Political Communication and the Nigerian Democratic Experiment: Critical Insights from Yorùbá Philosophy

Abstract

Nigeria’s political sphere is fraught with violence, electoral frauds, unfulfilled promises and negligence on the part of the ruling class, hence political communication in Nigeria have been faced with hostility from electorates spurred by public distrust of the mass media. This essay philosophically argues for a culture-bound understanding of political communication in a way that enables a strategic decolonization of communication concepts and ideologies. This cultural understanding advocates the need for the domestication of information prior to their application in a way that enable us to properly reflect on and engage with the existential complexities of Africa’s political landscapes. The central claim of the Yorùbá political communication is that local and national communicative principles in political discourses should be subsumed under epistemic, ontological, and ethical dimensions drawn from Yorùbá histories, cultures, and values. This essay therefore deploys Yorùbá philosophical insights underlying the creation, distribution, use and control of information as a political resource that could be adopted by governments, organizations, the media, and individuals in Nigeria.

Vol. 4 (2023): International Journal of Literacy, Culture, and Language Education (IJLCLE)

“…Nearly every feature of electioneering and governance has been at best pseudodemocratic, laced with an unending series of outright autocratic acts. Political thuggery, assassinations for political reasons, abduction of political opponents and their family members, ballot box snatching, vote buying, alteration of election results, financial misappropriation with impunity, use of security apparatuses to harass voters and peaceful demonstrators, nepotism, religious fanaticism in assigning political appointees, and numerous other vices are the horrible norm in the country (Omotoso, 2018). Nigerians thus suffer abject poverty in the midst of unusually abundant natural and human resources.…”

“…Democracy is often seen as the best form of government (Norris, 2017;Omotoso, 2018). It is said that the worst democracy is much better than the best of any other system of government.…”

Indigenous Language Endangerment as the Hearse of Democratic Culture among the Yoruba People of Nigeria

“…Nearly every feature of electioneering and governance has been at best pseudodemocratic, laced with an unending series of outright autocratic acts. Political thuggery, assassinations for political reasons, abduction of political opponents and their family members, ballot box snatching, vote buying, alteration of election results, financial misappropriation with impunity, use of security apparatuses to harass voters and peaceful demonstrators, nepotism, religious fanaticism in assigning political appointees, and numerous other vices are the horrible norm in the country (Omotoso, 2018). Nigerians thus suffer abject poverty in the midst of unusually abundant natural and human resources.…”

“…Democracy is often seen as the best form of government (Norris, 2017;Omotoso, 2018). It is said that the worst democracy is much better than the best of any other system of government.…”