LANGUAGE, IDEOLOGY AND POWER IN NEWSPAPER REPRESENTATION OF ETHNIC INTEREST GROUPS IN NIGERIA

LANGUAGE, IDEOLOGY AND POWER IN NEWSPAPER REPRESENTATION OF ETHNIC INTEREST GROUPS IN NIGERIA

. Background to the Study

The landmark event of January 1, 1914, wherein Lord Frederick Lugard amalgamated what was then the Northern and Southern Protectorates with the Colony of Lagos to form the entity known as Nigeria marked the beginning of coexistence under one political roof of peoples of widely differing ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Ojo, 2014; Eric, 2016; Aghamelu & Aghamelu, n.d.). Thus began the long-running tale of tensions, frictions and bloody clashes that have become a recurring decimal in the Nigeria’s political journey (Ebegbulem, 2001; Edewor, Aluko & Folarin, 2014; Ojo, 2014), with the civil war of 1967 – 1970 arguably being the climax so far. The amalgamation had resulted in the emergence of a political entity that is unsettled and tension-soaked; in fact inscribed with what Umejesi (2012) describes as “grievance dynamics” manifesting as “contestation for sovereignty” between the state and previously independent local (ethnic) communities (p.47). Consequently, Nigeria, from the outset, became burdened with ethnic divisiveness which immediately inscribed its mark on every aspect of the life of the emerging nation. Hence, the 3 early socio-political institutions, including political parties and the press, became infected with the pervading ferment of ethnicity (Ebegbukem, 2011; Ojo 2014; Daramola, 2013; Nwafor, 2015). However, it was in 1953 that ethnic contestation first exploded into physical violence in Nigeria when some disgruntled northern youths went wild in the streets of Kano in a bloody riot over what they saw as the humiliating treatment meted to their leaders by the southern leaders following their disagreement with the latter over the desirability of independence for Nigeria in 1956 (Sagay, 2009). The years 1964, 1965 and 1966 were to witness even worse uprisings in the western and northern parts of the country leading to hundreds of deaths and eventually landing the nation in a 30-month civil war (Ndujihe, 2011). Earlier, however, what was to mark the beginning of the perennial violent agitations in the Niger Delta had exploded when in 1966, a young lawyer and policeman, Isaac Adaka Boro, led his Niger Delta Volunteer Force in a bloody insurgency, apparently aimed at realizing a Niger Delta Republic (Ndujihe, 2011). Since after the civil war, tens of ethnic crises have visited Nigeria, some of them purely ethnic while others appeared to have a mixture of ethnic and religious emotions. Prominent amongst them are the Maitatsine crisis of 1980 which began in Kano and subsequently spread to Yola, Maiduguri, Bauchi and Gombe in that order and ultimately sending over 6, 000 persons to their early graves. Others include the Ilorin religious riot (1986); Kafanchan crisis (1987) with its reverberations in Gusau, Kano, Zaria, Katsina and Funtua; Katsina crisis (1991) described as “the worst religious crisis the country has witnessed since 1984”; as well as the Kaduna crisis involving the indigenous Katafs and Hausas (1992, 1994 and 1995), among others (Ndujihe, 2011). In the same vein, the fourth republic was fated to witness its own series of ethnic clashes, which include the clashes between the O’odua People’s Congress (OPC) and the Ijaw community and 4 between the former and the Hausa community both in Lagos in the early days of the fourth republic. Others include the Jos crisis of 2001 and 2004, the latter leading to declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State; and the series of clashes among ethnic groups of Ijaw, Urhobo and Itsekiri in Delta State. Meanwhile, throughout this period, the Niger Delta region was experiencing a wave of insurgency in the form of kidnapping, killing and destruction as perpetrated by groups like the Asari-Dokubo-led Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force (NDPVF) and the Henry Okah-led Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), all of which eventually compelled the government of late President Musa Yar’Adua to initiate an amnesty programme (Ndujihe, 2011). More recently, in 2011, ethnic violence erupted in Northern Nigeria following the announcing of the result of the presidential election of that year, while the 2015 general election, like many elections before it, had a strong flavour of ethnicity around it (Batta, Batta & Mboho, 2015). Similarly, under the current administration, ethnic violence has made itself unmistakably felt particularly with the many instances of killings involving alleged Fulani herdsmen (Ezeonwuka & Igwe, 2016; Frank, 2016). All these are evident of the position of ethnicity as a very powerful force shaping the sociopolitical landscape of Nigeria. This is notwithstanding the fact that ethnicity is not officially recognised in the political structure of the country. The country’s political structure comprises a central government and component units which are states, while local governments lie in the third tier (Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, sections 2[2] and 3[6]). The nearest ethnic groups came to being officially part of this structure was during the era of regional governments when the regional boundaries roughly corresponded with the three major ethnic groups; but the fact that none of the regions was completely ethnically homogenous meant that they could not be quite correctly tagged ethnic units. 5 Nonetheless, as already evident from the foregoing discussion, ethnicity and ethnic groups, notwithstanding their non-formal status in the nation’s political set-up, have continued to exert a great deal of influence on the political set-up itself. The first instance of state creation in 1967 was in response to “fear” of ethnicity (Kasali, 2013). Subsequent state creations since the first one in 1967 have obviously not been unmindful of the ethnic imperative in structuring the country, nay have actually been inspired by ethnicity (Vande, 2012; Adetoye, 2016). Similarly, several policies of the country including notably the federal character principle and the derivation determinant in revenue sharing have been influenced wholly or partly by ethnicity (Ojie & Ewhrudjakpor, 2009). Despite their earlier stated non-inclusion in the formalised socio-political structure of Nigeria, ethnic groups are far from not having any collective voice. This is given the presence of interest groups whose ultimate objective is to project and fight for the interest of the respective ethnic groups they seek to represent. These groups, whose presence has been felt since the preindependence era (Nnoli, 1978), now serve as the only organised corporate voice of ethnicity and ethnic groups in the country. Some of them such as ACF, Ohanaeze, Afenifere and Ibibio People’s Union are more conservative and conformist, while others such as MASSOB, MOSOP, IPOB and OPC are more radical and tend towards self-determination. These bodies are informal entities in that they have no formal place in the politico-legal set-up of the country. Unlike other political groupings (such as state and local governments), their existence and activities are permitted and not commanded by law. Nevertheless, since ethnicity is very influential, ethnic interest groups are consequently very influential in spite of their non-formal status within the political structure. Their invitation to the national conferences of 2004 and 2014 is strong evidence of their status as the corporate voice of 6 ethnic groups in the country. Besides, the role of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) in influencing policies related to petroleum exploration as it affects the Niger Delta, and the role of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Arewa Consultative Forum, Afenifere and others as the voices of their respective ethnic groups before the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Panel) in 2001 are a testimony to the position of these groups as shapers of public discourse and policies (Kukah, 2012). Consequently, understanding the ethnic interest groups is important to appreciating the dynamics of ethnicity and ethnic politics in Nigeria (Nnoli, 1978). In the same vein, understanding how the media represent these groups will be important to appreciating how ethnicity is generally represented in the media. These ethnic interest groups operate and communicate within a very vast geographic and cultural space known as Nigeria; and so, like other political actors and interests, they require the mass media to be able to assert a presence within this huge space. This underscores the necessary relationship between them and the media; the mass media must project them for them to be relevant – the implication of which is that what will be generally known of these groups (i.e. people’s impression of them) will largely be as represented by the media. And in representing any phenomenon, the media ultimately reflect the ideological and power contestations in society as realised in and through language (Taiwo, 2007; Zaidi, 2012). Hence, in reporting ethnic interest groups, the media would not be a detached messenger passively receiving and relaying messages, but will actually be creating meanings as determined by the cultural environment in which they operate (Lewis, 2005). Media text cannot be separated from the overall cultural discourse in society. This discourse embodies the beliefs and prejudices of society regarding social phenomena including ethnicity, and these find their way into the 7 media directly through the gatekeepers (including the owner) and indirectly through government regulators, advertisers, politicians and all whose patronages keep the media running (Bagdikian, 1983; Gilens & Hertzman, 2000; Petley, 2004). Therefore, the text generated by the media on ethnic interest groups would be a product of the interaction among these interests; i.e. the gatekeepers (media owner, reporters and editors) who, of course, belong to definite ethnic groups and have their respective ethnic persuasions; the government which through law and other institutional tools seeks to assert the primacy of the state sovereignty over ethnic claims; the advertisers (politicians and businesses) whose money oils the engine of the media; and the audience whose patronage must be sought through content that respects their taste and sentiments. The interaction of these interests constitutes the sphere of media discourse; this discourse shapes media text and is in turn shaped by media text (Lewis, 2005). However, it is important to point out that these interests are not of equal influence on text generation; the extent of influence wielded by each could vary depending on the circumstances of a given moment of discourse. While the above analysis is true of all phenomena that come under media reportage, there arises greater concern when what is involved is a divisive and ideologically charged phenomenon like ethnicity, race, religion, etc. In reporting such issues, the media often tend to be more vulnerable to ideological influences; they tend to be entrapped in the middle of ideological contestations entailed by such divisive phenomena. And whatever decision they may take in this circumstance is potentially of serious consequences. Besides, there is also the pressure to sensationalise these issues i.e. represent them in a dramatic manner to strengthen audience patronage; a pressure which unfortunately the media have many a time been found to succumb to (Jenkins, 1981; Biernatzki, 2002; Yanich, 2004; Akin, 2005; Lewis, 2005). 8 In view of the foregoing and the earlier noted position of ethnicity and ethnic interest groups in the Nigeria’s sphere of political relations, there arguably arose the need for a study that would scrutinise newspaper representation of ethnic interest groups from the perspective of the discourse of language, ideology and power.

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