Abstract
Discourses on democracy in Africa often revolve around the relevance of Western democracy to African nations given the region’s peculiar socio-economic and cultural conditions (Ezeani,2013). In many African countries, evidence abounds of the absence of democratic dividends, an indicator of the apparent failure of liberal democracy in the region. The media as the fourth estate of the realm is often seen, albeit idealistically, as being positioned to rise above democratic failures and, in its watchdog roles, to work towards the enthronement of good governance. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, the environment within which the media operates vis-àvis the ownership structures has continuously posed stoic challenges to its expected roles. The result is continuous dilemmatic practices, whereby the media’s position as bastion of democracy is consistently negotiated. This article, with exemplars from the Nigerian media scene over the years, x-rays the stoic challenges which media ownership poses to Nigerian society as the nation works towards development through good governance. It argues that ownership patterns, pressures and politics continue to challenge the consistent and committed role of the media in deepening our march towards good democratic governance. The article, however, concludes that rather than heaping the blame on the media, one could more safely return a verdict of collective responsibility – viewing the failings of the media within the larger context of the failings of the social system in which the media are embedded. Such thinking invariably points to the fact that various stakeholders other than the media have a role to play in enthroning good governance in the Nigerian polity.Keywords: good governance, development, media ownership, Nigeria, democracy, challenges
Highlights
Discourses on democracy in Africa often revolve around the relevance of Western democracy to African nations given the region’s peculiar socio-economic and cultural conditions (Ezeani, 2013)
As Agozino (2009) would further observe: The inability of the democratic policies taken on by the democratic leaders in Nigeria to contribute to the transformation of the lives of ordinary people is down to the point made by Ake: they are elite focused and mainly urban-based programs that do not impact the lives of majority rural dwellers – they serve the purpose of maintaining the neo-colonial status of the country under imperialism. (p. 569) This Nigerian situation is pretty much the same as in many other African countries, where the ideals of modern liberal democracy are touted to be practised and which were sold to us by the
Ezeani (2013) has called it "Cooperative Collegial Democracy" where he argues for a new form of democracy – a "democracy without tears." While it is not our aim to argue that African countries should evolve their own democratization process to counteract the Western liberal democracy that has not been able to work for them, it is our belief that Africa need to hasten its pace in development and the pursuit of the ideals of good governance
Summary
In the build-up to the general elections of 1983, which ushered in the second administration of the Second Republic, a serious political battle ensued between the incumbent governor of old Anambra State, Jim Nwobodo of the Nigerian National Party (NPP) and C. C. Onoh of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Onoh was only too fortunate to have the services of the federal government-owned Nigeria Television Authority to air his replies and counter-accusations" When the media fail to objectively inform the citizens for prudent voting decisions, they are by implication frustrating good governance from the very beginning
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