Effect of Radio Political Broadcast on Awareness of Ogun State Electorates Toward Nigeria 2023 General Election

Effect of Radio Political Broadcast on Awareness of Ogun State Electorates Toward Nigeria 2023 General Election

 *Ayoola Olalekan Ajasa (Ph.D)¹, Oladipo Arowa², Ade Inasa-Thomas¹, Kamilu Sunkanmi  Oyejide^3
1Department of Mass Communication, Lagos State University of Science and Technology, Ikorodu, Lagos State, Nigeria
²Department of Mass Communication, Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State, Nigeria
³College of Broadcasting, Abeokuta, Ogun State.
*Corresponding Author

 DOI: https://doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7476

 Received: 13 January 2023; Revised: 13 April 2023; Accepted: 15 April 2023; Published: 12 May 2023

ABSTRACT

This study examines the effect of radio political broadcast on awareness of Ogun state electorates towards Nigeria 2023 general election. The study was anchored on the Agenda-Setting Theory as theoretical justification, and survey research design was adopted as its methodology. With a population of 15,740 people (NPC, 2006). A sample size of 315 respondents was derived using the Taro Yemane formula (1967). Questionnaire was used to collect data and data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. From the result of the data gathered, findings indicate that the selected radio political broadcasts (Citizens Forum and Gbangbalawa) do not give adequate prominence to the 2023 general election (β=. .108, t= 10.656, p>0.05) but educate and mobilise electorates in Ogun state on their civic responsibilities. The study concluded that radio political broadcasts do not influence the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state; however, agreed that radio political broadcasts inspire them to vote for any party of their choice. The study recommended that there is the need for radio political broadcasts to contain messages that will sensitise the electorates about the importance of participating in the electoral process in order to help them take an informed decision.

Keywords: political broadcasts, electorates, awareness, citizens’ forum, 2023 general election

INTRODUCTION

 The impact of the mass media, particularly radio, in contemporary times on the political and socio-economic evolution of society cannot be over-emphasised. This is so that the same message can be communicated to audiences speaking various languages using the mass media, namely radio. It is capacity to concurrently reach millions of individuals aids in enlightening people about social developments. Soumi (2016) asserts that the media serves various purposes in every community. It enlightens, educates, amuses, and even brings society’s members together to advance a specific objective. A major communication tool in any given civilisation is the mainstream media. It broadcasts messages to the public, informing them of what is proper or wrong.

      The dissemination of information is one of the primary purposes of mass media. In other words, the purpose of the mass media is to inform society’s citizens. It also serves the purpose of establishing the news that the general public hears and sees (Sanchez, 2002), emphasising a particular aspect of the news to make that aspect of the news of the utmost importance, and forcing the audience to take a particular action in response to the issue raised in the news.

The radio, the least expensive and most portable medium, would be a valuable instrument to reach out even to the plebs of society since the mass media could be utilised to set agendas.

      According to Adekoya, Akintoye & Adegoke (2015), radio is a very effective tool in rural areas because it is not constrained by barriers like time, space, illiteracy, and electricity supply, and it is simple to use. Radio also creates programs that inform and educate the audience on new social trends, like political, business, current affairs, and religious issues, which are intended to raise awareness. Radio could be used to mobilise the population, particularly in rural areas, to work toward a common social, political, economic, or cultural objective. Therefore, because to the signal’s accessibility in all nooks and crannies of society, it is particularly rich in educating, illuminating, and mobilising the electorates for political engagement.

Information is shared with the electorate through political broadcasts so they know what is going on in politics. Before supporting a candidate or party to gain an elective post, the electorate can use this broadcast to get informed. Political broadcasts inform the public about current events and, to some extent, affect voting turnout and the electorate’s choice of candidate.

      According to Chudi-Oji (2013), to begin this task of electing leaders, people must be mobilised to become informed through education campaigns, sensitisation, information sharing, and advocacy programmes targeted at community leaders, age groups, development associations, opinion leaders, artisans, and other grassroots movements. This is to increase their awareness and foster attitudinal change towards active involvement and participation in politics. All of these broadcasts are classified as political communication, and the mass media, especially radio, an all-age medium, enhances them all.

      Particularly in nations where a large portion of the population works in business, many people still exhibit apathy, alienation, and indifference toward political participation in most communities. As a result, the more people are informed, educated, and inspired about the significance of politics, the more interest, apathy, and determination they will have to engage in it. Radio, in particular, as part of the mass media, is essential in promoting political knowledge and a culture of good government. Due to this, this study looks into how well-informed Ogun state voters are about Nigeria’s general election in 2023

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

      The purpose of radio, a technological tool of mass communication, is to inform, amuse, and educate. Whether in a homogenous or pluralistic culture, these three fundamental roles are essential to each nation’s democratic development (Nwali & Nwogbaga, 2019). As a result, it has evolved into an actual weapon for disseminating political messages. A study by Utor (2000) to determine why individuals in Nigeria did not participate in the 2011 general elections revealed that Nigerian voters have little political education and information. Using radio to target your audience while disseminating political campaign messaging is advised. Ajayi (2021) adds to this by emphasising the significance of concentrating on the impact of radio-based political campaign communications. He discovered that radio could assist Nigerian voters in becoming more informed about politics. To educate and persuade voters to participate in the elections, political campaign messages are created, broadcast, or published (Adibe, 2015). This is supported by Orji (2015), who observed that Nigerians engaged in political communication through diverse campaign messages during the 2015 general elections. According to him, “Radio, one of the media that campaign organisers and political parties utilise most frequently, witnessed the prevalence of such political campaign messaging even higher.” As a result, it becomes necessary to investigate the effect of radio political broadcast on awareness of Ogun state electorate toward Nigeria 2023 general election

Research Objective

The following are the objectives of the study:

1. To examine the extent to which radio political broadcast gives prominence to the 2023 general election.
2. To ascertain whether radio political broadcast educates and mobilises electorates in Ogun state on their civic responsibilities.
3. 3. To examine whether radio political broadcast media influences the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state.

Hypotheses

The research hypothesis will be tested at a 0.05 significance level.

H1₀: Radio political broadcast in Ogun state does not significantly educates and mobilises electorates’ towards their civic responsibilities

H2₀: Radio political broadcast does not significantly influence the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Political Broadcast

      A political broadcast is any television or radio program intended to support or impact the popularity of a political party or candidate. It could also be referred to as a direct speech created by a political party spokesperson on behalf of a political party and freely broadcast on a sound broadcasting service. Political broadcast is used to educate through programs for enlightenment, sensitisation, information sharing, and advocacy. This is frequently aimed at grassroots movements like artisan guides, age grades, development associations, opinion leaders, and community leaders to raise their understanding and encourage an attitude shift toward political engagement and participation (Ikelegbe, 2005). Orji (2015) further noted that political communication in the form of diverse campaign messages was observed as Nigerians had their general elections in 2015; and that Radio was one of the mediums that campaign organisers and political parties utilise most frequently, witnessed the presence of political campaign messaging even higher.

Radio as a Tool of Emancipation

      Radio has taken the lead among the mass media as the least expensive (Transistor Radio) and portable medium, being the most effective in relaying people’s concerns to the government for problem-solving/solutions to societal needs. This is especially true in developing countries (Third World Countries). Additionally, it promotes and draws development through mobilisation, enlightenment, and education by persuading or compelling participants to comply. Due to its ability to cross traditional boundaries like geographic, linguistic, and others, radio broadcasting is the most efficient mass communication medium for reaching people in both urban and rural locations. It was the first broadcasting media in Nigeria after newspapers, and as such, it significantly contributed to the country’s political scene. Politicians utilise a variety of channels to communicate their message to the public during election campaigns, stirring up interest in politics and encouraging people to support the party they choose. In Nigeria, politics have had a significant role in radio history.

The first radio broadcast in Nigeria was made in the year 1933. Anthony Gramsci (1891–1937), a political activist, asserted that “the governing class or party brainwashed others, their belief systems, and their attitudes toward politics through an agent of socialisation (e.g., radio).” This focuses more on the importance and benefits of radio in educating the public about the benefits of entering politics and persuading them to get involved in creating well-organised, healthy, and peaceful communities, states, countries, and the entire world.

      Additionally, it is well recognised that the influence of radio may be seen in the creation of political movements by the instant group to accomplish goals. This indicates that radio strives to participate in reaching a diverse and heterogeneous population in their various destinations concurrently and in their varied languages. This is because rural areas in Nigeria tend to have more significant populations. Old and young women are more prevalent in these rural areas than educated women, and their votes are often used to win elections.

      Radio is a platform for projecting personality via which it draws and retains an audience, according to Rasheed (2016), Radio is a valuable tool for simultaneously reaching many people with a message. Radio is an effective tool for educating the general people. Radio is one of the best ways of mass communication since it is simple to start, own, operate, and maintain, does not need much intellectual effort from listeners, and is not limited by time-space, illiteracy, or electrical supply constraints. It may provide tutorial assistance and materials to encourage debates, reflections, and hands-on learning about a community or nation’s socioeconomic, socio-political, and cultural activities. The radio serves many purposes, including the following:

1. Providing information: The radio provides information to the electorate. It has a crucial role in supplying the general public with political information.
2. Influencing Role: While the media may not always be successful in influencing people’s opinions, they frequently succeed in influencing their thoughts. (Theory of Agenda-Setting)
3. Motivating listeners: Through remarks and programs, the radio serves as a secondary motivator. The way that people participate in group decision-making is facilitated and improved by radio. Radio plays this function in energising the electorate to participate through political programming.

      Due to its advantages over print media, radio can reach larger viewers through its news and other programs. Some of these benefits include its ability to reach a larger audience concurrently and its low mental demand, which appeals to all audience segments (Ojomo, 2009). As a result, these natural qualities give it a larger obligation to advance the development agenda at home and, very crucially, to watch over and protect the populace from the excesses and abuse of public authority.

Electorates Awareness

      Educating voters on the value of participating in the democratic process is crucial to empower them to make informed choices. It is not enough to tell voters about election dates. Igwebuike (2019) asserts that elections continue to be the most suitable and widely used mechanism for choosing representatives who would rule on behalf of and for the people in any democratic context. To enable people to make an “informed” decision, they must be informed about the electoral process and aware of the political parties, their platforms, and the candidates’ backgrounds. The media owes it to its sizable audiences to keep them up to date on political happenings. Voters must know their votes’ importance and how each vote can advance democracy. They must be informed about the election dates, the location of the polling place in their district, their registration on the electoral roll, how to operate an electronic voting machine (EVM), how to obtain a voter’s photo identification card, and voting ethics. Increased voter turnout will result from the impact of electorates’ awareness.

      Adebiyi (2021) contends that voters must be vigilant and educated about the political parties’ platforms before casting their ballots. By being informed of and familiar with the manifestos of the candidate’s political party, electorates should be aware of the advantages that will accrue to them and their communities if they support a particular candidate. Every political party has a manifesto serving the organisation’s core values. According to Aririguzoh (2014), most Nigerian electorates are illiterate; therefore, they are unaware of the major political parties’ manifestos, and those aware of them fail to interpret them in a way that reveals which party is the best. Njoku (2009) asserted that 70% of Nigerian voters are unaware of the platforms of the country’s major political parties. He attributed this to ignorance stemming from a dearth of programs for political awareness-raising and education regarding the platforms of the major political parties. Therefore, Unduru (2013) said that it is wise to make political party manifestos available to voters to choose which party to support. He claims that in more developed regions, there is sufficient political awareness about the election-day political manifestos of each party, enabling voters to choose the best candidate.

      According to Babayo, Mohd & Bakri (2018), it is overwhelmingly surprising that out of the 91 registered political parties and 73 participating parties, the vast majority of Nigerians only know about 26 of them. This is according to a fact-finding survey to determine the level of awareness of Nigerians concerning the registered political parties participating in the 2019 general elections. This suggests that political parties other than the PDP and APC have a low level of knowledge. Therefore, these political parties must launch a campaign to raise awareness by setting up town hall meetings, rallies, and even live appearances on radio and television around the nation. These political parties must remain in the political landscape even after the elections are over since doing so will afterwards raise voter knowledge of each party.

Civic Engagement

      Civic accountability is the state of being accountable for the obligations, burdens, or responsibilities of our community, nation, or country. It alludes to the duties we have as citizens. It consists of behaviours and viewpoints related to social engagement and democratic governance. Participation in government, church, volunteer work, and affiliation with nonprofit organisations are all examples of civic responsibility. One can show civic responsibility by lobbying for several causes, such as political, economic, civil, environmental, or quality of life issues. Democracy and philanthropy can only succeed when citizens take civic responsibility seriously. By exercising civic responsibility, citizens support particular democratic norms in the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These values or obligations are justice, freedom, equality, diversity, authority, privacy, due process, property, participation, truth, patriotism, human rights, the rule of law, tolerance, mutual aid, self-control, and respect for others. Students are taught civic duty in schools to develop into responsible citizens and involved members of their communities and governments. The primary duties of a citizen include exercising their right to vote, abiding by the law, paying taxes, etc. The following details these duties as well as others.

Theoretical Framework

      This study is theoretically grounded on Agenda-setting. According to Maxwell Mc Comb and Donald Shaw’s 1968 agenda-setting hypothesis, the media may not always influence what we think but rather what we think about. This theorist also asserts that the media influences how news stories present events and subjects on the public’s attention. Without a doubt, this notion is still relevant today. The significance is that how a topic or person is presented in broadcast media dramatically affects how the general public views that topic or person. The media is crucial for informing and educating the electorates that this study is focused on. Hence it is related to the agenda-setting theory of communication. It is impossible to overstate the importance of the mass media, specifically the radio, in this situation. People need information; without media communication, important information cannot be quickly spread. The aforementioned points out that there would be an increase in electorate awareness and a favourable response to the general election if the agenda-setting theory were applied through political radio broadcasts. This is a result of the radio emphasising a particular message component.

Empirical Review

      Ojomo (2009) conducted research on the role of the electronic media in a nation’s political development. Using the agenda-setting and two-step flow theories as supports, the study examines the constitutionally prescribed roles of two electronic media namely: radio and television in relation to the extent of performance of those roles.  Citing instances in the nation’s political history, the author attempts an examination of the positive and negative impacts of radio and television on Nigeria’s political development.  The study concludes with recommendations on how the media could be more relevant in the performance of those duties which society expects of them.

      Abdollahyan and Machika (2017) in a study to ascertain the extent that the electorates in Kano Nigeria were exposed to radio political campaign messages, as well as the extent to which such messages influenced their voting decisions. The study determined whether or not there is relationship between radio political campaign messages; interference of the opinion leaders on the voters’ behaviour leading to turn out into participating during the elections; and the outcome of the elections result. To achieve this, the study used the survey method with the questionnaire as research instrument. Through multi-stage sampling, 435 respondents were selected in the nine (9) local government areas, three (3) each from the three senatorial districts in Kano and administered the questionnaire. This research was launched on the premise of multi-step flow of communication theory. The findings indicate, among other things, that the majority (90.0%) of electorates in Kano were exposed to political campaign messages on radio. Explaining further, respondents (58.3%) said they listen to political party related campaigns and were influenced by them while casting their ballot. The findings further revealed that respondents (65.5%) were influenced by opinion leaders in their choice of political parties or candidates during elections as they perceived their advice/instruction as credible. In light of the findings, it was concluded that political campaign messages aired by local radio stations were an essential factor in the political decisions of the electorates in Kano. Similarly, it was recommended that producers of political campaign messages should make optimum use of their right sense of judgment in packaging their messages to avoid deception on voters. And, that opinion leaders while interpreting the messages to opinion followers should always check the reality or otherwise of the messages produced by parties and candidates to avoid misleading their followers.

      In another study titled ‘an assessment of the level of awareness of the electorate of the manifestos of major political parties in Nigeria’, Santos (2011) examined the political awareness of the electorate in Nigerian politics in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos State. The study applied the descriptive research survey design for the assessment of the opinions of the respondents with the use of the questionnaire and the sampling technique. A total of 200 (two hundred) respondents made up of (100 males and 100 females) were selected and used in this study to represent the entire population of the study. Five research questions and five null hypotheses were, raised, formulated and tested with the application of Pearson product moment correlational coefficient tool and the independent t-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. At the end of the exercise, the following results emerged that: there is a relationship between voters’ awareness of party manifestoes and voters’ voting patterns in Nigeria, there is a significant relationship between awareness of party manifestoes and voters’ attitudes in an election, there is no significant gender difference in the voting pattern of the electorate due to awareness of party manifestoes in Nigeria, there is a significant relationship between voters’ awareness of party manifestoes and pattern of voting in Nigeria, and there is a significance difference between the attitudes of educated voters and that of their uneducated counterparts towards voting in Nigeria. It was recommended among others that all elective parties should ensure that they keep the electorate aware of what their parties’ manifestoes are before the elections so that these electorate would know the best part that has the best manifestoes to vote for and that parties seeking elections from the voters should always create awareness with the electorate.

      Harrison (2019) examined factors such as medium, interpersonal communication exposure, objectivity and sycophancy so as to clearly determine the effectiveness of radio political news in mobilizing people for election. Useful theories which are the agenda setting theory, the social responsibility theory and the literature that constitute the basic framework of the study were examined. An empirical survey was carried out in four selected zones in Uyo metropolis. Data collected were analysed in order to determine the effects of these factors on the efficiency of the radio political massages in mobilizing people for elections. The urban areas of Akwa Ibom were clustered into four zones; Uyo, Ibiono Ibom, Ikot Ekpene and Ikot Abasi. The total number of 200 sample was drawn and strictly studied. Empirical evidence from findings revealed that the radio political information has been the engineering mechanism in mobilizing people for election. It makes up their political opinion and attitude, and leads them to political opinion formation.

      The flexibility of radio and television especially in this political mediated era makes broadcast media a unique tool in reaching diverse electorates and it is on this notion that this study examines political communication and the broadcast media coverage of the 2019 general election. The survey research method was adopted coupled with questionnaire to collect responses from respondents within Auchi Township in which 45 copies were returned. The data were analyzed using frequency and percentage method. The research findings showed that mass media especially broadcast media provides an avenue for the citizens to get information about political activities, it did educate and sensitize masses on various activities such as voter card registration, how to handle voter’s card, what to wear during an election, how to participate in political rally and campaign, to the activities on election day, coverage of election results, coverage of post-election activities like violence and tribunal. The study, therefore, recommended that broadcast media should be free from few influential politicians to avoid turning the media into tools of propaganda.

      A democratic society without a mass media e.g., radio is referred to as deaf and blind man that can neither hear or see what goes on in the society. That is to say, any man without a radio in his house to enlighten him about the happenings in the society is deaf while hearing and blind while seeing. The study asserted that without massive medium (radio) in a democratic state, that democracy is doom.

      In a study carried out by Adekoya, Akintoye & Adegoke (2015) on the role of radio in mobilizing women for political participation in Nigeria, they examined the importance of women’s participation in politics and how the radio has been used to facilitate or improve participation. The survey research design was adopted and questionnaire was used as data collection instrument. Data collected from the field were analysed, using simple frequency percentage table and charts. Results from the collected data revealed that radio indeed has positive impact in mobilising women to participate in politics and with the right contents it can indeed become a potent medium in fostering development for women in politics in Nigeria. A lot of improvement beyond what presently obtained can still be achieved using the radio medium. All hands must be on deck irrespective of gender differences to propel the nation to a desirable political state. Based on this premise and the outcome of the analysed data, the study recommended ways through which more female participation can be stimulated in the Nigerian political terrains.

METHODOLOGY

      The study adopted survey research design. The population of residents of Abeokuta South local government is 250,278 people (NPC, 2006). Stratification sampling procedure was used to select the sample size; this is because of the need to break the samples into stages using smaller units of samples at each stage. First, the Abeokuta South were stratified into wards, Ibara ward was chosen given its proximity to the seat of power in Ogun State and the elitist nature of most to the residents in the area. Hence, the population for Ibara ward stood at 15,740 people. Using the Taro Yamane formula (1967), a sample size of 315 respondents was derived.

      A validated questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents. The reliability test yielded Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the constructs ranging from 0.75 to 0.90. Data collected with the questionnaire were analysed using frequency distribution, mean and standard deviation through descriptive statistics. Tables were used to represent data. Linear regression were applied to test the hypotheses. The Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) version 22 was used as the software to analyse the data. The testing of the hypotheses was done at the level of 0.05 significance. The pre-set level of significance for this study is 0.05. The null hypothesis assumes that there is no significant relationship or effect between the dependent and independent variables under study. The p-value indicates the significance value. The statistical decision rule for this study goes thus: if the probability value (p-value) exceeds the pre-set level of significance (p>0.05), the null hypothesis will be accepted but if the p-value is less than or equal to 0.05 (p≤0.05), the stated null hypothesis will not be accepted.

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

Table 1  Radio political broadcast gives prominence to the 2023 general election.

KEY: SA= Strongly Agree, A=Agree, D=Disagree, SA=Strongly Disagree, ***Decision Rule if mean is < 1.49 Neutral; 1.5 to 2.49=Strongly Disagree; 2.5 to 3.49= Disagree; 3.5 to 4.49= Agree; 4.5 to 5= Strongly Agree

      Table 4.1 indicates that respondents averagely disagreed that political radio broadcast gives prominence to the 2023 general election. Of all the parameters used in measuring whether there are adequate radio political broadcasts, none shows that the respondents agreed to them. For instance, the respondents disagreed that ( =3.19) they listen to Citizen forum only. The participants disagreed that they listened to Gbangbalawa only ( =3.45). In the same vein, other indicators from the table show that respondents averagely disagreed that listen to both programs ( =2.90); or listen to the Citizen forum regularly ( =2.53); neither do they listen to Citizen forum occasionally ( =3.48) and listening to Gbangbalawa forum regularly or occasionally also stood averagely at =3.34 and 2.98, respectively. The table also show a mean average of =2.90 for listening to both programs regularly or occasionally.

On the whole, with a mean weighted average of =3.07 and standard deviation of 0.85 the participants disagreed that radio political broadcast gives prominence to the 2023 general election.

Table 2: Radio political broadcast educate and mobilise electorates in Ogun state on their civic responsibilities

KEY: SA= Strongly Agree, A=Agree, D=Disagree, SA=Strongly Disagree, ***Decision Rule if mean is < 1.49 Neutral; 1.5 to 2.49=Strongly Disagree; 2.5 to 3.49= Disagree; 3.5 to 4.49= Agree; 4.5 to 5= Strongly Agree

      Table 4.2 shows that participants agreed that political radio broadcast educates and mobilise electorates ( = 3.92) and SD = 0.93). Specifically, participants agreed that political radio broadcast enhances their political information awareness positively ( = 4.28). Other indicators that proved the participant’s agreement include: being educated on the personalities and programs of potential office holders ( = 4.21) and being allowed to make an informed choice ( = 4.26). However, participants disagreed on political radio broadcasts creating opportunities for them to ask important questions ( = 3.46) and enhancing the quality of democratic governance ( = 3.41). Overall, the result indicated that the participants posit that political radio broadcasts educate and mobilise electorates but do not enhance the quality of democratic governance.

Table 3   Radio political broadcast influence the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state?

KEY: SA= Strongly Agree, A=Agree, D=Disagree, SA=Strongly Disagree, ***Decision Rule if mean is < 1.49 Neutral; 1.5 to 2.49=Strongly Disagree; 2.5 to 3.49= Disagree; 3.5 to 4.49= Agree; 4.5 to 5= Strongly Agree

      Table 4.3 indicates that participants disagreed that political radio broadcast influence the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state with an average weighted mean ( =3.16) and (SD=1.22). With a mean score of = 2.75, respondents disagreed that political radio broadcast hardly influences voting decisions. In the same vein, participants indicated that they don’t influence them in any way ( =2.82). Also, with a mean average of ( = 3.44) and ( = 2.39), participants further disagreed that radio political broadcasts influenced them to act during the decision and led them into a state of uncertainty, respectively. However, with ( = 4.38), respondents agreed that political radio broadcasts inspire them to vote for any party of their choice.

H₀1: Radio political broadcast in Ogun state does not significantly educates and mobilises electorates’ towards their civic responsibilities

Table 4a ANOVA & Model Summary for the Test of Significant Influence of Radio political broadcast and electorates’ civic responsibilities

Table 4a indicates the ANOVA and model summary statistics for the test of significant Influence of Radio political broadcast and electorates’ civic responsibilities

Table 4b Linear Regression Testing Significant Influence of Radio political broadcast and electorates’ civic responsibilities

Dependent Variable: Mobilise Electorates for Voting Responsibility

      Table 4 shows that political radio broadcast and electorates’ civic responsibilities had no significant influence on the mobilisation of electorates for voting responsibility with p. value at (β=. .108, t= 10.656, p>0.05). This suggests that if radio political broadcast does not provide political information that facilitates and enhances the process by which individuals partake in collective decision-making, mobilising electorates for voting responsibility will be difficult. Therefore, given the p. value (.065), the hypothesis that the level of political radio broadcast in Ogun state does not significantly influence electorates’ civic responsibilities was accepted.

H₀2:  Radio political broadcast does not significantly influence the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state

Table 5a ANOVA & Model Summary for the Test of Significant Influence of Radio political broadcast and the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state

Table 5a indicates the ANOVA and model summary statistics for the test of the significant Influence of Employee Reward Systems on Journalists’ Performance.

Table 5.b Linear Regression Testing Significant Influence of Radio political broadcast on the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state

Dependent Variable: Electorates Voting Decision

Table 5 shows that political radio broadcast had a significant influence on the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state (β= .264, t= 3.281, p<0.05). This implies that political radio broadcast had a significant influence on the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state. Hence, given the p. value (.000), the hypothesis that political radio broadcast does not significantly influence the voting habit of the electorates in Ogun state was rejected.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

The findings of this study are, at this moment, discussed in line with the specific objectives and hypotheses set for the study.

Evaluate the effect of a political radio broadcast on awareness of Ogun state electorates towards Nigeria 2023 general election

      The thrust of this study was to examine the effect of a political radio broadcast on awareness of Ogun state electorates towards Nigeria’s 2023 general election. The political broadcast determinants, according to this study, were the political programmes (Citizen forum and Gbangbalawa) and the frequency of listening to the programmes.

      The results in Table 1 reveal that the average weighted mean stood at x =3.07, which indicates that respondents agreed that the selected radio political broadcasts do not give adequate prominence to the 2023 general election. This implies that these programmes do not engage the public enough in political activities to infuse a decisional ability to stimulate individualistic opinion. Furthermore, this study showed that most of the respondents only listen to both programs occasionally and that the political messages of these programmes are inefficient in giving prominence to the 2023 general election. In contrast, the findings of Harrison (2019) revealed that mass media, primarily broadcast media provide an avenue for the citizens to get information about political activities; it educates and sensitises the masses on various political activities such as voter card registration, how to handle voter’s card, what to wear during an election, how to participate in political rally and campaign, to the activities on election day, coverage of election results, coverage of post-election activities like violence and tribunal.

      This result follows that where the audience is not listening to both programs regularly or occasionally (x=2.90), there will be apathy, alienation, and indifference to political participation, especially in countries populated by business people; hence, the more information, education, and enlightenment on the importance of politics, the more interest, less apathy and determination in participating in it. Mass media, particularly radio, play a crucial role in fostering an environment of good governance and political awareness.

      Chudi-Oji (2013) posits that to embark on this task of electing leaders; people must be mobilised to get enlightened via enlightenment campaigns, sensitisation, information dissemination, and advocacy programmes directed at community leaders, age grades, development associations, opinion leaders, artisans, and other grassroots movements to increase their awareness and foster attitudinal change towards active involvement and participation in politics.

      Overall, with a mean weighted average of x=3.07 and a standard deviation of 0.85, the study concludes that Citizen Forum and Gbangbalawa do not give prominence to the 2023 general election.

The extent to which political radio broadcasts educate and mobilise electorates in Ogun state on their civic responsibilities

      Findings from the survey show that participants agreed that political radio broadcasts educate and mobilise electorates in Ogun state on their civic responsibilities (x= 3.92 and SD = 0.93). This study reveals that political radio broadcasts enhance the electorate’s political information awareness, educate them on the personalities and programs of potential office holders, and help them make informed decisions. This finding implies that political radio broadcast has become an instrument of political transformation of the entire masses and, because of its effectiveness, has made those who were politically averse to be politically conscious. This study, however, shows that political radio broadcasts do not create an opportunity for the electorates to ask essential questions (x= 3.46) and enhance the quality of democratic governance (x= 3.41). In other words, these programmes are not offering enough tutorial support and resources to stimulate discussions, reflections and practical learning to the electorates on democratic governance.

      The outcome of this study was in line with the position of Adibe (2015) when he stressed that the electorate’s mobilisations are done through the production and airing or publishing of political campaign messages that aim to educate and influence voters to act during the elections. Buttressing this, Orji (2015) observed that political communication in the form of various campaign messages was witnessed as Nigerians conducted their 2015 general elections. He asserts, “Radio, which is one of the most frequent media used by campaign organisers and political parties, witnessed the presence of political campaign messages even higher.” The result of the linear regression shows that political radio broadcasts and electorates’ civic responsibilities had no significant influence on the mobilisation of electorates for voting responsibility with p. value of (β=. 108, t= 10.656, p>0.05).

Radio political broadcasts influence the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state.

      The third objective intended to find out how political radio broadcasts influence the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state. The findings of Table 3 of this study with an average weighted mean (x=3.16) show that participants disagreed that political radio broadcasts influence the voting habit of the electorate in Ogun state. This implies that if the radio keeps the electorates informed by providing adequate political information, voters will be influenced to act during the election. However, with (x= 4.38), respondents agreed that political radio broadcasts inspire them to vote for any party of their choice. Similarly, further tests on the hypothesis confirmed that political radio broadcasts significantly influenced the voting habits of the Ogun state’s electorates (β= .264, t= 3.281, p<0.05).

      This study outcome corroborated Perloff (2013) that electorates need to be conscientious and sensitised towards the awareness of the manifestos of the political parties seeking their votes. Electorates should know the benefits accruable to them and their communities if they vote for a particular candidate through the awareness and knowledge of the manifestos of the candidate’s political party. Olaniru et al. (2020) also opined that 70% of the electorates are not aware of the manifestos of the major political parties in Nigeria. He hinged this on ignorance due to a lack of education and enlightenment programmes designed to create political awareness about the political manifestos of the main political parties. Rasheed (2016), therefore, suggested that it is good to let the electorates be aware of the manifestos of the political parties as this will enable them to decide which party to vote for. According to him, in advanced climes, there is enough political awareness of the political manifestos of each party going into the election so that the electorates would know the best party to be voted for.

CONCLUSION

      In line with the result of the survey conducted, this study concludes that radio political broadcast and electorates’ civic responsibilities had no significant influence on the mobilisation of electorates for voting responsibility and hence do not give prominence to the 2023 general election. This suggests that if radio political broadcast does not provide political information that facilitates and enhances the process by which individuals partake in collective decision-making, mobilising electorates for voting responsibility will be difficult.

      The result also indicated that the participants posit that political radio broadcasts enhance the electorate’s political information awareness, educate them on the personalities and programs of potential office holders and hence help them to make informed decisions educate and mobilise electorates but do not create opportunities for them to ask essential questions neither enhance the quality of democratic governance.

      The findings of this study further show that political radio broadcast does not influence the voting habit of the Ogun state electorate but inspires them to vote for any party of their choice. Without the radio keeping the electorates informed by providing adequate political information, voters will not be influenced to act during an election.

RECOMMENDATIONS

      From the findings, it is absolute that the political radio broadcasts are not providing adequate information to the electorates. Thus, there is the need for political radio broadcasts to contain messages that will sensitise the electorates about the importance of participating in the electoral process to help them take an informed decision. They need to be educated about the process and made aware of the political parties, their manifestos, and backgrounds of the contesting candidates and armed with several other information to help them cast an ‘enlightened’ vote.

      Again, the result from the study also reaffirmed the need to display the actions of civic responsibility in advocacy for various causes, such as political, economic, civil, environmental or quality of life issues. Civic responsibility is paramount to the success of democracy, and by engaging in civic responsibility, citizens ensure and uphold certain democratic values as written in the Constitution.

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