CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Nigeria is a blessed country. With a current estimated population of 184,234,806 inhabitants (National Population Commission, 2018), Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa and the eleventh in the world. Many of her citizens, engaged in business and the professions, are amongst the best in the world. She has a vast mass of fertile land used for agriculture which, according to the Vision 2010 Report (1997, p. iv), “offers employment to over 65 percent of the working population, [and] accounts for over 70 percent of non-oil exports….” Natural calamities such as earthquakes, thunderstorms, floods, monsoons and heat waves, which are common occurrences in some nations of the world, are not experienced in the country. To crown it all, Nigeria is the sixth highest petroleum-producing country in the world with 37.45 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, 5.48 trillion cubic metres of proven natural gas reserves, 1.43 million barrels of crude oil production per day, 42.56 trillion cubic metres of marketed production of natural gas, 1.74 barrels of crude oil exports per day, and 25.15 billion cubic metres of natural gas exports (OPEC, 2017).

Considering all these human and natural wealth of the country, one would be tempted to say of Nigeria as John Smith said of America in 1607, “Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man’s habitation” (Cincotta: 1996, p.6). Unfortunately, while such countries as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and even the recent additional African countries – Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, which are similarly endowed with oil and gas, have used these resources prudentially for the development of their people, infrastructure and economy, the story is not the same in Nigeria. Here, instead of being a blessing, her wealth has become a curse to the people.

Instead of development, her citizens see deprivation, depression, dissatisfaction and disillusionment. The country’s infrastructure in the educational, health, transportation, sports, agricultural, security and other sectors are in despicable state of disrepair and begging loudly for attention. Some of the citizens, especially the professionals, have abandoned their country in search of “greener pastures” in foreign lands, while some youths, who belong to the productive sector of the economy, have been forced into such unwholesome and dangerous pastimes as cultism, militancy, armed robbery, kidnapping and other forms of violent criminal activities, largely because of the prevalent high rate of unemployment.

The economy has been in tatters, resulting in a deep recession, heavy national domestic and foreign debts, low GDP, high inflation, weak currency, unfavourable balance of payment index, and completely dislocated macro and micro-economic environment. The World Bank Group in 2017 has also included these on the list of her woes: insufficient infrastructure, weak and ineffective institutions, challenges of governance, public financial management systems and human development, high living conditions and poverty levels of the population, growing inequality of income and opportunities, widened North-South divide, regional inequality, lack of job opportunities, and political unrest. The nation got to this mess because of institutionalised corruption in the country.

Commenting on this sometime in 1998, J. Brian Atwood, the then director of United States Agency for International Developments, had observed, In Nigeria, the late General Sani Abacha and his cronies siphoned billions of dollars out of the oil industry, which is the country’s primary source of wealth and accounts for 80 percent of government revenue.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Diversion of funds from state coffers led to a marked deterioration in infrastructure and social services and a near-collapse of state-owned oil refineries. All these have happened because in the country, majority of Nigerians do not want to participate in “baking of the national cake” as much as they want to share in its eating. Some privileged few see the country’s wealth as a “great barbecue” to be eaten, while they act, whenever the opportunity exists, as hungry picnickers rushing for a piece of “the savoury roast.” They are more concerned with the satisfaction of their personal interest, sometimes at all costs, to the detriment of the nation. This scenario has been with us for a long time, but became institutionalised, as already noted by Atwood, during the many years of military rule in the country. Thus, the nation’s leaders enthroned profligacy and corruption while their subordinates became active participants in the looting game. Past administrations in the country had attempted to nip the menace of corruption in the bud but their efforts had yielded very little or no reprieve. So was the ugly situation that in May 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari, as part of his administration’s ten-point agenda, vowed to fight against the “pervasive corruption” which had crippled human and infrastructure development in the country for decades. For the war against corruption to be successfully fought and won, information is required, and this is provided by communication channels, especially the mass media. Nigeria has quite a large number of these – television stations, radio stations, newspaper and magazine titles as well as the various news blogs and online publications. Since the interplay of the issue demands investigative journalism, the newspaper medium has not only shown in its reportage the level of interest it attaches to the anti-corruption campaign, but the various newspapers seem to stand in support of the public interest, and are deeply involved in the campaign

1.3 AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study seeks to examine the representation of buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers. The objectives of the study are:

1. To determine the number of times buhari’s anti-corruption crusade appeared in three Nigeria newspapers
2. To evaluate the impressions received by the buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers
3. To looks at readers perception and comments on buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers
4. To identify the factors affecting buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The research questions are:

1.  What is the number of times buhari’s anti-corruption crusade appeared in three Nigeria newspapers?
2. How is the impressions received by the buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers?
3. What are readers’ perception and comments on buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers?
4. What are the factors affecting buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study on representation of buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers will be of immense help to the entire media houses towards the promotion of anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria. The study findings of the study will also establish a correlation between readers’ perception and comments on buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers. The study will also serve as a source of information to higher institutions and other researchers and contribute to the body of the existing literature on representation of buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study on covers representation of buhari’s anti-corruption crusade in three Nigeria newspapers with focus on vanguard, punch and sun newspapers from 2019 to 2022

1.7 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

TIME CONSTRAINTS: One the challenges experienced by the researcher is the issue of time; the research will simultaneously engage in departmental activities like seminars and attendance to lectures. But the researcher was able to meet up with the deadline for the submission of the project.

FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS: Every research work needs funding; however lack of adequate funds might affect the speed of the researcher in getting materials for completion of the project

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

ANTI-CORRUPTION: Anti-corruption (or anticorruption) comprises activities that oppose or inhibit corruption. Just as corruption takes many forms, anti-corruption efforts vary in scope and in strategy. A general distinction between preventive and reactive measures is sometimes drawn.