DEMOCRACY AND ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN NIGERIA: THE CASE OF THE 2023 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION

ABSTRACT

This study was designed to ascertain the democracy and the role of social media in Nigeria: the case of the 2023 presidential election. Five (5) research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey. The population of study for this research comprises undergraduate students enrolled in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Benin. A total number of eighty-one (81) students were drawn from the population of the study using the simple random sampling technique which were used as the respondents for this study. The research instrument for the study was a Questionnaire titled: Democracy and the Role of Social Media in Nigeria: The Case of the 2023 Presidential Election Questionnaire (DRSMNQ), which was distributed to the respondents and collected immediately after completion from respondents. The simple percentage and mean score was used in computing the responses of the questionnaire items. To account for the reliability of the study, the Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation Coefficient was used which gave a value of 0.79. At the end of the study, the researcher found that citizens attached importance to the status and pedigree of the Nigerian government hence influence their perception, decision making and policy formation and in the way they react to certain issues of life and as watchdog over the government. The survey revealed that social media reportage of governmental activities and issues is of good quality, timely, precise, understandable, detailed and objective, political and governmental news programmes. The study concludes that social media is one of the major source of political awareness among Lagos residents. It is an effective tool to checkmate activities of government. Finally, the researcher recommends that since the primary purpose of the social media is to inform the public, then social media owners, bloggers and site owners should ensure that contents of their news are absolutely free from bias, factual and relevant to the large society.