NIGERIA'S FOURTH REPUBLIC IN SEARCH OF IDENTITY: A COMMENTARY IN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

Abstract

A serious fundamental issue that is being glossed over covertly and overtly under the current democratic dispensation in Nigeria, is the issue of whether or not it is appropriate for the current `Republic', which began on May 29, 1999 to be referred to as the 'Fourth Republic'. Thus, this paper hypothesizes and asks: Is Nigeria already in the Fourth Republic? Could an aborted republic be counted as a full-fledged republic? What are the characteristic features of a republic? What role did the Mass Media play in the birth of the so-called Fourth Republic? Through the methodology of Content Analysis and application of relevant theories of Mass Communication, backed up by contributions of leading political scholars, the paper attempts a heuristic approach which will help in the placement of the current republic in its appropriate position in the country's political history.


(Humanities Review: 2002 2(1): 115-122)