Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gxg78 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T10:20:46.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Media Accountability and Democracy in Nigeria, 1999–2003

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 May 2014

Abstract:

This article discusses the role of the media in Nigeria's Fourth Republic between 1999 and 2003. Employing a case study approach, it highlights as well as analyzes the media's role in insisting on accountability and decency in Nigeria's notoriously corrupt public life. The media's crusade ran against the country's geopolitical divisions and revived the debate on the national question as well as the media's own morality. The article draws on both primary and secondary data to examine the media's role in an emergent democracy.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Cet article discute du rôle des médias dans la IVe République du Nigeria entre 1999 et 2003. Il met en valeur et analyse, en utilisant l'approche de l'étude de cas, le rôle des médias dans la demande de responsabilisation et de décence dans la vie publique du Nigeria, réputée par ailleurs pour sa corruption. La croisade médiatique va à l'encontre des divisions géopolitiques du pays et ravive le débat sur la question d'intérêt national, ainsi que sur la moralité des médias. L'article s'appuie sur des données primaires et secondaires pour examiner le rôle des médias dans une démocratie naissante.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2004

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adebanwi, Wale. 2000. “The Nigerian Press and the National Question.” In The National Question in Nigeria: Comparative Perspectives, edited by Momoh, Abubakar and Adejumobi, Said, 201–15. Aldershot: Ashgate Books.Google Scholar
Adekanye, Bayo. 1999. “Sustaining Nigeria's Democracy: Military Security Imperative.” Paper presented at the eighth annual Obafemi Awolowo Foundation Dialogue, Lagos, 11 30–Dec. 1.Google Scholar
Altschull, J. H. 1995. Agents of Power: The Media and Public Policy. New York: Longmans.Google Scholar
Babawale, Tunde, ed. 2003. Urban Violence, Ethnic Militias and the Challenge of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria, Lagos: Malthouse Books.Google Scholar
Castells, Manuel. 1996. The Information Age, Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 1: The Rise of the Network Society. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Castells, Manuel. 1997. The Information Age, Economy, Society and Culture. Vol. 2: The Power of Identity. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Castells, Manuel. 1998. The Information Age, Economy Society and Culture. Vol. 3: End of Millennium. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar
Committee for The Defence of Human Rights. 2000. Annual Report. Lagos: Committee for the Defence of Human Rights.Google Scholar
Curran, James. 1991. “Media and Democracy: A Reappraisal.” In Mass Media and Society, edited by Curran, James and Gurevitch, Michael, 82–117. London: James-Arnold.Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry. 1990. “The Accountability Gap in the Transition to Democracy in Nigeria.” Paper presented at the 33rd Annual Meeting of the African Studies Association, Baltimore, 11 1–4.Google Scholar
Diamond, Larry, Plattner, Mark, and Schedler, Andreas. 1999. “Introduction.” In The Self Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies, edited by Diamond, Larry, Plattner, Mark, and Schedler, Andreas, 1–3. Boulder, Colo.: Lynn Reinner.Google Scholar
Enahoro, Peter. 1994. “The State of the Media.” Daily Times, 06 9.Google Scholar
Held, David, and McGrew, Anthony, eds. 2002. The Global Transformations Reader: An Introduction to the Globalization Debate. Cambridge: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Ihonvbere, Julius. 1999. “The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria: The Limitations of Undemocratic Constitution-Making.” Paper presented to the Centre For Democracy and Development Conference, Abuja, 06 29–July 5.Google Scholar
Institute For Media and Society. 2003. Monthly Bulletin on the 2003 Election in Nigeria. Lagos: Institute For Media and Society.Google Scholar
International Institute For Democracy and Electoral Assistance. 2000. Democracy in Nigeria: Continuing Dialogue for Nation-Building. Stockhom: International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.Google Scholar
Jose, Babatunde. 1987. Walking a Tight Rope: Power Play in the Daily Times. Ibadan: University Press.Google Scholar
Joseph, Richard. 1997. “Democratization in Africa after 1989: Comparative and Theoretical Perspectives.” Comparative Politics 29: 363–81.Google Scholar
Maier, Karl. 2000. This House Has Fallen: Midnight in Nigeria. New York: Public Affairs Press.Google Scholar
Media Rights Agenda. 2000. Annual Report. Lagos: Media Rights Agenda.Google Scholar
O'Donnell, Guillermo. 1999. “Horizontal Accountability in New Democracies.” In The Self-Restraining State: Power and Accountability in New Democracies, edited by Diamond, Larry, Plattner, Mark, and Schedler, Andreas, 29–51. Boulder, Colo.: Lynn Reinner.Google Scholar
Ogbodo, Joyce. 1996. “Nigerian Rural Women's Access to Channels of Communication.” In Women and the Media in Nigeria, edited by Odejide, Abiola, 71–90. Ibadan: Women's Research and Documentation Centre.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo, and Omole, Tale. 1999. “The Media and Democratization in Nigeria.” In Governance and Democratization in West Africa, edited by Olowu, Dele, Williams, Adebayo, and Soremekun, Kayode, 239–63. Dakar: CODESRIA.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2000a. “Governance and the Media.” In African Perspectives on Governance, edited by Hyden, Goran, Okoth-Ogendo, Hastings, and Olowu, Dele, 91–121. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2000b. “Media Reporting and the Tinubu Administration.” In Bola Tinubu and the Struggle for True Federalism in Nigeria: Perspectives, Problems and Prospects, edited by Akinterinwa, Bola, 154–65. Ibadan: Vantage Books.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2002a “Traditional Protest Media and Anti-Military Struggle in Nigeria 1988–1999African Affairs 101 (1): 193–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2002b. “Authoritarian State, Crisis of Democratization and the Underground Media in Nigeria.” African Affairs 101 (2): 317–42.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2003a. “Ethnic Militias and Democracy: A Media Perspective.” In Urban Violence, Ethnic Militias and the Challenge of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria, edited by Babawale, Tunde, 58–70. Lagos: Malthouse Press.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2003b. “The Vernacular Press and Democratic Mobilization in Nigeria.” African Journal of International Affairs and Development 7: 112–30.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2003c. “At the Barricades: Resurgent Media in Colonial Nigeria 1900–1960.” In Foundations of Nigeria. Vol. 2: Essays in Honour of Toyin Falola, edited by Oyebade, O., 229–46. Trenton, N.J.: Africa World Press Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2004a. Repressive State and Resurgent Media under Nigeria's Military Dictatorship 1988–1998. Research Report no. 126. Uppsalla: Nordic African Studies Institute.Google Scholar
Olukotun, Ayo. 2004b. “The Media and the 2003 General Elections in Nigeria.” In 2003 General Elections and Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria, edited by Anifowose, Remi and Babawale, Tunde, 155–87. Lagos: Friedrich Ebert Stifung.Google Scholar
O'Neil, Patrick, ed. 1998. Communicating Democracy: The Media and Political Transitions. London: Lynn Reinner.Google Scholar
Tunji, Oseni. 1995. “Government-Media Relations: A Case of Mutual Exclusivity?Paper presented to the Quarterly Forum of the Nigerian Television Authority, Ibadan, 07 27.Google Scholar
Tunji, Oseni and Idowu, Lanre, eds. 2000. 140th Anniversary of The Nigerian Press. Lagos: Tosen Consult.Google Scholar
Oyovbaire, Sam. 2001. “The Media and the Democratic Process in Nigeria.” Paper presented to the Senior Executive Course, no. 3, National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru, 08 7.Google Scholar
Parker, Richard. 1995. “Introductory Comment.” In Adeyemi, Yinka, The Nigerian Press Under the Military: Persecution, Resilience and Political Crisis. Report presented to the Joan Shorestein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, 05.Google Scholar
Sarpong, George. 2000. “The Last of the Rawlings Years.” Zongo-Giwa 1 (3).Google Scholar
Schedler, Andreas. 1998. “What is Democratic Consolidation?Journal of Democracy 9: 91–107 Google Scholar