DEPLOYMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER AS PARTIES SPOKE PERSONS DURING ELECTIONEERING CAMPAIGNS AS A PANACEA IN MANAGING ELECTORAL VIOLENCE AMONGST YOUTH IN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

The study examine the deployment of public relations officer as parties spoke persons during electioneering campaigns as a panacea in managing electoral violence amongst youth in Nigeria. The survey research was used in this study to sample the opinion of respondents. This method involved random selection of respondents who were administered with questionnaires. Relevant conceptual, theoretical and empirical literature was reviewed. The target population of the study comprised selected students from University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. Three hundred (300) respondents constitute the sample size for this study. The descriptive and analytical approach was adopted using Chi-square to test and analyze the hypotheses earlier statedFindings revealed that public relation officer has a significant effect on the reduction of electoral violence in Nigeria. Findings of the study also reveals that there are  factors that lead to electoral violence amng in youths in Nigeria. Findings of the study also reveals that there is a significant relationship between public relation and electoral violence among youths in Nigeria. Finally, findings of the study further reveals that there are ways of mitigating electoral violence among youths in Nigeria. It was therefore concluded that public relations officer as parties spoke persons during electioneering campaigns has an effect in managing electoral violence amongst youth in Nigeria. It was recommended that public enlightenment, strictadherence to rule of law, creation of employment and empowerment for the youths and needs for government to revisit the causes and address the causes with immediate alacrity to forestall future occurrences.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

          Violence has frequently disrupted elections in Nigeria throughout the years, which has been brought on by egregious electoral malpractice frequently committed by youth. Youths play a very heinous role in Nigerian politics, which calls for leadership action. Eneji and Ike Orji (2018) claim that from 1999 to 2015, there was almost 60% more violence in Nigerian elections. Youths are the primary mercenaries utilised in electoral violence, and Nigerians think that the government should act to address this.The youth are meant to be the backbone of democracy's survival, yet the opposite is true because they are often found inciting election-related violence, which always leads to the loss of life and property.

The youth are influenced by societal issues to engage in violence during the election, claims Moveh (2009). According to Mustapha, who is cited in Ogbeide (2015), youngsters are not involved in politics except from electoral violence.According to Egobueze and Ojirika (2017), tensions include racial and religious prejudice, an unbalanced federal structure of government, poor leadership, and political and electoral issues plague Nigeria. According to academics, youth violence in Nigeria is caused by the uncertainty and status inequalities that egotistical leaders have fostered.According to Eneji and Ikeorji (2018), the pessimism of the political climate in the country leads to young people engaging in undemocratic behaviour. However, the political elite manipulate and take advantage of every opportunity to increase their political and economic dominance, which makes it necessary for a greater force to develop in order to compel and force the population to vote against their will. Youths are used by the elite to sow mayhem in order to accomplish this.Ibietan (2013) argues that the elite are not answerable to the people because of Nigeria's laws and inadequate institutions of government, which support them by giving them a method to escape being held accountable to the people.  

Political communication researchers in the United States and Europe, as well as to a much lesser extent in other regions of the world, have studied the use of public relations by political contenders in elections in great detail (Bimber, 2020; Hermans & Vergeer, 2013). Scholars have tried to comprehend what transformational implications digital technologies may be having on how politicians communicate information, engage the public, and generate support from voters as more people have better access to them. The term "digital media," which is used to refer to internet and mobile phone technology, has received attention for its alleged ability to change politics. There have been significant studies of newspaper, radio, film, and television at some point for their originality and potential political consequences (Manovich, 2019). Scholarly focus shifted to how the "new" digital media would affect political life at the beginning of the twenty-first century.

Allowing individuals to vote for their leaders is one of the key signs that a nation conducts democracy. Consequently, a democratic nation should provide free-flowing public information throughout an election campaign and should be impartial and fair to all party members.Media in a democracy should focus on informing the public about various political issues, and millions of people must have unfettered access to it. The absence of face-to-face encounters, which are crucial for getting to know political candidates during elections, is the main disadvantage of a media-centered democracy. Another drawback is that candidates frequently overspend on pricey television advertisements. Therefore, a television ad campaign using traditional media is expensive.Due to the low cost of using it, candidates are able to make significant use of new media, particularly the internet during the campaign.

Time has changed to reflect the new period and emerging technology. The ability to communicate and share knowledge has never been greater thanks to technology breakthroughs. Previously, manual elections were used, but now they are automated, and electoral campaigns are given a wider and greater level of coverage using various public relation platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, and others (Inocian, Rosaroso, & De Vera, 2017).

According to Dewey (1954), through the information spread by the candidates' campaigns, voters are more likely to support the candidates who shared their concerns. Additionally, campaign activities have an impact on voters and can affect or influence voters' issue preferences and candidate evaluations. News coverage of elections is prevalent and may have influenced votes. Setting the agenda offers a helpful framework and significant factors when it comes to voting decisions (Abbe et al., 2018). Kiousis et al. (2015) claim that when issues become relevant in voters' eyes, voters are ready to use these issues as benchmarks for judging candidates for office.

Due to the digital world of today, there are no barriers preventing communication and the flow of information with regards to time and geography. This is a universally acknowledged fact. Information and communication technologies are acknowledged as two of the major forces behind development and growth on a global scale (Nation, 2015). The argument in favor of voter-politician interaction seems to be evolving. This is due to the dynamic between offline and online media as well as between old and new media, which created an area defined by a vast deal of information and communication avenues rather than the general state of information and communications technology in society(Engelstad, et al., 2017).

Technology advancement can affect both people and politicians, who are expected to deal with it, say Barley and Tolbert (2017). They concentrate on their objectives and the method by which they apply new technology.

In addition to providing a forum through which those who are politically inclined can readily spread information among a potentially uninterested public, public relations can also result in coincidental exposure to political communication. Just as in-person opinion leaders did before the internet, public relations platforms may be used to spread the agenda of the mass media to a bigger audience through casual exposure and online opinion leaders. Additionally, opinion leaders' contributions to information dissemination through public relations may hasten the agenda-setting impacts in particular(Feezell, 2018).

In this election season, politicians recognized the need to modernize and purposefully positioned themselves outside of the conventional forms of campaigning in the public relations space, where millions of Filipinos are actively using information and starting conversations. Politicians who have realized how important it is to use public relations as a tool to further their own objectives have used the power of public relations to influence the public as a crucial platform.Recently, a growing number of Filipinos have entered the field of public relations, making it important to Filipinos in their daily lives. More than 23 million Filipinos used the internet during the 2020 elections, according to www.InternetLiveStats.com. Additionally, the public relations website estimates that 49 million Filipinos use Facebook on a monthly basis, or nearly half of the nation's population, as of the 2016 elections. With these technical means at their disposal, politicians may use public relations as a platform for their campaigns with only their creativity as a limit (Dangla, 2016).

The expansion of online news in the early 2020s brought about a new set of difficulties. The structure of modern public relations platforms, like Facebook, is entirely different from that of prior media technology. Users can share content without significant third-party vetting, fact-checking, or editorial oversigh (Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017). There is a great deal of concern regarding the part that social media sites like Facebook and Twitter play in spreading false information during political campaigns. These technologies are widely used, and inaccurate information is one of their most prominent uses(Garrett, 2019).

Politicians had hitherto struggled to gain notoriety, or to have their opinions and likenesses printed in the media. This demonstrates the constrained path that politicians take prior to the development of contemporary public relations techniques. Modern public relations professionals have developed a planned and persistent effort aimed at generating goodwill and mutual understanding between individuals, organizations, groups, communities, and their publics in accordance with the new trends of packaging for political advantages.Despite effort by researchers to examine the role of new media in political activities in Nigeria, there still exist a dearth in literature about the application of public relation  in political activities in reducing electoral violence in  Nigeria. It is based on this background that the present study seeks to examine the the deployment of public relations officer as parties spoke persons during electioneering campaigns as a panacea in managing electoral violence amongst youth in Nigeria.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

          Elections in Nigeria are extremely unsettling because voters find it challenging to exercise their right to vote due to anxieties about the future. Some voters think that the winner has already been chosen as a result of the role that the teenagers performed throughout the election, whether they cast their ballots or not.These actions include stealing ballot boxes, shooting people randomly, and pressuring voters to support specific politicians they do not want to. For instance, it was claimed that the Kogi State election was characterised by electoral malpractices, which included stealing ballot boxes and pressuring voters to support a particular candidate, among other things.According to BBC News (2019), European Union election observers noted that there was intense violence during the Kogi and Bayelsa State elections, as well as vote boxes being stolen, individuals going missing, and even INEC staff members being killed. This heinous act does not only tarnish the image of Nigeria but also threatens the peaceful atmosphere of the country.Therefore,political parties must use public relations tools and strategies to ensure, maintain, and sustain mutual respect, mutual recognition, mutual understanding, mutual relationship, and building goodwill between a political party and her various publics in order to accomplish this feat. It is against this background that this study seeks to examine the deployment of public relations officer as parties spoke persons during electioneering campaigns as a panacea in managing electoral violence amongst youth in Nigeria.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective of this study is to examine the deployment of public relations officer as parties spoke persons during electioneering campaigns as a panacea in managing electoral violence amongst youth in Nigeria. Other objective of the study include;

1. To determine the effects of public relation officer in the reductio of electorial violence in Nigeria.

2. To determine the major factors that lead to electoral violence amng in youths in Nigeria

3. To examine the relationship between public relation and electoral violence among youths in Nigeria

4. To investigate the ways of mitigating electoral violence among youths in Nigeria

1.4 Research Questions

          The following questions will guide this study;

1. What are the effects of public relation officer in the reductio of electorial violence in Nigeria ?

2. What are the major factors that lead to electoral violence amng in youths in Nigeria?

3. What is the relationship between public relation and electoral violence among youths in Nigeria?

What are the ways of mitigating electoral violence among youths in Nigeria?

1.5 Significance of the study

          The significance of this research will be determined by how valuable it is to political parties, legislators, electorates, scholars, and the general public.

The study's conclusions will first aid political parties in understanding the necessity of identifying, creating, choosing, implementing, and assessing the campaign strategies that will lead to electoral success.

The results of this study will also make political parties aware of the public relations techniques that may be used to foster and maintain understanding amongst the various publics.

The results of this study will also help a politician stand out from the competition and get through image and reputation management issues.

The results of this study will also be useful to the electorate, particularly in the area of political parties' corporate social responsibility.

The results of this study will aid in better educating, sensitizing, mobilizing, and entertaining the electorate.     

Finally, in terms of academic work, the results of this study will be used as a source of information by researchers doing related investigations in the future. It will rightfully inspire more interest in advancing current studies.

1.6 Delimitation of the study

          The study will cover the application of public relations in managing political activities a case of study of  south-south political zone of  Nigeria, namely; Akwa Ibom, Rivers State, Cross Rivers State andDelta State.

1.7 Limitation of the Study

          The researcher encountered the following logistical and physical constraints in addition to financial and time constraints. Access to information and materials that would have aided in producing a higher-quality and more dependable piece of work was denied to the researcher.

Additionally, the researcher had a tough time finding the registered Nigerian political parties' offices in the states under investigation.

There are too many politicians in the South South States of Nigeria, making it difficult and expensive for researchers to visit each one of their residences.

Finally, the majority of the issued questionnaires had incomplete or partial responses. Repeat visits to those he gave questionnaires to cost the researcher a lot of time and money.