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MEDIA COVERAGE OF 2011 ELECTION VIOLENCE IN NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Elections are generally conceived as a means of peaceful change of leadership in societies. In democratic societies, elections empower ordinary citizens to choose among contestants for offices and as well encourage participation in governance. The 2011 April 16th presidential election which was conducted by independent National Election Commission (INEC), has come and gone. The election which was adjudged to be free, fair and credible, by both local and foreign observers, ushered in happy winners and badly bruised losers. The losers anticipating losing the presidential election of April 16th 2011, unleashed their anger on hapless and innocent Nigerians in what is generally referred to as post election violence, which left in its trail huge loss of lives and properties worth billions of naira.

This dastardly act shook the foundation of our co-existence as a nation and raised fundamental questions on our corporate existence as a nation. The 2011 presidential election was held across 36 states of the federation and the federal capital territory. The election was contested by 21 political parties, but the major contenders were the incumbent president Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), General Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd) of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Mallam Ibrahim Shekaru of All Nigerians Peoples Party (ANNP) and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu of the Action Congress of Nigerian (ACN) etc.

However, twenty four hours after the said election and as the results were being collated and released on a state by state basis; news filtered in that some supporters of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) had in the late hours of Sunday 17, April 2011, started burning tyres in protest of the results being announced by Independent National Election Commission (INEC). According to Ogunwale (2011,p.9) by the early hours of Monday 18th April, 2011, reports of killings and burning of properties of persons suspected to be Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters was already underway in Kaduna, Zaira, Kafanchan and other towns simultaneously. Later, the protests degenerated into violent riots or sectarian killing in other 12 northern States of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kastina, Niger, Sokoto,  Yobe and Zamfara. “Relief officials estimated that more than 65,000 people were displaced’’ (www.hrw.org/news/2011/05/26/nigeria).  Dufka (2011) states that ‘’ deadly election related and communal violence in

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