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Media, Politics and Deliberative Process in Nigeria By Tokunbo
Awoshakin
Democracy
appears able to survive in Nigeria amidst the sea of doubts caused by
ethno- political violence and the period of recession through which the
country is passing.
It
seems as well that the people of my country, judging by the overwhelming
interest and involvement of Nigerians in the last elections and the
resistance of the attempt to close up the local government council
polls, have not lost sight of the true significance of democracy.
The
underlying problem therefore seems not to be that of any
misunderstanding over the meaning of the term but that of identifying
those who are in charge of perfecting it.
Over
the years, Nigerian political parties and parliaments have
sometimes proved to be the most discredited institutions, with low
levels of trust from the electorates. Our political leaders have been
incapable of nurturing trust in the population, and the majority of them
have contributed to this instability in the democratic process.
Another
problem is the institutional corruption and generalized kleptomania of
leaders that have sacked the national treasuries, the lack of clarity
and vision of the future among political leaders; and the lack of
transparency in the justification of the policies implemented by these
governments.
There
is also a chronic lack of independence among the branches of government
and continual bickering among representatives in the National assembly
in Abuja as well as legislative assemblies across the country. At
the root of all these, there seem to be a major disconnect between the
citizens and elected official. Politics in my country is seen as having
been circumscribed and now directed by politicians and policy makers who
speak another language: the language of avoidance. Citizens in Nigeria
find nothing personal in most projects of the country. It is almost like
there is no place for their initiative and actions. It is impression on
gets from Nigeria is that their role as citizens ends on Election Day. Nigerians
abroad and members of the international community pay close attention to
events in Nigeria as reported by Nigerian newspapers with web outlet.
The call for the convocation of a sovereign National conference, which
has been coming and going like an abiku
as well as the violence in the Niger Delta region have been most
interesting. It has been intriguing to monitor how public official’s
-both those presently in power and those recently in power frame these
issues. Not less so has been the way the Nigerian news media have been
framing the issues for the public. Being
that I visit Nigeria frequently, the sense I got from a recent visit was
that Nigeria now has a displaced citizenry. It is not that people
are tired of remaining citizens after being electorates, it seem more
like Nigerians are just not sure that citizens count for much these
days. There is a feeling of impotence among citizens. This impotence has
the negative effect of causing Nigerians to defer to those in
authority-a deference that ultimately undermines the position as
citizens. Majority
of Nigerians have simply been pushed out of the political process.
Accusing fingers are pointed to past and incumbent politicians,
political appointees and hangers- on in the presidency and National
Assembly, campaign managers and to those in the media.
Politics in Nigeria is now a game for the “big guns” made of
a few people, which form the new political oligarchy that is replacing
representative democracy. Citizens are relegated to the sidelines, where
they stand unable to control either the players or the rule of the game. This
problem is however not limited to the relationship between elected
official and citizens, there is also a seeming disconnect between what
is reported in Nigerian news media and what one would call the major
concerns of many citizens. To be sure, a lot of times, issues are
covered in ways that bear little resemblance to the way people encounter
them in everyday life. Although
the Nigerian news media generally see themselves as neutral referees who
serve the public interest by keeping critical eyes on what politicians
in government do, this is mostly not so. To be sure, there are reasons
to believe that the news media is also partly responsible for the public
distaste for politics. The
way the Nigeria news media reports on issues and actions of government,
some have said, actually pushes the people further away from having a
sense of relevance in politics.
Given
that politicians have to couch things in away that the news media can
understand it. -Brief and quotabe, what people see and read on the news
does not resonate with what is most valuable to them or the realities of
life as they experience it. The
project of bringing public initiative to bear on decisions affecting
their lives is one that should be realizable in the framework of
deliberative democracy. In a framework where there is genuine public
will. This is true because, there is a public dimension to politics in
Nigeria Yet, this is always missing from the way issues and policy
matters are framed and presented Identifying
major elements and the corresponding consequences that contribute to
elected officials, media, and citizens working together around public
policy and governance issues in a trilateral arrangement appears to be a
natural process for application of democratic principles in the
development and implementation of public policies that impact citizens
within a city, a state or nation. Would
it not make a difference therefore in
pursuing genuine peace and development in the Niger Delta if the major
issues of Niger Delta crisis, are framed in terms of what is valuable to
the people in their everyday realities. These citizens want to know
their choices. Choices that are described in terms of what is valuable
to them. Of
course to have
these kinds of choice, there needs to be deliberation among the people
as well as between them and the stakeholders. Now to deliberate is not
just to "talk about problems" It means more than that. It also
means to weigh carefully both consequences of various options for action
and the views of other parties involved in the crisis. On
a larger scale, the use of a deliberative process cannot be over
stressed as a viable approach for dealing with the nation’s political
process. Is this what is termed as Sovereign National Conference?
Perhaps not. Unlike the sound bite that flies across from Nigeria on the
convocation of the conference, a public deliberation or a deliberative
democratic process is not the sole custody of the political elites and
news media but of them and the citizens. Tokunbo
Awoshakin is the pioneer Washington Bureau Chief of THISDAY/Anchor
Newspapers He presently works with the Kettering Foundation on
International Media, Democracy and Sustained Dialogue Projects. |