USE OF HATE SPEECHES IN TELEVISION POLITICAL CAMPAIGN

Abiodun Fasakin¹, Olusola Oyero²*, Kehinde Oyesomi, Nelson Okorie⁴

¹Mr, Covenant University, NIGERIA, aiminghigher0017@yahoo.com

²Ass. Professor, Dr., Covenant University, NIGERIA, olusola.oyero@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

³Dr, Covenant University, NIGERIA, kehinde.oyesomi@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

⁴Dr, Covenant University, NIGERIA, nelson.okorie@covenantuniversity.edu.ng

*Corresponding author

 

 

Abstract

During the 2015 general election in Nigeria, the political environment was intensified with the proliferation of adverts, political innuendos and propaganda messages. Media organisations in Nigeria as always became vehicles and channels of expressions and propaganda. A significant number of these messages had elements of hate speeches which were targeted at ridiculing opponents and opposition parties. Elections in the world are not taken with levity as it is one of the major determinants of what would become of the certain country in some years to come. Nigeria has witnessed several elections and campaigns with the intention of securing the people’s vote, however, the political environment of Nigeria is not which that can be describe as conducive with candidates attacking personalities and political parties. Questions are being raised as citizens want to find out the role hate speeches plays in election campaigns and how it affects voter’s choice of candidate with their perception about such candidate before, during and after the election. The essence of the hate speech is to ridicule and lower the esteem of others before well-meaning voters. This paper seeks to evaluate the effect of these hate speeches used during the 2015 general election campaigns and to provide an insight into whether there are laws, statues or acts that prohibit the use of hate speeches during election campaigns in Nigeria. This paper was anchored on the social responsibility theory, which explains how media should ideally operate in a given society of social values and it is the standard against which the public judges. The paper recommended that political actors that engage in the use of hate speeches during electioneering should be punished according to the electoral laws of the country. Furthermore, stringent punitive measures should be meted to media outlets that publish or broadcast hate speeches as a form of deterrent for the growth of democracy in Nigeria.

Keywords: Hate Speeches, Television, political campaign, elections and Nigeria