MEDIA REPORTS, MISCONCEPTION OF SAFETY AMONG SOUTHERN NIGERIANS AND THE REALITY IN THE NORTH EASTERN NIGERIA

Abstract

Media plays key role in shaping public opinion and influencing individual perception. It is considered the watchdog of society responsible for reflecting upon, and dissecting, the society’s trending issues. Be it safety and security, social welfare, corruption, politics and the economy, vis a vis the policies that regulate the populace. The media sets agenda for societal discussion through its daily reports. This paper’s aim is to examine the security situation in the North eastern Nigeria through recourse to media propaganda in the southern part of the country, the goal being to reassess what the southerners have taken for granted about the security and safety in the North eastern Nigeria. To achieve this, the study utilizes both primary and secondary data (interviews, print, broadcast and internet material), which is analyzed through the Agenda-Setting Theory lens. The finding of this study reveals that there has been misinformation regarding the security situation in North Eastern Nigeria; interviews conducted in the course of this study suggested that the misinformation affects the perception of people in the Southern Nigeria. They simply believe that northeast is a "no-go area," laced with bombs, bandits and kidnappers. However, this study dispels the perception that "No safety in North Eastern states," especially Adamawa State. Adamawa is populated with peace - loving and communally friendly people: very kind and accommodating to law-abiding indigenes and visitors alike, in the face of situational insecurity reports about the North East. At present, Adamawa is not a dangerous place to venture to, based on the picture of insecurity reports galvanized by both local and international media organizations in the past. As such, the paper concludes that insecurity in the northeastern Nigeria is being exaggerated by various media outlets, as not every inch of space in the North East is full of bombs, terrorists and kidnappers