‘BBC is ready to cover Nigeria’s elections’

Nigeria returned to democracy about 16 years ago and yet its elections still generate interest around the world. How important is Nigeria’s 2015 general elections to the international community and what are their expectations?First of all, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Not only is it one of the continent’s leading oil producers, it also […]

Nigeria returned to democracy about 16 years ago and yet its elections still generate interest around the world. How important is Nigeria’s 2015 general elections to the international community and what are their expectations?
First of all, Nigeria is Africa’s most populous country. Not only is it one of the continent’s leading oil producers, it also has the largest economy; with many major international investments. So naturally, many around the world will be keenly watching the polls. The country is also battling an Islamist militant insurgency in the north east- a challenge that many fear maybe on the rise globally.
The recent brutal assault of people in the towns of Baga and Dorun Baga and kidnappings of 200 girls in Chibok by Boko Haram fighters in the north east have thrust Nigeria into the world’s spotlight. As Nigeria prepares for polls a regional and international effort is getting underway to rein in the militants. In recent weeks the African Union has given approval for a West African force of 7500 troops to support Nigeria’s military and we’ve seen Chadian troops engaged in air and ground operations along the border with Cameroon. France is thought to be playing a key role as a former colonial power of Cameroon, Niger and Chad who will be contributing troops to the regional force as authorised by Ecowas.
Britain and the US have also been involved in intelligence training to Nigerian troops.
The international community is keen to see that this election is not marred or disrupted by insurgent attacks that will cost the lives of voters at polling stations and even more significantly that Nigeria’s leadership and military is able to act to contain the insurgency.
What does the BBC think about the poll?
This is a crucial moment as Nigeria, since 1999 has been predominantly governed by one party. Will voters opt for a different party?The present security challenges aside, it will be interesting to guage the extent to which voter choices reflect how socio economic needs have been met. We’re also keen to see how engaged young Nigerians are with the political and governance process; and parallels with young voters’ aspirations in other parts of the continent. Events in Africa’s most populous and largest economy have far reaching implications. Significantly, the expectation is that Nigeria will hold peaceful polls and to assert its place in the league of mature African democracies.
How does your organization intend to cover it?
With over 48 correspondents across Africa and reaching over 93 million people the BBC intends to reflect events in the country in our daily coverage. For the election the BBC is deploying teams from various language services BBC Hausa, BBC Swahilli and BBC Afrique (french for Africa), and the daily Swahili tv show Dira ya Dunia.  For key programmes  in English across radio, tv and online the BBC is sending  Focus on Africa TV for World News, Focus on Africa radio, the global breakfast show Newsday for BBC World service, Outside source and other current affairs programmes popular with our African and global audiences. Our Somali, Arabic and Kinyarwanda/Kirundi)  audiences can follow the daily reports at   bbcsomali.com,  bbcarabic.com and bbcgahuza.com.
The Hausa team will be leading the way in social media with a whatsapp service on 234 809 295 0707. This will give our global audiences another opportunity to offer their opinion, via pictures, text and audio. It is
 There’s a vibrant community of Nigerians discussing the twists and turns in the build up to the polls. Social media is being used for campaigns and to monitor the electoral process but in some quarters also used to heat up the polity through spreading rumours and hate messages. But where are the fact checkers for example to bust myths and misinformation? You will hear some of them and their conversations or debates on the radio as well as moderated engagements via BBC platforms  #Nigeriadecides2015 @bbcafrica on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
We will feature also bloggers and social media commentators on the role of social media in the 2015 elections.  How involved are young people? What guarantees do they want on the issue of youth unemployment and how will they get politicians and parties to implement campaign pledges?
While millions are jobless, we will also look to hear stories of young graduates, who despite the odds, have worked hard to become entrepreneurs or becoming start-ups.
Nigeria is the largest economy in the continent of Africa but the per capita income is still lower than South Africa. Focus on Africa will look into the links between national wealth and the standard of living. Nigeria barely generates 4000 Megawatts of electricity. Focus will also been on Nigeria’s electricity challenge which has hit many industries hard and forced many to relocate to neighboring countries. Small scale business is also affected. As power has always been a campaign issue since 1999 we’ll throw the spotlight on the state of power supply and how much of it is a campaign issue for the continent’s largest economy.
What roles can the media (particularly, the BBC) play to make the elections peaceful and acceptable, in view of the violence that trailed Nigeria’s 2011 elections?
The BBC’s remit is to reflect what’s happening in Nigeria, give voice to the diverse views about this election and implications for the country on and after election day. The media will have to strive to be accurate, impartial, transparent and responsible in how it gathers and disseminates information, especially considering the prevailing tension.
Lastly, how should the youth be engaged to reduce spread of hate speech through the social media in the buildup to the election?
I revert to an earlier point about the deployment of social media for campaigns and to monitor the electoral process. In some quarters the same platforms are likely to be also used to heat up the polity through spreading rumors and hate messages. These days new media breaks and circulates ‘news’ widely long before traditional media are able to verify information for transmission. It will be very important that people armed with such powerful tools of information act responsibly and refuse to be used by political actors with an agenda. If in doubt, people should not re-share ‘news’. If possible the sources of unsubstantiated information should be challenged for proof. Information is power and so is misinformation – and if there were a time people must be seen to be acting responsibly, that would be now.
Akwasi Sarpong will be hosting Focus on Africa Radio on BBC World Service, broadcast at 6pm (Mon-Fri) on bbc.com/worldservice.   The  Nigerian elections will be covered by Focus on Africa on BBC World News television (6.30pm Monday to Friday) and across BBC World News, BBC World Service and bbc.com/Africa output.