38.5%), which is less than half of the sum, focused on
brand promotion, where the organisations leveraged democracy to
promote their brands. Next, messages that promoted and encouraged
citizens to safeguard democracy were 29%. Celebrating democracy and
congratulating the nation summed up to 20.8%, while messages that
acknowledged the achievements and efforts of Nigeria’s heroes were
11.5%.
Breaking down the categories of messages placed in the newspapers,
the Punch newspaper had a good blend of advertisers placing messages
that promoted their brands, encouraged democracy, and celebrated the
date and achievements of heroes. Over the years, a more significant
percentage (23%) of messages have promoted democracy, encouraging
and creating awareness of the importance of continuous democracy to
Nigeria’s development like Stanbic IBTC Bank’s picture of many people
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surrounding a voter’s card and the message “have you got yours? Happy
Democracy Day”. Also, Zenith Bank mentioned that democracy is a
‘shared responsibility’ and FCMB’s message encouraged citizens to put
individual and communal differences aside so democracy can thrive,
supported by a graphic illustration of the many parts of a vehicle, though
different and very disjointed, coming together to form a whole. A few of
these messages were a blend of brand promotion and safeguarding
democracy as the advertisers put their brands in the faces of the readers
and were socially and ethically responsible by including messages to
safeguard democracy. Examples include Chelsea London's Dry Gin
message that had photographs of different sizes of their product with
the message “Democracy is all about Choice, make yours,” Interswitch’s
image of her different products, and the slogan “Enjoy your freedom to
choose,” Glo’s “In a democracy, every voice matters” with a picture of
different tribes using their mobile phones and Action Bitters “thank you
for choosing ACTION, …that’s democracy in action” slogan among
others. Furthermore, in the years analysed, messages placed in the Punch
newspaper had a steady number of messages encouraging continuous
democracy, year in, year out.
In the Nation and Tribune newspapers, however, there is a noticeable
difference in the focus of the messages. A more significant percentage in
both newspapers were messages that promoted brands, particularly
politically associated brands like state and local governments and
government parastatals. However, in one of her democracy messages,
the Lagos State government adequately incorporated a short piece to
safeguard democracy while promoting herself. The democracy message
reiterated their continuous dedication to democracy and the people of
Lagos, urging them to embrace the power of democracy, gained not by
violent means, but by education and intelligence.
Table 5: Appeals in newspaper democracy messages
Newspaper
Punch
Nation
Tribune
Total
Sum Total
Rational
18 (21.7%)
12 (14.5%)
14 (17%)
Appeals
Emotional
25 (30.1%)
5 (6%)
2 (2.4%)
None
1 (1.2%)
6 (7.2%)
Total
44 (53%)
32 (39%)
7 (8.4%)
44
23
16
83
∑= 83 (100%)
The various brands and organisations, except a few, adopted a
significant category of appeal to captivate and sustain the reader.
Generally, more rational than emotional appeals were used by brands
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and advertisers in the selected years, thus appealing to the
thought/logical thinking of the reader. In the Punch newspaper, more
emotional appeals were used by advertisers (mainly financial institutions
and telecommunications) in their messages. A little less than the
percentage of rational appeals were emotional appeals that spoke to the
readers’ emotive feelings. Stemming from the overall analysis,
democracy can be assumed to be a logical rather than emotional event
that requires thinking and active participation rather than emotions to
uphold and sustain.
Conclusion and Recommendations
Nigerian democracy, after many struggles and internal/external
interventions, has been since 1999 and has come to stay if all hands
continue to be on deck. With democracy, citizens exercise their right to
participate in government, contribute to decision-making processes,
engage in public discussion, and enjoy equality before the law. This
democracy has, however, in recent years, been challenged due to
misinterpretation of the democratic process, individual selfishness,
corruption, maltreatment of media houses, electoral fraud and insecurity,
among other things.
The Nigerian media, which has been in existence since the days of
the colonial masters, played a massive role in the struggle for democracy
and has since been a considerable part of the democratic process. The
media, despite different hurdles, have weathered the storm and have
tried to function effectively and perform their social and ethical
responsibilities to the government and society at large. On democracy
celebration days, mass media channels, including advertisers and brand
owners, demonstrate their social and ethical responsibility by placing
creatively carved messages in electronic, print and digital media outlets
to honour the occasion. They project their commitment to the society
they belong to beyond making a profit and keeping customers. Aside
from annual congratulatory messages, organisations and advertisers,
through their messages placed prominently and strategically in the
media, set the agenda for that season by discussing salient political
issues, inviting prominent men and women to discuss democracy, and
airing/placing programmes/articles as public agenda that can make or
mar the democratic process. In addition to celebrating, advertisers
promote their brands and coin messages to encourage continuous
democracy.
206
Safeguarding Democracy through the Lens…
Adopting the qualitative and quantitative content analysis, 83
democracy messages placed in the Punch, Nation and Tribune newspapers
over five years (2017 to 2021) were analysed and presented. The study
concluded that there was a general decline in the number of democracy
messages in the Punch and Tribune newspapers in recent years. In
contrast, the Nation newspaper recorded the highest number of
messages in 2019 (slightly different from other years), the year after the
celebration date was changed by the government from May 29 to June
12. Banks/financial institutions placed more messages in the newspapers
analysed across the years than other brand categories. Based on research,
they have contributed significantly to Nigeria’s economic growth and
have a sizeable budget earmarked for advertising messages. This
allocation should be adequately harnessed by promoting their brands
and continuously sustaining democracy through the messages
disseminated. However, the Nation and Tribune newspapers had more
messages placed by groups, individuals, and organisations related to the
government as the ownership of these papers have an association with
political parties.
Advertisers’ focus on their messages varied as the general focus of
these newspaper houses varied. Nevertheless, the prominent messages
were those promoting brands and those encouraging citizens to
safeguard democracy. The latter focus, especially in 2021, was dominant
in the Punch newspaper as advertisers have embraced using their
messages to reinstate and safeguard the already declining democracy in
Nigeria. The other two newspapers analysed had more messages
promoting the advertiser’s political brands and agenda while making
their voices heard that they celebrate with the country on their
democracy celebration. Messages safeguarding democracy and
encouraging citizens to be active participants in the country's democracy
can, however, be included in the messages placed in the politically
associated newspapers. This will help the readers identify the political
brands and enlighten, create awareness, and encourage them to be
involved in democracy. Advertisers adopted rational and emotional
appeals in their brand messages to adequately communicate the
messages. There was the use of more rational than emotional appeals as
the discourse on political participation and democracy should not be
based on sentiments and feelings but logic and rational thinking.
The struggle for sustained and true democracy is important in
Nigeria and it should not be ignored. The Nigerian media and
advertisers should ensure that certain amounts of money, time and space
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are allocated to democracy issues. There should be a consistent focus on
agenda setting and fulfilling their social responsibility from time to time.
As some brand advertisers have done in the years analysed, there should
be continuity in annual democracy messages that encourage citizens to
be a part of their nation’s democracy. True and sustained democracy
will, in the long run, lead to development and stability in Nigeria where
her citizens will be free to express themselves, live and enjoy the
privileges of democracy.
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