Media Educational Contents and Youths’ Knowledge in Nigeria Political Activities

Media Educational Contents and Youths’ Knowledge in Nigeria Political Activities

Anthony Apeh AMEDU

Department of Mass Communication and Media Technology

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2023.7920

Received: 13 July 2023; Revised: 19 August 2023; Accepted: 22 July 2023; Published: 21 September 2023

ABSTRACT

Lack of political knowledge can lead to an incomplete comprehension of public policy, prejudice against members of underrepresented groups, and mistrust of political institutions. Whereas a high level of political awareness results in citizens who are politically educated, vigilant, vocal, competent and who have the necessary expertise for political involvement in order to maintain a viable and stable democratic system. To this end, this study examined media educational contents as correlate of Nigerian Youths’ Knowledge in Political Activities Nigeria. The study adopted the correlation survey research design. The study was anchored on Cognitive Engagement Theory.  The population considered were Nigerian Youths between the ages of 18-35 years. The population consisted of youths across the six (6) geo-political zones in Nigeria. Stratified and convenience sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents for the study. A self-designed questionnaire, called Media Political Education Contents and Youths’ Knowledge, Questionnaire (MpEcYkQ) was adopted for the study. Copies of the questionnaire were electronically administered using goggle form with the link: https//docs.gooogle.com. Findings showed that 435 (80.2%) of the respondents accessed political education contents on social media and 74.14% (400) accessed via electronics/broadcast. Nigerian youths are very knowledgeable about political activities (83.3%). Media education contents correlates with knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths at 0.972) which is a high and positive which shows that the relationship is high. This implies that a unit rise in media education contents will lead to an increase in knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths by 0.972.  The study recommended that Government agencies and Non-Government Organisations should invest more in media education as it will keep and equip the youths with political knowledge which will enhance political consciousness likewise the youths should use their knowledge about politics for positive participation in politics rather than negative vices like thuggery and electoral malpractices.

Keyword: political knowledge, Media Educational Contents, Democratic System, Political Activities

Word Count: 297

INTRODUCTION

In spite of the fact that the youths make up more than 70 percent of the African’s population, young people in Africa have a political participation rate that is appallingly low which can be practically seen in Nigeria (Amedu and Oginni, 2023). This is despite the fact that political elites have arguably continued to duplicate themselves in the political space over the years. The reason for this is that the level of political participation among young people in Nigeria is disturbingly low. Due to the fact that many young Nigerians have been excluded from the political sphere, they are exhibiting a decreased interest in taking part in political activities as they have developed high interest in travelling to the Western Nations which is popularly called ‘Japa’ among youths. The situation in Nigeria is a stark reflection of Africa. In official political institutions and procedures in Nigeria, such as parliaments, political parties, elections, and public administration, young Nigerians are not effectively represented (Akinyetun, 2021).

People’s political knowledge is the level of factual and accurate information that they have stored in their long-term memories about politics and its activities. These include the listed rules and principles of the game, the substance of politics, people and parties, which are the three broad areas of political knowledge (Boris, Parakhina & Nikulina, 2022). Also, Knowledge of politics can be defined as an individual’s familiarity with the history, events, current affairs, personalities, and institutions of politics, and these can be evaluated based on an individual’s capacity to deliver accurate responses to a predetermined set of fact-based questions. According to Galstyan (2019), a lack of political knowledge can lead to an incomplete comprehension of public policy, prejudice against members of underrepresented groups, and mistrust of political institutions. Whereas a high level of political awareness results in citizens who are politically educated, vigilant, vocal, competent and who have the necessary expertise for political involvement in order to maintain a viable and stable democratic system (Galstyan, 2019). The recipient’s self-assurance and motivation to participate in public life can both benefit from the acquisition of political knowledge. The different ways of measuring political knowledge include knowledge of current national and international events, political figures, institutions, and processes (Boris, Parakhina & Nikulina, 2022). Democratic citizens and societies require at least moderate levels of knowledge of political parties, leadership, political history, political economy, and institutional setting in order to accept political norms, be politically effective, understand current, political events, and actively participate in political processes (Amedu, 2023). It would be difficult for citizens, who lack a fundamental understanding of politics, to comprehend political happenings and subsequently become engaged in public issues if they lack this information. As a result, better overall levels of political knowledge give societies the ability to become more inclusion and responsive, which to a large extent, determine the attitudes of individuals towards political activities. As at the time of writing this paper it seems there is a low sense of inclusive and responsiveness to political activities among youths in Nigeria as it is not clear if the youths are politically educated or knowledgeable.

The idea of political education, which is one of the most time-honoured subjects in the history of political thought, is making a comeback in the conversation that is taking place in modern Political Science. Contemporary scholars are more likely to agree that well-designed institutions are not enough, and that a well ordered polity requires citizens with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and traits of character (Amechi, Innocent & Ikechukwu, 2018). This is a change from previous generations of academics, who were less likely to reach this consensus. Citizens with the special knowledge, skills, and character traits needed for democracy are citizens who would not be suited to a political system that is not democratic. Furthermore the media play an important role in creating political awareness because education is a major function of the media in a democratic society.

Concept of Political Knowledge

Political knowledge can be described it as “the range or extents of factual information about politics and political activities that is stored in long-term memory.” According to this definition, the three main categories of political knowledge are “rules of the game,” “substance of politics,” and “people and parties”(Olaniru, Olatunji, Ayandele & Popoola, 2020). It is the capacity to deliver accurate responses to a predetermined series of fact-based questions that serves as a measurement of one’s knowledge of political events, persons, affairs, histories, and institutions (Amedu and Oginni, 2023). A high level of political knowledge, results in citizens who are politically informed, vigilant, vocal, and competent. These citizens have the expertise necessary for political engagement, which is necessary to maintain a viable and stable democratic system (Cacciatore, Yeo, Scheufele, Xenos, Brossard & Corley, 2018).

 There are some citizens who are politically inattentive because they lack the information and abilities necessary to make sense of the political environment and because of this; they are unable to participate in politics in a meaningful way. In Uganda, one of the elements that were recognised, as being one of the factors that inhibited the ability of the population to hold government officials accountable was a lack of political understanding. According to Channel TV, 2019 students constituted the largest category of voters in Nigeria, accounting for 26.57% (22 million) of the country’s total voters. In addition, researchers came to the conclusion that democratic citizens and societies require at least moderate levels of knowledge of political parties, leaders, history, economy, and institutional setting in order to accept political norms, be politically effective, understand current politics, and actively participate in political processes. Citizens who lack even a fundamental understanding of politics will have a difficult time comprehending current political happenings and will be less likely to participate in public affairs (Cacciatore, Yeo, Scheufele, Xenos, Brossard & Corley, 2018). As a result, better overall levels of political knowledge give societies the ability to become more inclusive and responsive.

Media and Political Knowledge

It is common practice to view the mass media as both the “oxygen” that democratic administration requires and the “public square” necessary for the development of democratic norms and principles (Olaniru, Olatunji, Ayandele & Popoola, 2020). The free media outlets make a wide variety of information available to the general public and provide political knowledge by providing access to credible and understandable resources. These resources include portrayals, news, reports, discussions, and other related issues about social and political affairs. Textual (i.e., newspapers), aural (i.e., radio news), and audiovisual (i.e., television) news outlets should all be able to deliver crucial information regarding significant political and social issues. According to a separate analysis by BBC Media Action, a functional democracy cannot exist without a positive relationship between the media and the general public. This is due to the fact that an informed populace is essential for maintaining political accountability (Amedu & Oginni, 2023).

The function of the media as an important agent of political socialisation in the society, is comparable to that of the family, the educational system, the political system, religion, and occupation. Because the majority of the general public gets its news and information from the mass media, access to the media has a substantial relationship with both knowledge and attitudes. A positive correlation exists between the consumption of political news and an individual’s level of political awareness. Acquiring political knowledge is contingent upon access to and utilisation of news media. It would appear that the educational functions of both traditional and new forms of media have contributed to a rise in the level of intellectual complexity as well as political interest in many countries. Therefore, the media are instruments for the dissemination of political information and the consolidation of democratic institutions. Citizens’ political awareness, which is essential for political participation, increases in direct proportion to the frequency with which they consume news via television, radio, newspapers, or the internet.

Cognitive Engagement Theory (CET)

The concept of cognitive engagement is the extent to which individuals are willing and able to learn about politics which eventually leads to participation. It involves the amount of efforts youths are willing to invest in seeking to participate in politics and also how long they persist in doing so (Abdulrauf Hamid & Ishak, 2015). The Cognitive Engagement Theory (CET) was propounded by Ronald F. Inglehart in 1977 as Cognitive Mobilization Theory. At that time, cognitive mobilisation theory basically meant that political participation is affected by better educated youths who have increased access to information (Abdulrauf Hamid & Ishak, 2015). Thus, the core of CET is that political participation is the product of an individual’s education, access to information, political knowledge, political interest and policy satisfaction.

Education refers to whether individuals have more than the minimum levels of education, especially higher education. Access to information refers to how individuals use media to get political information. Political interest encompasses what propels youths to follow activities of government and to understand policymaking. Political knowledge entails their understanding of the way the system works, while policy satisfaction is about policy information which is relevant to making a decision about participation. Hence the more educated youths a society has, the better informed they will be and, in the long run, the more they will participate in politics to show their satisfaction with government policies. Also the lower the cost of access to information, the more youths consume information from the media and the higher the level of political knowledge and interest among youths which further leads to increased political participation(Amedu, 2023).

Statement of the Problem

Today, there is a wealth of evidence to suggest that young Nigerians are being marginalised from the political sphere, and as a result, they are currently not participating in politics as expected. In the light of this, it can be observed that Nigerian youths are not adequately represented in formal political institutions and processes.  Even if considerable research has been done on elections and political processes, a significant amount of work remains to be done in the area of political education through the media and the knowledge of young people about politics. There are questions of concern among media stakeholders as to whether the media of today have taken the shape of protecting their owners’ interests and of promoting government agenda or if the media is still carrying out its function of education especially in the aspect of media education. People are also wondering if there are forms of media political education contents targeted at the Nigerian Youths and also if the youths are very knowledgeable about Nigerian political activities. Research has not confirmed all these. This study therefore, investigates the relationship between political education through the media and the knowledge young people have of the current Nigeria’s political activities.

Aim and Objectives of the Study                                                                    

The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between media educational contents and Nigerian youths’ knowledge of political activities. The specific objectives are to:

1. identify forms of media political education contents targeted at the Nigerian Youths;
2. find out the level of knowledge of Nigerian youths about Nigeria political activities; and
3. find out the relationship between exposure of media educational contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths.

Research Questions

In the light of the research objectives, the following research questions are posited:

1. What are the forms of media political education Contents targeted at the Nigerian youths?
2. What is the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge of political activities?

Research Hypothesis

Ho1_: There is no significant relationship between media educational contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths.

METHODOLOGY

The study adopted the correlation survey research design. The design helped to appraise the consequences and interrelationship of the independent and dependent variables of the study. The population considered were Nigerian Youths between the ages of 18-35 years and it consisted of youths across the six (6) geo-political zones in Nigeria, the justification for this is to give every youth equal opportunity and to get opinions from across the nation. Stratified and convenience sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents for the study. Stratified sampling technique was adopted in selecting the sample from six (6) geo-political zones into six (6), namely North-East, North-Centre, North-West, South-East, South-West and South-South. The stratified sampling was further used to select six (6) states: Adamawa, Kogi, Kano, Enugu, Oyo and Delta States. Convenience sampling technique was used to freely select respondents from the six (6) states that the study focused on. 400 respondents were examined for the study. A self-designed questionnaire, called Media Political Education Contents and Youths’ Knowledge, Questionnaire (MpEcYkQ) was used for the study. Copies of the questionnaire were electronically administered using goggle form with the link: https//docs.gooogle.com. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to process the data and presented as frequency distribution for all items, in charts, tables, mean, and standard deviation.

ANALYSIS

Research Question One: What are the forms of media political education contents targeted at the Nigerian youths?

Table 4.2 (a): Forms of Political Education Media Contents targeted at the Nigeria Youths (N=540)

Source: Fieldwork, 2023

Table 1 shows the form of media political education contents targeted at the Nigerian youths in the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria. Majority of the youth opined that they have accessed/seen political education contents through print media (newspaper, books, booklets, magazine, and newsletters); graphics/digital graphics (billboards, posters, fliers, cartoons, and van display); electronics/broadcast (television, radio, music, and audio outside broadcast). However 343 (63.4%) opined that they have not accessed/seen political education media contents via cinema in electronics/broadcast. Further, majority of youth opined that they have accessed/seen political education media contents via digital media (SMS, digital billboards, web pages, blogs); social media (Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp), while a good number have not accessed/seen political education media contents via telegram.

From the foregoing, it can be deduced that the youths accessed/seen political education contents more on social media than any other media especially on Facebook (95.1%). A good number also accessed/seen political educational contents more on Television (92.7%) than radio. In over all, 435 (80.5%) of the entire population accessed political educational contents on social media, 405 (75%) accessed via digital media, 403 (74.5%) accessed through graphics/digital graphics, 400 (74.1%) accessed via electronics/broadcast, while 338 (62.64%) youths accessed/seen political education contents via print media.

Research Question Two: What is the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge of political activities?

Table 2:  Level of Nigerian Youths’ Knowledge on Political Activities (N=540)

Source: Fieldwork, 2023

Table 2 shows the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge on political activities. The rating scale of Not Sure (1)’ to ‘True (3)’ was used. From the Table, eleven (11) items are remarked “True” while seven (7) items are remarked false. For the items remarked true, this implies that majority (55.4%) of the youth opined “true” to the items to assess their knowledge on political activities, 32.3% opined false, while 12.3% of the youth are not sure about their level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge on political activities. The items remarked “False” implies that most (58.4%) of the youth opined false to the items that “citizens need to be registered members of a political party to participate in elections”, “To contest in any elections, citizens need to be registered members of a political party”, “party conventions are conducted by INEC officials”, “INEC as electoral umpire select party agents”, “a citizen can be a member of two to three political parties”, “a citizen can contest for two offices simultaneously in an election circle under the electoral law”, “as a member of a party, you can never join another party”, and “as a member of a party, you can never join another party”.

The table therefore, generally implies that the level of Nigerian youths are very knowledgeable about political activities (83.3%).

Testing of Hypothesis

Ho_1: There is no significant relationship between media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths.

Table 3: Relationship between Media Education Contents and Knowledge of Political Activities among Nigerian Youths.

Source: Fieldwork, 2023

To ascertain the significant relationship between media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths, Pearson Correlation was used with a two-tailed test of significance at P<0.01 level. From Table 3, using default 5%, the p-value or Sig. value is 0.00 which is less than the p-value and significant at the p<0.01 level (2-tailed). Hence, the study rejects the null hypothesis and concluded that there is a significant relationship between Media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths. The sample correlation is 0.972 (Media education contents correlates with knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths at 0.972) which is a high and positive which shows that the relationship is high. This implies that a unit rise in media education contents will lead to an increase in knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths by 0.972.

Hence, the study rejects the null hypothesis Ho1_: There is no significant relationship between media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths.

DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS

Research Question One: What are the forms of media political education Contents targeted at the Nigerian youths?

Findings from research question one showed that majority 435 (80.2%) of the respondents accessed political education contents on social media, 405 (75%) accessed via digital media, 403 (74.5%) accessed through graphics/digital graphics, 74.14% (400) accessed via electronics/broadcast, while 62.64% (338) of the respondents have accessed/seen political education via print media. While the findings shows that majority 343 (63.4%) and 303 (56.1) of the respondents have not accessed/seen political education media contents via cinema.

Therefore, it can be said that majority of the youths have accessed/seen different political education contents on different forms of media except on cinema and telegram. This result corroborates the findings that reported that social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, Yahoo Messenger, Youtube and Google+ were widely used social media for political participation by the youths (Amedu & Oginni 2023). The findings is also consistent with a related study on “use of social media for knowledge sharing among students” which revealed significant relationship between social influence and attitude towards using social media for knowledge sharing, as well as significant relationship between attitude and use of social media for knowledge sharing (Olubumi, 2018). Contrary, to a finding which stated that “today’s young people spend most of their time surfing the internet and watching television, but very few of them read the newspaper”, the findings of the study also revealed that most 405 (75%) of the youths have accessed/seen political education contents in the newspaper and this is because they read newspapers (Erubami, Bebenimibo & Ohaja, 2021).

Research Question Two: What is the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge of political activities?

Findings from research question three revealed that majority of the respondents got sixty of eighty statements correctly, while majority of the respondents failed to answer two questions correctly such as 356 (65.9%) of the respondents saying “direct primary is the only process of electing party members vying for elections” and 290 (53.7%) of the respondents said “INEC decides the cost of party’s interest forms”.

Thus, it can be said that the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge of political activities is good. This is because; majority of the youths answered the questions correctly. This result of this findings corroborated with a study titled “The influence of media on political knowledge amongst undergraduate students in Ibadan”. From their findings, 71% of the undergraduates are well-informed about political events in the country as they got more than 80% of the questions correctly, which shows high level of political knowledge⁹. Also, the findings affirmed the statement that “political knowledge is the capacity to deliver accurate responses to a predetermined series of fact-based questions that serve as a measurement of one’s knowledge of political events, persons, affairs, histories, and institutions” and a meta-analysis of political knowledge measurements which indicated that the political knowledge covered knowledge on current national and international events, political figures, political institutions, and political processes (Olaniru, Olatunji Ayandele & Popoola, 2020). As the findings prove that the youths are politically knowledgeable by accurately answering most of the questions correctly. However, the result of this study opposes the finding form a work in Pakistan on youths social media and political awareness which reported a poor level of political knowledge, despite, how much social media has politically socialized the students (Muzaffar, Chohdhry & Afzal, 2019).

Ho1_: There is no significant relationship between media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths.

The result from the (Ho1) revealed that there is a significant relationship between Media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths. The sample correlation is 0.972 which is high and positive and shows that the relationship is high. Using default 5%, the p-value or Sig. value is 0.00 which is less than the p-value and significant at the p<0.01 level (2-tailed).  This therefore, connotes that a unit rise in media education contents will lead to an increase in knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths by 0.97. Hence, the study rejects the null hypothesis and concluded that there is a significant relationship between Media education contents and knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths. These findings agree with a study which reported that 31% of the respondents had very high political knowledge while 3% had no political knowledge. Also, access to radio is the foremost source of political knowledge amongst undergraduate students in Ibadan, Nigeria. It also identified that social media is the most frequently use media, followed by radio, television and newspaper (Olaniru, Olatunji Ayandele & Popoola, 2020). Also, the findings that corroborate the agenda setting theory which sees the media as “the oxygen of democratic governance and the public square for the nurturing of democratic norms and ideals, the free media outlets make a wide range of information accessible to the public and provide political knowledge through access to reliable and comprehensible resources such as portrayals, news, reports, discussions and so forth about social and political affairs (Amedu & Abioye, 2020).

Furthermore, the findings from this study uphold a study that stated that “Knowledge of politics is dependent on access to and usage of news media and a positive relationship between political news use and political knowledge. The educative roles of the traditional and new media seem to have increase political interest, discussion, and ideological sophistication in many countries. Therefore, the media are tools for political knowledge and democratic consolidation. The more citizens use television, radio, newspapers or internet to access the news, the higher their political knowledge. Widespread availability of news and political information on internet and satellite television has tendencies to improve citizens’ knowledge of current events (Cacciatore, Yeo, Scheufele, Xenos, Brossard & Corley, 2018). Furthermore, the findings have affirmed the Cognitive Mobilisation Theory which stated that “Cognitive mobilisation involves two separate developments. First, the public’s ability to process political information has increased through the higher levels of education and political sophistication among the electorate. Second, the cost of acquiring political information has decreased due to the expansion of media. Thus, cognitive mobilisation means that citizens now possess the political skills and resources that better prepare them to deal with the complexities of politics and reach their own political decisions without reliance on affective, habitual party cues or other surrogates” (Amechi, O., Innocent, E. & Ikechukwu, A. (2018).

Majority of the respondents accessed political education contents on social media (Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp), digital media (SMS, digital billboards, web pages, blogs); graphics/digital graphics, electronics/broadcast and print media. While the findings show that majority of the respondents do not accessed/seen political education media contents via cinema and telegram.

Majority of the respondents got sixty of eighty statements correctly, while majority of the respondents failed to answer two questions correctly as most of the respondents said “direct primary is the only process of electing party members vying for elections” and “INEC decides the cost of party’s interest forms”.

Pearson Correlation was used with a two-tailed test of significance at P<0.01 level. Using default 5%, the p-value or Sig. value is 0.00 which is less than the p-value and significant at the p<0.01 level (2-tailed). The sample correlation is 0.972 (Media education contents correlates with knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths at 0.972).  Using default 5%, the p-value or Sig. value is 0.00 which is less than the p-value and significant at the p<0.01 level (2-tailed).

CONCLUSION                                                                                         

Youths in Nigeria have accessed/seen different political education contents on most of the media forms examined in this study except on cinema and telegram. Also, the level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge on political activities is good. This is because; majority of the youths answered the questions on political activities correctly. Correspondingly, the unit rise in media education contents will lead to an increase in knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths by 0.97.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are put forward:

1. For political education targeted at youths, Government agencies and Non-Government Organisations should use media forms such as Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp digital media, SMS, digital billboards, web pages, blogs likewise television and radio as this study has proved that Nigerian youths mostly accessed/seen political media education contents on them.
2. Level of Nigerian youths’ knowledge on political activities is good, political stakeholders in Nigeria should know that the knowledge of youths on political activities and this should be maintained and build on.
3. Based on this study, a unit rise in media education contents will lead to an increase in knowledge of political activities among Nigerian youths, Government agencies and Non-Government Organisations should invest more in media education as it will keep and equip the youths with political knowledge which will enhance political consciousness.

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