The Media and Conflicts in Nigeria

The media as the fourth estate of the realm is susceptible to manipulation positively and otherwise, regardless of place and time. This is partly why media-conflict study is gaining currency globally. The role of the media in conflict prevention, resolution and escalation is now of global concern to both peace and conflict scholars and public policy makers. The kind of information the media disseminate is critical to sustaining peace and harmony in society and vice versa. It is on this note, that we examined the role of the Nigerian media in the Niger Delta, Boko Haram and Jos crises. To what extent has the mainstream media shun the principle of ‘who pays the piper dictates the tune’, a tendency that promotes and escalates conflict in society and concentrate on the issues fuelling the conflict in order to get the government to respond to the grievances of the people before it degenerates into conflict. Using desk research and interview, the paper argues that the media can play a vital role in promoting peace and preventing conflict by embracing the principle of peaceful coexistence as against the policy of disseminating only the kind of information those who pay their wages want them to. The latter often tends to instigate and escalate conflicts as empirical evidence has demonstrated in the Middle East, Sudan, Nigeria and other flash-points across the globe.