ABSTRACT
The media are a
major player during periods of conflict by virtue of theinfluence they can
exert on the public’s understanding and perception of conflict situations. The
agenda the media set and how issues are framed can also impact on the direction
or outcome of conflict situations. The conflict between herders and farmers- the
conflict-focus of this study- is a leading resource-use conflict in Nigeria
primarily caused by the competition to have access to land and freshwater. The
aim of this study was to examine the extent and patterns of coverage of the
herders-farmers conflict by national newspapers in Nigeria. The agenda-setting
theory, media framing theory, and the social responsibility theory formed the
theoretical foundation to this study.
The research
method adopted for this study was content analysis. Three Nigerian national
newspapers- The Punch, The Guardian, and Vanguard- were purposively selected. Thetimeframe for this study
spanned a period of 20 months: from January 1, 2015 to August 31, 2016. The
purposive sampling technique was used to select weekday editions and exclude
weekend editions of the selected newspapers. The census or complete enumeration
technique was used to study the entire weekday editions of the three newspapers
published within the 20-month period, resulting in a sample size of 1,305
editions from an accessible population of 1,827 editions. A total of 687
contents on the herders-farmers conflict were found, coded, and analysed using
descriptive and inferential statistics.
Findings
revealed that the selected newspapers were episodic in their coverage by
presenting the herders-farmers conflict overwhelmingly through news reports
while, comparatively, doing little in terms of interpretation and analysis. The
newspapers largely accorded low prominence to issues on the herders-farmers
conflict with the placement of a majority of stories on the inside pages and
far less on the front page. It was shown that the newspapers varied their
coverage across the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. Results showed that the
newspapers were reliant on government officials, security personnel and
victims/eyewitnesses as their major news sources. It was found out that the
newspapers dominantly adopted the criminality frame, resolution frame and the
political response frame. Indicating herders as the principal perpetrators of
violence, the newspapers framed the conflict more as criminal attacks by
herders rather than as clashes between herders and farmers. Also, the
newspapers were critical of the Nigerian government in their editorial
reactions to the government’s level of intervention in the herders-farmers
conflict.
The study
concluded that, despite their inclination towards war journalism, the selected
newspapers played some parts in the mitigation of the herders-farmers conflict,
and performed their watchdog role over the government effectively. The study
recommended, among other things, that the Nigeria press should be more
interpretative and analytical in their coverage of the herders-farmers conflict;that
journalists should be regularly trained in conflict-sensitive reporting and
peace journalism; and that the Nigerian government should develop and execute
policies that would address both the root and situational causes of the
conflict.
Keywords:Newspaper
Coverage, Herders-Farmers Conflict, Framing, Resolution, Peace
Journalism.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page
Abstract
Table of Contents
List of Tables
List of Figures
CHAPTER
ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
to the Study
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
1.3 Objective
of the Study
1.4 Research
Questions
1.5 Hypotheses
1.6 Significance
of the Study
1.7 Scopeof
the Study
1.8 Operational
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER
TWO: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
2.1 Conceptual
Review
2.1.1 Conceptual
Model
2.1.2 Conflict:
A Conceptual Clarification
2.1.3 News
Media and the Coverage of Conflict
2.1.4 Peace
Journalism: An Alternative Model to War Journalism
2.1.4.1 Criticisms of Peace Journalism
and Counterarguments
2.1.5 Pastoralism
and the Fulani Nomads in Nigeria
2.1.6 The
Herders-Farmers Conflict in Nigeria: Nature, Causes and Complexity
2.1.7 Fulani
Herders and the Terrorism Discourse
2.2 Theoretical
Framework
2.2.1 Agenda-Setting
Theory
2.2.1.1 Relevance
of the Agenda-Setting Theory to the Study
2.2.2 Media
Framing Theory
2.2.2.1 Relevance
of the Media Framing Theory to the Study
2.2.3 Social
Responsibility Theory
2.2.3.1 Relevance
of the Social Responsibility Theory to the Study
2.3 Review
of Empirical Studies
2.4 Summary
of Literature
CHAPTER
THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
3.1 Research
Design
3.2 Population
3.3 Sample
size and sampling Technique
3.4 Research
Instrument
3.5 Units
of the Study
3.6 Validity
ofResearch Instrument
3.7 Reliability
of Research Instrument
3.8 Data
Collection Procedure
3.9 Method
of Data Analysis
CHAPTER
FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS, RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
OF FINDINGS
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Presentation
of Results
4.2 Test
of Hypotheses
4.3 Discussion
of Findings
CHAPTER
FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary
5.2 Conclusion
5.3 Recommendations
5.4 Contribution
to Knowledge
5.5 Limitationof
the Study
5.6 Suggestion
for Further Studies
References
Appendix
CHAPTER
ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the
Study
Violent conflict is a
foremost global conundrum. There has been a major rise in intrastate conflicts
in the 21st century. Contemporary conflict trend shows that
intrastate conflict is the dominant form of violent conflict in the world,
while interstate conflict has declined considerably in recent years compared to
the 1900s (Cottey, 2013; Kegley & Raymond, 2010). No continent is spared as
both developed and developing nations are struggling with one form of internal
conflict or the other. Spates of terrorism, insurgency and civil strife, leading
to vicious destructions, displacements and deaths, are now persistent across
the world.
Alongside the Middle
East, Africa has attained quite a reputation for violent conflict. Since the
end of the Cold War between the Soviet Union (USSR) and the United States of
America (USA), most armed conflicts on the continent of Africa have been
internal in nature (Cilliers & Schunemann, 2013; Vogts, 1994). Scholars and
observers have identified a number of factors responsible for the growing
profile of internal violent conflicts in Africa. These causative factors
include poverty, poor governance, corruption, human rights violation, ethnic
and religious rivalry, and small arms proliferation (Annan, 2014; Aremu, 2010;
Cilliers & Schunemann, 2013; Vogts, 1994). Some observers, such as Anup
(2010), also maintain a retrospective perspective, placing conflicts in Africa
as a consequence of colonialism.
Internal conflict has
been a recurrent narrative in Nigeria since her independence in 1960. Conflicts
in the country are often incited under religious and ethnic pretexts. As
Anifowose (1982) observed, “a great deal of the post-independence troubles in
Nigeria arose because of the politicisation of ethnic loyalties by the
political elite” (p. 12). The Census Crisis of 1962/1963 and the Nigerian Civil
War between 1967 and 1970 are only two of many instances of ethnically-induced
violence in the country. The latter still stands as the single most devastating
violent conflict in post-independent Nigeria. Conflicts in Nigeria also take on
religious identity. Disagreements between adherents of the two predominant
religions in the country- Islam and Christianity- easily degenerate into
violence, whereby killings and destruction of property are perpetrated. Violent
disagreements between Christians and Muslims are usually rooted in their race
for ascendency (Muhammad, 2008). Religious conflicts may be provoked by
perceived ridicule of tenets or doctrines of a particular religion. Laws or
policies on religious practices may also incite conflicts. In the year 2000,
for instance, there were violent clashes between Christians and Muslims in some
Northern States due to the introduction of Sharia law in those states.
Furthermore, conflicts
with purely political or economic antecedence easily assume religious and
ethnic dimensions in Nigeria. Religion and ethnicity are manipulated to fuel
“neutral” political disagreements into violent conflicts. On the whole, it
could prove difficult to describe conflicts in the country in absolute terms
because “there is a very strong correlation or overlap between ethnic and
religious boundaries in Nigeria’s plural setting” (Ojo, 2006, p. 369). The
Northerners are mainly Muslims, the South-South and South-East regions are
dominated with Christians, while the South-West is populated with an almost
even mix of Muslims and Christians. It is for this reason that conflicts that
start as inter-religious disagreement often evolve into inter-ethnic violence
and vice-versa. There is, therefore, a delicate divide between the independent
cause of many conflicts in Nigeria and the ethno-religious identity that
undertones or overtones them.
According to
Homer-Dixon (1998), environmental scarcities contribute to violent conflict in
many developing nations. In Nigeria, the conflict between nomadic herders and
sedentary farmers is a leading resource-use conflict. The cause borders primarily
on the competition to have access to land and freshwater(for grazing and
farming), resources which have become acutely scarce (Audu, 2013). Massive
desertification of vegetative lands and drought in Northern Nigeria compel
herders to migrate toward the South in order to provide green pasture and water
for their livestock. In the course of their movement down South, the nomadic
herdsmen momentarily settle in farming communities where green vegetation and
water are available. Disputes arise between herders and farmers over
allegations from both parties. On the one hand, farmers accuse herders of
destroying their crops by the encroachment of herded livestock on their
farmlands and contaminating community water sources. On the other hand, herders
accuse farmers of poisoning, killing or stealing their cattle and denying them
access to grazing routes.
Pastoralism is a
conventional occupation among certain groups in Nigeria including the Kanembu,
Kwoya, Manga, Fulani and the Shuwa Arabs (Blench, 2010; Muhammed, Ismaila &
Bibi, 2015). However, the Fulani are the most prominent herding group, owning over
90 percent of the country’s livestock (Abass, 2012). The fact that no other
pastoral group is as numerous and expanded as the Fulani (Blench, 2003) could
be presumed a reason for the pervasive stereotypes about the occupation of the
Fulani pastoralists (Olayoku, 2014), and why they are the herding group mostly
involved in disputes with farming communities.
The conflict between
herders and farmers is a protracted issue in Nigeria. Violent clashes between
them have been frequent since the 1980s, but gained new momentum in intensity
and reoccurrence at the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999 (Blench,
2003). The progressive increase in the occurrence of clashes between herdsmen
and farmers has been confirmed by different research findings and reports. It
is reported that whereas only 18 incidences were recorded between 1997 and
2010, there was a surge of 371 attacks between 2011 and 2015 (SBM Intelligence,
2016). The conflict has been responsible for the death and displacement of many
people in various regions of Nigeria. Fatalities are not limited to the
conflicting herdsmen and farmers as innocent members of host communities are
also casualties of the conflict. According to the Human Rights Watch (2013),
the conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers significantly contributed to
inter-communal violence and death of about 3,000 people in North-Central region
of Nigeria between 2010 and 2013. On February 24, 2016, Fulani herders were
reported to have raided and killed over 300 people in Agatu communities in
Benue State, an epitome of the level of brutality that has become synonymous
with the conflict in recent times.
The herders-farmers
conflict has turned all the more fataldue to the proliferation of firearms
among herders. Although the argument may be advanced that they carry guns and
other sophisticated weapons around to protect themselves and their livestock
from bandits who steal their cattle, the possession of arms, most likely, makes
violence an instinctive reaction for the herders whenever there are
contestations between them and farmers. Fulani herders have often been linked
to rape and kidnap cases in farming communities. An example is the case of a
former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, who was
abducted on September 21, 2015 from his farmland in Ilado, Ondo State and held
captive by some Fulani herdsmen(Lawal, Olumide & Akingboye, 2015). He was
later released on September 24, 2015.
Identifying the role of
the news media in the context of this conflict is critical. The news media are
a major player during periods of conflict. Through their surveillance function,
the media are responsible for surveying the society, gathering and
disseminating information that are of significance to the public. Conflict is
of particular consideration in the media for its news value. The public are
concerned about the safety and security of their environment and so when
violent conflicts arise, their attention readily turn to the media to keep them
abreast of unfolding events. The heightened emotions of the public from an ongoing
conflict situation could be approached from a business perspective by the
media. “Bad news is good news”, “if it bleeds, then it leads” are covert
operational policy in several newsrooms because conflict sells. Tumbler (2009)
argues that journalists place emphasis on violence and conflict in order to
produce and increase the value of “a commodity that is supposed to generate
profit” (p. 396). Nevertheless, it is expected that the media’s social
responsibility to the public should compel a foremost commitment to minimise
confusion and contribute to social order during conflict situations (Daramola,
2005).
The
news media wield a great influence on the audience in times of conflict. The
context, parties and shifting narratives of conflict are engaged and brought
closer to the public through the discursive forum the media create. Their
selection of what becomes reported as news and framing of issues related to a
conflict tend to shape public perception and opinion about the issues. Agenda
set through media reporting can directly or indirectly determine the course a
conflict situation would follow. The media, in essence, can play a role in
engendering the mitigation and resolution of conflict. Conversely, the media
can also incite or escalate a conflict.
The tendency for the international media
to complicate attempts to resolve conflict has stirred a growing recognition of
the importance of the local media in shaping the course of conflicts within
their immediate purview (Puddephatt, 2006).According to Gilboa (2009),
investigating the functions and dysfunctions of the local media should be a
research priority because the local media’s coverage of conflict directly
affects people engaged in conflict and conflict resolution. The coverage of
conflict by the Nigerian press is vital to what the perception and
understanding of the Nigerian public would be of such conflict. In view of
this, it is important to examine the conflict between herders and farmers in
Nigeria through the coverage of the issue by newspapers in the country.
1.2
Statement of the Problem
The conflict between
herders and farmers, often highlighted by violence, is a longstanding issue in
Nigeria. It has been evolving in frequency and intensity, hence assuming new
complexities in recent years. Fulani herdsmen are now classified as a terrorist
group. According to the 2015 Global Terrorism Index, Fulani pastoralists, regarded
as “Fulani militants”, were the fourth most deadly terrorist group in the
world, only behind the Taliban, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS or ISIL)
and Boko Haram (Institute of Economics and Peace, 2015). Fulani herders are
geographically dispersed as far as their nomadic movements, and so are their
attacks. Although hostilities have concentrated more in the North-Central, there
is an extension to the South-East, South-South, North-West, North-East and the
South-West geopolitical zones of Nigeria (SBM Intelligence, 2016). These
regions have, in varying degrees, suffered the loss of lives and property as
well as displacements due to attacks by the pastoralists. The broad scope of
the conflict qualifies it as a national crisis. Despite this reality, the
herders-farmers conflict has been denied the same exigency accorded to the Boko
Haram insurgency (largely remote to the North-East) and the Niger-Delta crisis
(largely remote to the South-South).
The herders-farmers conflict comes with economic
implications for the country. Violent feuds between herders and farmers have
direct impact on food security: the availability of crops, meat and dairy
products would decline with the conflict at a sustained level, affecting crop
production and livestock production thereby. It is estimated that Nigeria loses
13.7 billion dollars in potential revenues annually to the clashes between
herdsmen and farmers (Mercy Corp, 2015). The level of violence and economic
cost from clashes between herdsmen and farmers pose a major national security
concern for Nigeria. Yet the government has not been able to devise strategies
that will effectively address the conflict. According to Blench (2003), the
Nigerian government’s disposition toward the conflict has been largely reactive
in that when and where the “situation is more serious, they send in the
military, set up road-blocks for a few days and hope the problem goes away” (p.
10). When the National Grazing Reserve Bill was proposed in the National
Assembly as a measure to resolve the conflict by establishing grazing reserves
for herders in any part of the country through the prerogative of the federal
government, it only further accentuated the faulty approach to the conflict.
While the bill, sponsored by Northern legislators, drew ample support in the
North, it was heavily criticised and rejected in Central, Southern and Western
Nigeria. It is then expedient to situate the watchdog role of the media in
influencing the policies and actions of the government in proffering lasting
solution to the conflict.
Disparity in the ethnic
and religious identities of the conflicting parties moves the conflict from
just being resource-based to an ethnic-and-religious-motivated crisis. More
than a few of the clashes have been represented as religious conflict since the
Fulani herders are mainly Muslims and many farming communities, especially in
the Middle-Belt, South-East and South-South, are dominantly populated with
Christians. Attacks by Fulani herdsmen have also been viewed as deliberate
ethnic cleansing in some quarters (SBM Intelligence, 2016). It is instructive
to note that some Nigerian media outletsdo engage in the unethical practices of
religious and ethnic advocacy, thus projecting sectional interests (Oboh,
2008). This raises concern over the media’s ability to report certain conflicts
in the country objectively and accurately.
The significance the
public attach to conflict situations is greatly hinged on the extent of media
coverage. While some conflicts have gained widespread attention through media
exposure, others have been relegated to the background due to neglect by the
media (Puddephatt, 2006). This presupposes that non-reportage or
under-reportage of certain conflicts by the media could be inimical to the
mitigation and resolution of such conflicts. It is therefore imperative to
examine the extent and patterns of coverage by the Nigerian press of the conflict
between herders and farmers in Nigeria and the coverage’s possible implications
on the conflict..... ================================================================
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