CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Government of the people, for the people, and by the people is how democracy is characterised. Democracy is practised in almost every country on the planet. Nigeria's governance system is based on democracy. Pre - independence period, Nigeria was colonised by the British government and governed by them. Nigeria obtained independence on October 1, 1960, and shortly after, a year and a half of war, opposition, and retaliations ensued, tearing the country apart (Anglin 2011).

Radio is one of the major forms of mass communication, and it serves to inform people as events develop. The process of transmitting messages via electrical waves is known as radio. In other terms, audio would be sent and received via waves (Sambe, 2008:75). The origin of radio may be traced back to Samuel Morse's invention of the electric telegraph in the nineteenth century.. According to Bittner (1989:93), Gugielmo Marconi built on this invention to produce electromagnetic impulses which would be sent through the air without the use of wires. The voice was carried over long distances. Thus in 1866, signals were transmitted from England to America without wires. (Sambe 2008:75) posited that in 1888, Heinrick Hertz, working on the electromagnetic theory propounded earlier by a British scientist James Clark Maxwell, produced the first radio waves. In 1923, another Russian, Vladimir Zworykin improved on Boris Rozing.

He invented and demonstrated the iconoscope, a type of electronic camera. Furthermore, the term "radio" is defined by Idebi (2008:1) as "the process of delivering and receiving communications across the air utilising electromagnetic waves." It also refers to the action of transmitting programmes with the purpose of allowing people to listen to the programmes that are being aired (Akpede, Josef, Oladokun, Christine, and Chidinma 2018)

Radio broadcasting has long been used in Nigeria as a means of enriching the lives of ordinary Nigerians by favourably impacting their social, economic, cultural, political, and technological thinking. It also acts as a source of entertainment and delivers information and news about policy matters. Radio broadcasting helps to spread awareness and aims to maintain Nigeria's rich culture. It also fosters artistic and intellectual development(Anglin 2011).

All programming and coverage are tailored to the needs of the audience and guided by the country's social, moral, political, economic, cultural, educational, and economic objectives. The social impact of radio has been so tremendous in the last twenty or thirty years that sociologists and other professionals are continuously researching the topic. Radio is said to have had a stronger effect on the lives of the peasants and other people who dwell on this island(Anglin 2011).

With the invention of radio, the rich and the poor have equal access to informtion. In today's world, radio broadcasting is a well-established method of disseminating information. Radio is a regular source of information and entertainment for listeners in their homes. The information it disseminates may encourage voters to become more active in politics or apathetic during elections.

The Radio broadcasting institutions bundle includes political information about elections, such as opinions, editorials, news pieces, and media events. Radio is a vital part of the election process since it connects candidates for public office with voters, and most crucially, a single message broadcast on the radio can reach millions of people at the same time. It is therefore unsurprising that politicians, political parties, and media strategists have made extensive use of it to disseminate various bits of information to the media in the hopes of creating awareness on political matters (Russell, 2013).

Audience are becoming increasingly disinterested in participating in elections. Most people don't see why they should bother to register to vote. Another set of people who want to register feels completely disenfranchised by the lack of or limited number of registration locations. Some people make it through the registration process and vote, but they believe their votes are invalidated because they believe shady tactics are employed to elect unpopular politicians to public office.

In today's world, radio is used to disseminate information about the voting process to the public and other words creating awareness on elections and political candidates. The goal of such enlightenment is to inform voters and members of the public about electioneering campaigns and other connected concerns. Politicians utilise radio to sell themselves to the audience through jingles, while political discussions, ad placement, and electoral education all take place on television. Delta Radio Asaba's political programmes, as well as other democratic license, are all targeted toward educating and enlightening Nigerian voters.

In Nigeria's political system, radio broadcasting for awareness creation and mobilization for elections has become unavoidable. This appears to be reasonable even though all political and electoral shows have recently become the political watchdog of our political system, with arguments, criticism, and dissatisfaction being broadcast on Radio. The rich history of Nigerian elections has provided us with a unique opportunity to analyse the many functions of radio in Nigerian political processes(Anglin 2011).

The issue and question of educative information, mobilization and monitoring became a very crucial factor in the realization of the national objectives in the context of the electoral process. One of the main constitutional roles of the media in a democracy is to objectively monitor governance while remaining consistent, preserving and objective stance in holding those involved in the democratic process accountable to the people(Anglin 2011). To this aim, the relevance of radio in political awareness and mobilisation for 2023 cannot be overstated, as it has remained one of the possible tools for electoral system supervision.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM    

Democracy should be a festival of citizen participation. Democracy necessitates an engaged population because society goals should be created and implemented through debate, popular interest, and political participation. Democracy loses both its legitimacy and its driving principle if the public is not involved in the process (Russell, 2013).

Voter participation and political awareness have risen to alarming levels around the world in recent years. Throughout the generations of elections, diminishing voter participation, particularly among the youth, has slowly and increasingly become a major source of concern, hurting both emerging and established democracies.

Voter turnout is one of the most important markers of a country's democratic progress and resilience, hence declining voter participation patterns are concerning. Low voter participation can be linked to and caused by a variety of variables relating to a country's democratic, economic, and social development. It is to this the study centers on audience response to the platform, radio delta Asaba, as a tool political awareness and mobilization for 2023

1.3    OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

        The general purpose of the study is to assess audience response to the platform, radio delta Asaba, as a tool political awareness and mobilization for 2023. The specifics objectives of the study are:

1 To examine the role of media in elections in Nigeria

2 To asses the impact of Radio delta as a tool for political awareness and mobilization for 2023 elections

3 To examine radio as a tool in enhancing voters education towards 2023 elections

4 To recommends ways  creating political awareness and voters education through radio towards 2023 elections in Nigeria

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1 What is the role of media in elections in Nigeria?

2 What is the impact of Radio delta as a tool for political awareness and mobilization for 2023 elections?

3 how does radio as a tool in enhancing voters education towards 2023 elections?

4 What are the ways creating political awareness and voters education through radio towards 2023 elections in Nigeria?

1.5 RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS

Hypothesis

H0: Radio delta Asaba do not serve as a tool for political awareness and mobilization for 2023 elections in Nigeria

H1: Radio delta Asaba serve as a tool for political awareness and mobilization for 2023 elections in Nigeria

1.6    SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 

The study is based on the audience response to the platform, radio delta asaba, as a tool political awareness and mobilization for 2023. The following are the limitations of the study;

1.  Uncooperative attitude of some of the respondents who refused to complete the questionnaires given to them or to be interviewed for fear of official reprisal. Their refusal to cooperate adversely affected the amount of data collected through primary sources.

2.  Financial Constraint: The study could have been very extensive if more organizations were included. But the researcher could not afford the cost involved. Thus, the study is restricted to only one corporate organization.

3.  Time Constraint: The researcher could not complete the study within a record time because of the pressure of other academic works on the researcher.

1.7 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The study is important because it provides useful and vital information on audience response to the platform, radio delta asaba, as a tool political awareness and mobilization for 2023. The research shall expose the researcher and the entire respondents either as reference point or as a past literature that could be studied thus shall be in a better position to enlighten others.

1.8 JUSTIFICATION OF THE STUDY

The study audience response to the platform, radio delta asaba, as a tool political awareness and mobilization for 2023; it will also help by recommending ways of enhancing voters education in Nigeria

1.9 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Political Messages: information on the candidate’s attributes that resonate with voters‟ needs. They also contain attributes of politicians that relate with constituents through the media (Fourie, 2013).

Election: Is represented as a process by which the electorates of a country vote directly to elect their leaders in either legislative or executive arm of government, or choice of selecting a leader by people vote (Nnaemeka, 2015). Democracy entails the notion of election as the means of selecting political decision makers. Election is described as the pillar of democracy. Election is the back born of democracy and there is no democracy without election (Nnoli, O. 2006).

MOBILIZATION: Mobilization or organizing is the process of motivating and coordinating people for a purpose

AWARENESS: Awareness is the state of being conscious of something. More specifically, it is the ability to directly know and perceive, to feel, or to be cognizant of events.