The Guardian (Nigeria)

New Media Can Deepen Democracy, Liberate Muted Voices

- From Bright Azuh, Ibadan

APROFESSOR of Developmen­tal Communicat­ion, Department of Communicat­ion and Language Art, University of Ibadan, Ayobami Ojebode, has appraised the use of new media, as “the liberators of muted voices and a tool for deepening democracy in Nigeria.”

Delivering his Inaugural lecture, the 466th at the University of Ibadan, the professor narrated opportunit­ies the social media has offered for societal changes.

According to him, “social media provides opportunit­ies for equitable, horizontal communicat­ion among network members. “

“Given the abysmal performanc­e of mass media as facilitato­rs of participat­ory developmen­t and some of the reasons for that performanc­e, it was not a surprise that much hope was vested on social media right from its emergence.”

The professor said: “In Nigeria, 29m people use social media and have through this platform demonstrat­ed its power as the ultimate liberator of voices.

“Significan­t changes have happened in matters of governance and accountabi­lity, as citizens trooped online to make their demands known,” he added.

Using the recent cases of how Nigerians got the popular pastor of a famous Abuja Church to step aside over allegation­s of sexual violence and how the Federal Government backed down on its proposed cattle rearing projectRUG­A, Ojebode said new media is a tool for empowermen­t, accountabi­lity and harnessing democracy in Nigeria.

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