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26 J.L. Pol'y & Globalization 1 (2014)

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Journal of Law, Policy and Globalization                                                     www iisteorg
ISSN 2224-3240 (Paper) ISSN 2224-3259 (Online)                                                         I
Vol.26, 2014                                                                                       I1 [


   The Correlation between Social Violence and the Comments of

 Nigerian Politicians during Electioneering Campaigns: A Political
                                       Marketing Study


                                              Ben Odigbo
                         Dept. of Marketing, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
                           Email: bodigbo @yahoo.com. Tel: 234-80-3322-3840

                                            Silk Ugwu Ogbu
                                  School of Media and Communication,
                     Pan-Atlantic University, 2 Ahmed Onibudo St, V.1, Lagos. Nigeria.
                              Email: silk@universalmail.coni. Tel: +234-80-3203-4205

                                         Odigbo, Rose Adannia
                               Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus.
                          Email: rosedannia@yahoo.com. Tel: +234-80-3700-3791

ABSTRACT
This study undertook a critical appraisal of the utterances and speeches of some Nigerian leaders/politicians
during electioneering campaigns and their correlations to the level of social and political crisis witnessed in the
country so far. It was motivated by the high level of violence and social crisis that greeted the 2011 general
elections and the intractable social crisis in the country since independence. The objectives of the study therefore
included to: ascertain the degree of correlation between the negative comments and the violence that followed
the 2011 presidential election in Nigerian; determine the degree of correlation between the negative comments
and the heightened insurgency social crisis in the country; and examine the potency of political marketing tools
as panacea for the problem. For the methodology, our primary data were sourced through opinion survey of
Nigerian masses views on the comments/speeches by Nigerian politicians during the 2007 and 2011
electioneering campaigns. The data were statistically analyzed with Likert's 5-points scale and Spearman's
correlation coefficient. Results obtained show a high degree of correlation between those negative comments and
the political/social crises in the country since then, and that political marketing strategies packaged and
professionally delivered by public relations experts would serve as effective panacea for such problems in future.
Key words: Political violence, social violence, negative comments, electioneering, political marketing.

1. Background to the Study
Election violence or election-related violence is understood as violent action against people, property or the
electoral process, intended to influence the electoral process before, during or after elections (Atuobi, 2010;
Odigbo, 2014). Electioneering campaigns in Nigeria have always been characterized by political violence of
unimaginable proportions. The nature and manifestations of election violence in Africa according to the
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Centre for Conflict Research (2001), and in Nigeria according to Ugwu (2014)
include:
    *   Murder/Killings;
    *   Looting, destruction and damage of property;
    *   Political assassinations, kidnap, assault and death threats;
    *   Pre- and post-election bombings; as like the Boko-Haram cases;
    *    Fighting among political parties' supporters;
    *   Arbitrary detentions and arrests ofjournalists and political opponents
    *   Intimidation of voters during elections, and many more.
Sanctions against all these electoral offences are duly provided for in the various Nigerian electoral laws. Yet,
the violence continued, threatening the nation's democracy, social peace and national unity. Some sane and
highly   disciplined men and women in the country have blamed it on the pre-election utterances of notable
Nigerian leaders/politicians (           ). It is their views that a greater percentage of the electoral violence
in the country are often ignited by inciting speeches by politicians, opinion leaders or 'bought-over' religious
leaders.

For instance, before the 2007 general elections, the country was over-heated over feuds between the then
President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and his Vice, Atiku Abubakar, accusing each other of corruption and counter-

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