Conclusion
This work has examined the role of the media during the Nigerian Civil War. Much have been written about the Nigeria-Biafran Civil War after it ended in 1970. However, studies on the media involvement in the conflict, which followed accusations of partiality on the part of the press, in particular, have either focused on the British side or have appeared within the broader spectrum of war and the media. Thus this study is a narrative from media propaganda during the war which to some extent, strengthened the the Biafra soldiers resistance in sustaining the war for almost three years, and how the Biafrans used the media to galvanize the public opinion and sympathy to such a remarkable degree that helped them gain support for international recognition. It also contributed to the distribution of the relief effort that brought food and medicine to the enclave, and support from foreign governments, including France, Portugal, and South Africa.
The first session provides an introduction to the background to the study, stating the relevance of this study, with it's aim and objectives, the scope of this research, the methodology used in carrying out this research and various literature reviewed in relation to this research.
The study further revealed the origin, causes and history of the Nigerian Civil War. The study has revealed that the Nigeria Civil War that broke out on 6 July, 1967 and that the war was a culmination of an uneasy instability that had plagued the Nigerian state from independence in 1960. The study further revealed that the Nigerian Civil War of 1967–1970 occurred in line with the second motive, as the Igbos of Eastern Nigeria had planned to exit Nigeria and have their own independent State, which they christened “Republic of Biafra”. The study further showed that the drift to civil war became inevitable, that was when a meeting of the Consultative Assembly in Enugu on May 27th, 1967 mandated and declared at an early practicable date Eastern Nigeria as a free sovereign and independent state by the name of the Republic of Biafra.
The study further revealed that gathering information from the front was not made any easier by the gradual shift towards disorganized, bloody and rather unpredictable guerrilla warfare. The findings of the study also indicated that the Nigerian and Biafra mass media adopted war journalism approach in reporting the Nigeria Civil war. This approach escalates conflicts and negates the media’s possible role as a “mediator” to de-escalator conflicts. Use of war journalism approach in reporting happenings of the Nigeria Biafra war was vividly portrayed in the use of inflammatory diction, propandada and sources of story. For the media to be relevant in de-escalating conflicts resulting from wars like that of the Nigeria Biafra war, they need to adopt the peace journalism.
The study also revealed how the media gave detais of military operations and tried to analyse rumours and clues about possible arms sales to the warring parties and how the media also reviewed the humanitarian situation, followed diplomatic progress and political declarations from various countries, and discussed the peace prospects,reports on the military and humanitarian fronts in order to evaluate potential changes in the reporting of the news and the difficulties faced by the journalists as the war progressed.
The study also examines the revolutionary role of radio and newspapers in the propaganda war. It argues that Radio Biafra and Biafran newspapers, such as – Biafran Nationalist, the Biafran Sun and the Sunday Champion, not only sustained the support and loyalty of Biafrans but also created a community spirit that bolstered Biafrans’ confidence in the war.
