This research is about the coverage of corruption scandals in the Nigerian press. It is a comparative study that This research is about the coverage of corruption scandals in the Nigerian press. It is a comparative study that develops an intra-national framework for the study of the Nigerian media system using corruption scandals. The scandals studied are the Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF) scandal and the Former Governors Scandal. The study used both interviews and qualitative content analysis by means of critical discourse analysis. The results of the study suggest that the press in Nigeria is regionally and ethnically divided. These factors influence the way the press report issues including corruption scandals. The study also suggests that factors like clientelism, regionalism, corruption within the press, and lack of training are among the challenges faced by the Nigerian press. It is the position of this study that the press in Nigeria is active in reporting stories about corruption scandals, but has not done enough when it comes to the application of such aspects of journalistic practice like investigative journalism which contributes in the watchdog role of the media. The study concludes by suggesting areas for further research.

The issue of national integration and unity has occupied the apex of national discourse in Nigeria since it secured political independence from Britain in 1960. The Nigerian state's solution to this fundamental issue is rooted in its basic constitutional principle which espouses "unity within diversity". As the Nigerian nation is made up of over 250 ethnic and nationality groups, the issue has always been how to make a "Nigeria" out of these Nigerians. This study seeks to examine the way that Nigeria's constitutional aspirations are reflected (or not) in the Nigerian press. The narrative is told against the backdrop of the Nigerian context, which is a major factor in the press' activities, starting from the historical emancipatory role they played during the colonial period. The study employs qualitative content analysis to examine how newspapers promote any sense of collective Nigerian national identity amongst Nigeria's constituent nationality groups and sectional interests. The period under scrutiny is 1983--1993, a period that saw both civilian and military rule, and press coverage from a wide spectrum of newspapers is analysed---particularly in terms of the variety of newspaper ownership. This is augmented by intensive/in-depth interviews with experts on the Nigerian press, who reflect on how and why the press behave in the way they do. The intensive interviews expose that the success of any press is often dependent on its ability to promote nationality interests as a basis for ensuring a pan-Nigerian national cohesion, though there are issues or interests that unite the Nigerian state which become clearly delineated, articulated and promoted. The major findings from this examination of the press confirm that, within the Nigerian context, these are international issues that are essentially non-contentious and therefore do not contradict the interests of each of the groups within the state. The study finds clear evidence of problems confronting the press in Nigeria, primarily in terms of ownership, control, and lack of professionalism among journalists, reinforced by the Lagos-Ibadan axis (which sees a concentration of the press in the South-west) that supports a specific 'worldview'. This study nonetheless concludes by contending that, firstly, the Nigerian press that promotes nationality and sectional interests can still contribute to national integration, and secondly, the press' success in instilling any sense of collective Nigerian national identity in Nigeria's multi-cultural entities is directly related to how it employs momentous events involving Nigeria to 'flag' the state.

Against the background of ‘the global resurgence of democracy' (Diamond and Plattner 1996), and focusing particularly on the democratic waves that swept through Africa in the 90s, scholars have acknowledged the central role of the press in the restoration of democratic governance in Africa. The Nigerian press in particular has been touted as Africa's symbol of a liberal press (Seng and Hunt 1986, Ogbondah 1994). It is said to have played a significant role in the battle against military dictatorship, leading to Wole Soyinka's trophy: the press as ‘magnificent and heroic' (Soyinka 1998). Yet in spite of the ‘adversarial and lively outspokenness' of the press (Olukotun 2002, 2010), the military had a sixteen-year reign. How can this paradox be explained? The thesis explores four military regimes during the sixteen-year period focusing on specific events of national significance in each regime, with a view to establishing what role/s the press played in restoring democracy; and whether it deserved the award of ‘magnificent and heroic'. Methodologically it adopts a critical discourse analysis approach (Fairclough 2013, Van Dijk 1991), particularly analysing headlines, news reports, editorials, photographs, political cartoons and articles; across seven national newspapers and two weekly magazines. Additionally it draws on interviews with state officials and editors with knowledge of the periods to provide a further interpretation of the press at particular historical moments. It opens up the issue of a liberal press to suggest that there are serious questions about the press's relation to the various military regimes and thus the degree to which the press really was ‘magnificent and heroic'. Indeed an argument can be made that much of the press was complicit with these regimes and contributed to delaying the realisation of a democratic rule.