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ABSTRACT
The study examined newspaper reportage on oil theft in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to ascertain whether the Nigerian newspapers’ reports have used their contents to provide adequate enlightenment to the general public on issues of oil theft in the Niger Delta region. Determine the content category in which the coverage of oil theft activities in the Niger Delta region appeared; identify the angle of coverage of the newspapers on oil theft activities in the Niger Delta region; and ascertain the frequency of the Nigerian newspapers' advocacy for change. The research design for this study was mixed method. The mixed method comprised content analysis (which was quantitative in nature) and textual analysis (which was qualitative in nature). The four newspapers – The Guardian, ThisDay, Vanguard, and Punch were purposively selected. The population was 368, while the sample size was 188. The researcher employed simple percentages as the method of data analysis. Data were converted into figures and presented in tabular format. It was found that Nigerian newspapers’ reports utilized more half-page than full-page content to enlighten the general public on issues of oil theft and their effect on the Nigerian economy in the Niger Delta region. The angle of coverage of the newspapers on oil theft activities in the Niger Delta region was mainly unfavourable to the Niger Delta region. It was concluded that newspapers play key roles in information dissemination on oil theft. It was recommended that the newspapers should focus attention on favourable news, and advocacy for change from crude oil theft.
