CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Historically, television broadcasting in Nigeria has been use as a medium of communication that seeks to enrich the life of average Nigerian by influencing positively its social, cultural, economic, political and technological thinking. It also provide news and information about national issues. Beside this, it serves as a source of entertainment. Television broadcasting promotes cultural awareness and seek to preserve Nigeria’s rich culture. Through this medium artistic and intellectual creativity are developed. There for all programmes and coverages are audience oriented and guided by the nations’s social, political, moral, cultural, scientific, education and economic goals. In contemporary times television is use as a tool in disseminating information to the people about the electoral process. Such enlightenment are meant to educate voters and members of the society about electioneering campaigns and other issues related to it.
The television is been used as an instrument by politicians to advertise themselves to the electorates. Jingles, advert placement, political debates, electoral enlightenment are all done through the television. Other political progammes such as focus Nigeria aired on AIT network, Kakaaki and democratic license are all geared towards the education and political enlightenment of the Nigerian electorates. Television broadcasting in electoral education have become inevitable in Nigeria’s political system. This is plausibly correct because political and electoral programmes have recently become the democratic watchdog of our political system, criticism, debates and discontents are all channeled through television. To this end the role of television in electoral education cannot be over emphasized, as it remained one of the viable option towards the monitoring of our electoral system.
1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Democracy should be a celebration of an involved public. Democracy requires an active citizenry because it is through discussion, popular interest, and involvement in politics that societal goals should be defined and carried out. Without public involvement in the process, democracy lacks both its legitimacy and its guiding force (Russell, 2002). In recent years voter participatory behavior has reached worrying levels worldwide. Through the various generations of elections, declining voter participation, especially among the youth, has steadily and increasingly become a major issue of concern that has been equally affecting emerging democracy and consolidated ones. Decreasing voter participation trends are a cause of concern because voter turnout is one of the main indicators to measure the levels of democratic development and robustness of a country. Low voter turnout can be related to and originated by many different factors closely related to the democratic, economic and social development of a country.