Meet HASSAN OLALEKAN ADENIYI, an Academic Staff of Lagos State University.
Journalism Studies, Media Governance, Political Communication
Lecturer II
Public Relations and Advertising
At the Public Relations And Advertising department office
Appointment on Visitation important
| # | Certificate | School | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Ph.D (Communication Studies) | Department of Journalism, Lagos State University | 2023 |
Public Opinion and Political Campaign in Nigeria
This study seeks to understand the nature and gimmicks behind the politicking of public opinion polling in Nigerian politics. Since Nigeria returned to democracy in 1999, the superstructures of politics - politicians, political campaigns, rallies, canvassing, lobbying, and propaganda techniques - have been directed at maneuvering or swaying public opinions or sentiment to canvass for votes and win elections.In a participatory democracy like Nigeria, where certain freedoms seem limitless, politicians often take advantage of the unsuspecting electorate to divert issues from beneficial political manifestos to needless conduct of opinion polls. During the 2023 Presidential election campaign in Nigeria, many polls were purportedly conducted by political parties to gauge the strength of their chances of winning the election. The poll itself was not the problem, but how figures and data were manipulated by self-acclaimed pollsters to heighten hopes of their respective presidential candidates. Can polls be manipulated by vested interests and sponsors? How are polling questions asked?How do respondents give answers on subjects about which they have not thought much and do not care at all? Thus, questions such as these indicate that polling and pollsters in reality have a lot of running room to manufacture opinions to support their vested interests, and this raises an ethical question that this paper attempts to study.Several conundrums of public opinion polling are enfolded in this hypothetical tale. People of all kinds, activists and ordinary citizens alike, regularly cite polls, especially those that find them in the majority. But people are deeply skeptical of polls, especially when opinion moves in the wrong direction.
HASSAN ADENIYI is a Lecturer II at the Department of Public Relations and Advertising
HASSAN has a Ph.D in Communication Studies from Department of Journalism, Lagos State University
