Journal of Media, Communication and Languages THE ...

THE INFLUENCE OF PROPAGANDA AS INSTRUMENT FOR POLITICAL MOBILIZATION: A STUDY OF SELECTED

GENERAL ELECTIONS IN NIGERIA

Godwin Odey OshieDepartment of Mass Communication

Cross River University of Technology,

&

Peter Ogar Inyali,

Helen Ochuole OdeyDepartment of Mass Communication

University of Calabar

AbstractThe rate at which political propaganda is being used as instrument for political mobilization in Nigeria today is alarming. This has left so many to wonder if Nigeria is really a developing nation that is ready and willing to advance democratically and otherwise. Political parties, candidates, groups, associations, communities and individuals have often engaged in propaganda to project their candidate through calculated, distorted, biased, full of facades lies aimed primarily at influencing the target audiences (gullible masses) which often confuse them from selecting a credible candidate through manifestos or debate sessions. This has motivated the researcher to investigate the extent to which propaganda has influenced political mobilization in Nigeria and to explore if there are ways to curb this incessant practice. The paper employed both conspiracy and persuasion theories to support the work. It also collected data through survey research method. The questionnaire was the main data gathering

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Journal of Media, Communication and Languages

instrument. The paper concludes that propaganda has influenced so much in political mobilization through common practices (plain folk) like dance, music, cultural dressing, sweeping the roadside, hairstyles, etc and other techniques like glittering generalities, name calling and card stacking to sell un-achievable promises which the electorates have fallen into. The study has therefore, recommended that government should make laws regarding the extent to which propaganda should be carried out in Nigeria politics and that only white propaganda should be allowed in Nigeria political mobilization.

Keywords: Influence, Propaganda, Political mobilization.Introduction

Political propaganda articulates similar terms as advertising and public relations, as its aim is to make an impact on the audience to get their support in an election. That is to say, “political propaganda is not different from advertising, the latter concept presupposes to make something known, advertise it, a way of propagating it so as to stimulate demand of goods and services.” (Corona, 2011).

Man as a social animal, demonstrates the idiosyncrasy of propaganda through several interactive processes. These interactions are carried out by way of communication of interests to his neighbours, public, constituency etc. or whoever such interest might have incidence upon.

According to Corona (2011), electoral propaganda aims at making a given candidate known, or even a party that has been recently created seeking to position itself. It does not intend to just inform using data or proposals, but rather to convince through emotions. Political propaganda tends to exert its influence with emotive effects and not through reasons, exaggerating the candidates' qualities just like it would happen with products.

Propaganda according to Eke as cited by Utobo in Alied (ed) (2012), 'it is inter alia, enigmatic, paradoxical and indecent, meaning too many things to, with differing impacts on, people, event and time. It is an equivocator-stirring up and reinforcing crises, and yielding impressions

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that make even wars lose lustre and impetus. What is constant about propaganda is that individuals, federal government, etc use it to burnish their image, project their interest and convince the public about the justness of conducting such controversial national policies as prosecution of war.

However, the messages of a propagandist are never objective; it is always distorted, biased, full of facades and aimed primarily at influencing the target audience which is the gullible masses.

Propaganda in Nigeria's politics is as old as man. It is deeply rooted in the system, literally, there is a strong affinity with politicians and propaganda. Also, in Nigeria, there has never been an election held without its candidate practicing propaganda, or cheap stunts with the aim of appealing to the emotions of its gullible citizens. The intent is usually littered with pictures of candidates displaying different shades of shenanigan like streets hawking, gutter cleaning, visit to Internally Displaced People's camp etc. which are all seen to be calculated lies as you can never see them again on the streets doing all of that after elections.

Statement of ProblemThere has never been an election held in Nigeria without its

candidate or political party practicing a form of propaganda or cheap stunts with the aim of appealing to the emotions of its gullible citizens. It is one of the ravaging masks of deceit that our politicians wear whenever the day of election is fast approaching. Propaganda is a collection of persuasive techniques or skills which are devised to often create false impression or perception about a phenomenon, and when it becomes political, it often applied as a means to a deceitful end. It is not surprising to see many of the potential political candidates and incumbent leaders among poor people in public places like market, shops, local cafeterias, sweeping the road, dancing with a group of common men etc for wider acceptance. Propaganda as a form of communication is often biased or misleading in its nature and aimed at influencing the attitude of the population towards some cause, position or political agenda. It has led the electorates in making wrong decisions and choices for the candidature of a credible and reliable ones for the ones with “sugar cane” tongue. This

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has left numerous questions on the minds of millions of Nigerians as to whether the propaganda messages are effective on gullible citizens alone or not and whether propaganda is manifesto? It is on this premises that the researcher attempts to find out why political propaganda messages are so common during elections in Nigeria.

Objectives of the StudyThe paper seeks to:1. Ascertain the influence of propaganda on electioneering

campaign in Nigeria.2. Find out if propaganda messages are only effective on

uneducated citizens or not3. Examine the difference between propaganda and manifesto

Literature Review Origin and Meaning of Propaganda

According to Baran & Davis (2006), the term originated with the Roman Catholic Congregation de propaganda fide (committee for the propagation of the faith), an order of the Church established by a Papal bull in 1622 by Pope Gregory XV. The propaganda fide was originally founded in an effort to suppress the protestant reformation. But the term has since come to refer to the no-hold-barred use of communication to propagate specific beliefs and expectations as used by Nigerian politicians today to gain support for their political ambitions.

The ultimate goal of propagandists is to change the way people act and to leave them believing that those actions are voluntary, that the newly adopted behaviours – and the opinions underlying them- are their own, Pratkanis and Aronson, (19 92, p. 9). To accomplish this through, propagandists must first change the way people conceive of themselves and their social world. A variety of communication techniques is used to guide and transform those beliefs which is not the bedrock of political mobilization in Nigeria.

Hippler in David and Baran (2006) head of Nazi Germany's film propaganda division said, the secret to effective propaganda is to “simplify a complex issue, repeat that simplification over and over again. The propagandist believes that the end justifies the means. Therefore, it is

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not only right but also necessary that half-truths and outright lies be used to convince people to abandon ideas that are “wrong” and to adopt those favoured by the propagandists.” However, by World Wars I and II, propaganda had been regarded as synonymous with deception and infidelity. This dubious status of propaganda has been worsened by political gladiators especially in African countries like Nigeria, Cameroon, etc.

Meaning of PropagandaThe term “propaganda” has spawned as many definitions as

possible from different professions and professionals. Among which are the physicians, the psychiatrists, the psychologists, the political scientists, journalists, jurists, philosophers, anthropologists, economists, sociologists, semanticists, artists and artisans.

According to the Harold Lasswell as retrieved online (2019), a pioneer of propaganda studies in the United States, defined it as “The management of collective attitudes by the manipulation of significant symbols”. Like other social scientists in the 1930s, he emphasized it psychological elements as a subconscious manipulation of psychological symbols to accomplish secret objectives. Subsequent analysts stressed that propaganda was a planned and deliberate act of opinion management.

Also, a 1958 study prepared for the U.S. Army, for example defined propaganda as “The planned dissemination of news, information, special arguments, and appeals designed to influence the beliefs, thoughts, and actions of specific group”.

In 1990s, a historian Oliver Thomson defined it broadly to include both deliberate and unintentional means of behaviour modification, describing it as “the use of communication skills of all kinds to achieve attitudinal or behavioural changes among one group by another”.

Numerous communication specialists have stressed that propaganda is a neutral activity concerned only with persuasion, in order to free propagandist (and their proponents) from pejorative associations.

However, some social scientists have abandoned the term altogether because it cannot be defined with any degree of precision; and others like the influential French philosopher Jacques Ellul, have used

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the term but refused to defined it because any definition would inevitably leave something out.

As these examples indicate, propaganda is notoriously difficult to define. One can identify propaganda by the intentions of the sponsor, by the effect on the recipients, or by the techniques used by the propagandist.

Types of PropagandaModern practitioners of propaganda utilize various schema to

classify different types of propaganda activities. According to Baran and Davis (2006), it is classified as white, grey and black according to the degree to which the sponsor conceals or acknowledges its involvement. White propaganda: It is an intentional suppression of potentially harmful information and ideas combined with deliberate promotion of positive information or ideas to distract attention from problematic events. White propaganda is correctly attributed to the sponsor and the source is truthfully identified. (The U.S. government's international broadcast service Voice of America, for example, broadcasts, white propaganda).

Rakos (1997) posited that, white propaganda is a strategy that used benign propaganda techniques to fight “bad” propaganda and promote objectives that elites considered good. After World War II ended, these white propaganda techniques provided a basis for the development of promotional communication methods that are widely used today in advertising and public relations.Black Propaganda: Black propaganda involves deliberate and strategic transmission of lies. Its use was well illustrated by the Nazis' false information spread about opposition groups, and their objectives. White propaganda as we have seen, involved intentional suppression of potentially harmful information and ideas, combined with deliberate promotion of positive information to distract attention from problematic events which is a direct opposite of black propaganda. Black propaganda employs underground newspapers, forged documents, planted gossip or rumours, jokes, slogans, visual symbols etc.Grey Propaganda: Grey propaganda involves transmission of information or ideas that might or might not be false. The propagandist

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simply makes no effort to determine their validity and actually avoids doing so especially if dissemination of the content would serve his or her interest.

The objectives of grey propaganda are to advance viewpoints that are in the interest of the originator but that would be more acceptable to target audiences than official statements. The reason is that, propagandistic materials from a foreign government or identified propaganda agency might convince few, but the same ideas presented by seemingly neutral outlets would be more persuasive. Unattributed publications, such as articles in newspapers written by a disguised source are staples of grey propaganda. Other tactics involve wide dissemination of ideas put forth by others – by foreign governments, national and international media outlets or by private groups, individuals, and institutions. Grey propaganda also includes material assistance provided to groups that put forth views deemed useful to the propagandist.

Propaganda Influence and Techniques for Political Mobilization Propaganda has become more common and powerful in political

contexts in the world especially African countries in particular. It refers to certain efforts sponsored by government, political groups, individuals,

thcandidates etc. to mobilize and convert interests. In the early 20 till the

st21 century, propaganda has been exemplified in the form of party slogans and others. Propaganda can take the form of leaflets, posters, Television and radio broadcasts, social media platforms and can also be extended to any other medium.

Propagandist messages for political mobilization are never objective, always distorted, biased, full of facades and aimed primarily at influencing the target audience which is the gullible masses. In Nigeria for instance, there has never been an election held without its candidates practicing propaganda, or cheap stunts with the aim of appealing to the emotions of its electorates. Whenever votes are needed, Nigerians are made to think in a certain kind of way, stunts are being pulled out effortlessly by these political propagandists.

Also, whenever it is campaign's time, they try to identify with the poor masses, you see them forming empathy in ways that are appalling and comical. The internet is usually littered with pictures of candidates

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displaying different shades shenanigan like street hawking, gutter cleaning, visit to IDP camp etc. but you would not see them on the streets doing all these again after they are voted in. In fact, they become opposite of their every campaign strategy that the electorates cheaply fell for.

The propagandist achieves their aim with the use of the under listed political propaganda techniques as listed by Olaniba (2008) as follows:i) Plain folks: This involves identifying with the lifestyle and

norms of ordinary people/the masses. During elections, potential political candidates and incumbent leaders seeking election or re-election are seen among poor people in public spaces, eating in local cafeterias, dancing with a group of common men, and identifying with major ethnic cultures in order to gain sympathy and widespread acceptance like the case of Aisha Akara stunt in the 2015 general elections, Rotimi Ameachi hair loosing, Fayose on public bike, Okorocha corn roasts, Ambode patronizing street hawkers etc. in the picture below will easily influence average people or the citizens to convert their thoughts and support them.

History will never forget 2015 elections when Haija Aisha Buhari was spotted frying Akara on the streets as her own campaign strategy just to appeal to the emotions of gullible citizens so that they can vote her husband Buhari in. Aisha's Akara stunt was a deliberate act by her to aid her husband's victory, but where is Aisha today? After her husband won, has she ever been spotted frying Akara again? Well, we all know the answer.

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Aisha Buhari, Campaign TrailRt. Hon Rotimi Ameachi, the former Governor of Rivers State was also spotted pulling same cheap stunt at identifying with the low-income masses during the 2015 Rivers governorship election. This is no longer surprising as it has become a trend among political office holder during election season.

Rotimi Amaechi, 2015 Campaign

In Ekiti, as at 2015, Ayodele Fayose was also seen on public bikes and in local restaurants. Rochas Okorocha of Imo State also pulled same stunt during his re-election where he took to the streets to roast corn so that onlookers can take pictures of him and then see him as that one person who has love for the streets.

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From Left: Ayodele Fayose, Rochas OkorochaAnother noteworthy comical act was that of Gov. Ambode. Ambode was busy patronizing street hawkers as a campaign strategy, but shortly after he was elected into office as Governor of Lagos State, he banned street hawking and placed a sanction on street hawking.

Akinwunmi Ambode, 2015 CampaignThe list is endless and their antics and more are undying. It was more worrisome in 2019 elections when the trend resurfaced.The media are buzzing with their pictures, the likes of Atiku Abubakar is seen everywhere with his patronizing tweets, even Omoyele Sowore was recently spotted with a wheel barrow hawking fruits, more like him (Sowore) becoming a new wine in an old skin bag.

Omoyele Sowore

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ii) 'Name calling': It is another form of political propaganda that is so common within our political clime; it involves the utilization of undesirable terms (dictator, poverty, clueless etc) and negative descriptions to discredit their opponent or opposition and to qualify the activities of a particular individual or party. In Nigeria, the PDP has ceased every opportunity at its disposal to put out its criticism on the affairs of the current seemingly ineffective ruling party (APC), despite its (PDP) alleged corruption laden leadership era at the national level. Terms such as; witch-hunting, corruption campaigns, “figurehead” leadership and other name calling terms used to black out the pedigree and intents of the ruling party, with the ruling party also doing same to the former which is regarded as black propaganda and disinformation as mentioned earlier.

iii) Glittering generalities: This involves the use of undue praises and commendations – driven terms to describe the activities or nature of an individual or a party. The “change” mantra utilized by the APC in the 2015 election has so far turned out to be an element of glittering generalities used to create good impression or image, bordering on bragging about the ability of that political party which eventually made them gain massive support from the electorates.

iv) Card stacking: It is also one of the viable techniques used by politicians and parties utilize in their mobilization process to gain undue access to the seat of authority. Newly ambitious individuals and incompetent old politicians called – godfathers, form an alliance, and these so called godfathers utilize the fresh and ambitious political candidates as a cover up to get political position for themselves too. According to Eemren, F., Garssen, B., & Meuffels (2009), some

politicians use the following intentional fallacies as a propaganda technique to influence and mobilize their audience such as:a) Diverting argument to unrelated issues with a red herring

(ignoratioelenchi)b) Insulting someone's character (argumentatum ad hominem)c) Assuming the conclusion of an argument, a kind of circular

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reasoning, also called “begging the question” (petitioprincipi)d) Making jumps in logic (non sequitur)e) Identifying a false cause and effect (post hoc ergo propter hoc)f) Asserting that everyone agrees (argumentum ad populum,

bandwagoning)g) Making false or misleading comparisons (false equivalence and

false analogy)h) Generalizing quickly and sloppily (hasty generalization)

Empirical Review Ezejideaku and Ugwu (2007) investigated the rhetoric and

propaganda of political campaigns in Nigeria. The survey design was used. The paper examines the language of political campaigns in the Nigerian media. It explores the application of linguistic features in the political campaigns by politicians in their bid to persuade the voters to vote them. On the basis of the analysis of the paper, the study reveals that the campaigners rely on rhetoric, propaganda and other linguistic devices to make their messages more persuasive and appealing. The paper recommended that elections can be won credibly through genuine rhetoric aims at genuine persuasion and its beauty lies in the skill it manifests and its sincerity to persuade the listener through the power of words which have been jettisoned in Nigerian politics.

In a study carried out by Omozuwa & Ezejideaku (2007) on a stylistic analysis of the language of political campaigns in Nigeria: Evidence from the 2007 General Election using the survey research methodology asserted that, politicians all over the world embellish their language in a unique way to give extra effect and force to their message in order to achieve their objective of winning more votes. This can be embodied in propaganda, involving repetition, promise, colloquialism, word coinages, pidginized and figurative expressions all in their attempt to win election which they recommended that, white propaganda should be employed instead of black propaganda which has helped to buttress this research work.

Theoretical FrameworkThis study is anchored on conspiracy theory and persuasive

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theory. Greswell, (2009, pp. 93-119) as cited by Agba and Egbai (2019) posited that the use of theory serves as a lens for finding answers to the research question as well as providing broad explanations.

Theories generally are framework of facts used to explain a phenomenon and also help us to dictate scientific statements from unscientific ones. Some of the underlisted theories are fundamental in political mobilization in African countries: These includes:Conspiracy Theory: A conspiracy theory is an explanation of an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful actors, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.

According to Robert (2013), the term conspiracy is derived from the Latin word “Con – (“with, together”) and “spirare” (“to breathe”). He noted that examples of the term were used as early as the nineteenth century and stated that its usage has always been derogatory. Haven-Smith (2015) suggested that the term entered everyday language in the United States after 1964, the year in which the Warren Commission shared its findings, with The New York Times running five stories that year using the term. The term was further popularized by Frank P. Mintz in 1980s. A conspiracy theory is not simply a conspiracy.

Barkun (2016) stated that conspiracies are “actual covert plots planned and/or carried out by the two or more persons”. A conspiracy theory, on the other hand, is “an intellectual construct”, a template imposed upon the world to give the appearance of order to events”.According to Mintz (1985):

Conspiracism serves the needs of diverse political and social groups in America and elsewhere. It identifies elites, blames them for economic and social catastrophes and assumes that things will be better once popular action can remove them from positions of power.

According to Barkum (2016), discussing the usage of “conspiracy theory” in contemporary American cultures, holds that this term is used for a belief that explains an event as the result of a secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning conspirators to achieve a malevolent end. According to Barkum, the appeal of conspiracisms is threefold:

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i) Conspiracy theory claims to explain what institutional analysis cannot. They appear to make sense out of a world that is otherwise confusing.

ii) They do so in an appealing simple way, by dividing the world sharply between the forces of light, and the forces of darkness. They trace all evil back to a single source, the conspirators and their agents

iii) Conspiracy theory is often presented as special, secret knowledge unknown or unappreciated by others. For conspiracy theorists, the masses are a brainwashed herd, while the conspiracy theorists in the know can congratulate themselves on penetrating the plotter's deceptionsPopper (1945) used the conspiracy theory to denote a conception

of social phenomena that he found to be defective – namely, the social phenomena such as “war, unemployment, poverty, shortages etc. are the results of direct design by some powerful individuals and groups”. Popper argued that totalitarianism was founded on “conspiracy theories” which draw on imaginary plots driven by paranoid scenarios predicated on tribalism, chauvinism, or racism which are mostly practicable in African countries.

Relevance of Conspiracy Theory to this paperThis theory is relevant to the paper as its basic tenets highlighted

the influence of propaganda in political mobilization to achieve their secret plot by exceptionally powerful and cunning political propagandist to achieve their malevolent end. The theory posited that propagandists see the masses as a brainwashed herd while they congratulate themselves on perpetrating their deceptions on the mind of the masses.

Persuasion Theory The concept of persuasion has been developed between the 1940s

and 1950s after studies aimed at defining the optimal persuasive effectiveness of propaganda, be it political or an advertising campaign. The concept underlying persuasion is that information is provided to influence receivers' behaviours. Once they had developed the concept of

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persuasion, researchers on persuasion theory focused on the audience and the content of the messages.

Application of Persuasion TheoryPersuasion theory can be applied in

i) Politics: To promote certain candidates, persuade voters to switch their support convince masses about needed changes or about the validity of certain political commitment for society e.g

when pikin report card good, na everybody de support am. Make we vote for am again ooo. Pikin wey no pass exam, dey repeat class.

Another example to convert ideas of the electorates include:I tire for this problem; I tire for this world. I tire for this country; I tire for life o oginiNo light, no roads, no money, no food,Killing everywhere, hardship everywhereThe little water weh I dey drinkNa so so dirty de full amThe little money I dey get, na so so transport de chop am Haba! Chop po, na headacheHospital, no drugsI tire for life O make dis government no come again ooo…

ii) Business: In advertising, to position products or services in consumer's mind, to persuade prospects to switch suppliers, to create a need for new products, to sustain sales of cash cow businesses, to change organizational culture, to support or implement a change project.

iii) Conflicts and negotiations: Persuasion theory can be effective to achieve the following main purposes: (a) Creating uncertainty, (b) Reducing resistance (c) Change attitude (d) Amplify attitudes and (e) Gain behaviour. The theory can help in many different kinds of situation like, advertising, marketing, public relations, politics, organizational conflicts etc.

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MethodologyThis paper adopted survey method with the questionnaire as

instrument to collect data for the survey. Okoro (1995) said “surveys are useful in the management of public opinion, attitudes and orientations which are dominant among a large number.” Nwamuo (1997, p. 31) posited that survey method usually aims at describing systematically, factually and accurately what is happening in the world and within us today. Survey research helps in collection of data obtained by asking questions to individual either in person, on paper, by phone or online.

The sample size of the study was ninety (90) respondents who were legible voters of both literates and illiterates within Calabar South and eighty (80) copies of the questionnaire administered to the sampled population were retrieved. This formed the basis of the analysis.

Stratified sampling technique was adopted which helped the researcher to divide the population into different subgroups and then randomly selected the final subjects proportionally from the different strata.

Questionnaire formed the major instrument used for the study. Copies of the questionnaire were administered personally to the respondents who were legible voters in the twelve (12) wards in Calabar South LGA and this was carried out with the help of a research assistant. The researchers constituted a team of five persons, who assisted to administer and retrieve the questionnaire.

The data collected were analysed using simple percentages and presented in tables.

Data Presentation and AnalysisTable 1: Propaganda influence on electorates in an electionResponses

No. of RespondentsPercentage (%)Has greatly influenced the ci�zen

6075Par�ally influences the ci�zen 2025Total 80100Source: Field survey (2019)

The conclusion or inference that can be deduced from the above data in Table 1 is that political propaganda used by politicians which are calculated lies have greatly influenced the citizens.

Table 2: The effectiveness of propaganda messages on both educated

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and uneducatedResponses No. of RespondentsPercentage (%)Minimal

influence on literate ci�zens4556.3Equal influence on both literate and

illiterate ci�zens3543.7Total 80100Source: Field survey (2019)The finding above is a clear indication that gullible Nigerians are

susceptible to the messages than the educated and well to do citizens.Table 3: Propaganda differs from political manifestoResponses No. of

RespondentsPercentage (%)Yes 5062.5No 3037.5Total 80100Source: Field survey (2019)

The inference from the above data is that political propaganda differs from political manifesto even though what is in practice today is not the original intention of propaganda. This is because manifestos in politics today are all calculated lies (Black propaganda) just to deceive the citizens.

Discussion of FindingsFindings or responses generated from the respondents were used

to answer the research questions to ascertain the extent to which propaganda has influenced political mobilization in Nigeria.

Research Question One: To what extent has propaganda influenced the electorate in an election in Nigeria?

From the information made available to the researchers, propaganda has greatly influenced Nigerians to vote massively for a political party or a particular candidate who used the mass media or other forms of media accurately to sell his deceitful motives on the minds of the gullible citizens as presented in table one above. This is in line with what Corona (2011) posited, that electoral propaganda aims at making a given candidate known, or even a party that has been recently created seeking to position itself. It does not intend to just inform rather aim primarily at influencing the target audience which is the gullible masses. He can afford to be covert, if he is avoiding being noticed and want to be labelled more realistic or reliable.Research Question Two: To what extent have political propaganda messages been effective on both the educated and uneducated Nigerians?

On the effectiveness of propaganda messages on both educated

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and uneducated, results gathered from this study revealed that political propaganda has minimal influence on the literate citizens with (56.3%) of the respondents agreeing to that, which is in consonance to what Manzaria & Bruck on web.stanford.edu accessed online (2019), posited, indeed, propaganda is so powerful because everyone is susceptible to it but more susceptible to it is the illiterate than literate. As it uses all the media available to spread its message, including door-to-door canvassing, street names, books, music, cultural events, billboards, press, radio, Tv etc it is most likely that the illiterate citizens can be carried away by their two cubes of maggi and salt like what they did in 2019 general election.Research Question Three: How is propaganda different from political manifesto?

From the collated data on table 3, 50 (62.5%) of the respondents agreed that political propaganda differs from political manifesto even though they set to achieve one aim which is wider acceptance, participation and mobilization, but that does not mean the two concepts are the same. This conformed to Dewey's assertion (1916) retrieved from Wikipedia.com (2019) that manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it individual, group, political party or government. But this is not the case with propaganda as it uses information primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, which may not be true or objective and may be presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented.

Conclusion Propaganda has been defined as “the more or less systematic

effort to manipulate other people's beliefs, attitude or reaction by means of symbols' Encyclopedia Britanica (1980) In political campaign or mobilization, the propagandist use symbols like language, paralinguistic, or material in form of stickers, flags, hairstyles, dressing, music, dance, etc to achieve the goals of propaganda. To achieve the goals, the propagandist

deliberately presents a selection of facts, argument and

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displays of symbols in ways he thinks he will have the most effect. To maximize effects, he may omit pertinent facts, he may try to divert the attention of the reactors reactionists (the people he is trying to sway) from everything but his own propaganda Encyclopedia Britanica (1980).

Political propaganda can manifest in any of the followings: false statement made in the genuine belief that they are true, deliberate lies; the suppression of truth; the suggestion of falsehood, and the slanting of news. (Balfour, 1979, p. 427). That is to say, political propaganda adopts different persuasive techniques whose aim is to persuade the electorate to vote in the interest of the party mounting the campaign.Recommendations

Based on the findings of this study and the conclusion reached, the following recommendations are imperatives;1) Government should make laws regarding the extent to which

propaganda should be carried out in Nigerian politics2) Politicians should always remember that they cannot fool all of

the people all of the time, as such, the “lies” referred to as black propaganda will turn against them in due course.

3) Government should enact laws that every politician seeking election or re-election should only use white propaganda in their political mobilization process

4) Citizens too should learn from the past leaders who never cared about them immediately after election to be able to stand and address them properly whenever they come seeking for their support with their so-called “lies”.

5) Nigerians should seek how to elect a credible leader through good and achievable policies presented in the candidate's manifesto not good, calculated and projected un-achievable policies presented through propaganda.

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