Volume 4, Issue 2, 2019Volume 4, Issue 2, 2019 Enugu State University of Science & Technology Journal of Social Sciences F SO C IY ET NIS CER E AV NI DN U T EE CT HAT N S O U LOG GU YNE Journal of Social Sciences Published by the Faculty of the Social Sciences published by Faculty of Social Sciences Enugu State University of Science & Technology www.esutjss.com Editor-In-Chief Prof. Oby Omeje Managing Editor Barnabas E. Nwankwo, Ph.D Associate Editor Nicholas Attamah, Ph.D 435 The Importance of Propaganda in Effective Information Dissemination about Democracy Dividends: A Study of Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime’s Administration of Enugu State Nwonu Clifford O. (Ph.D) Department of Mass Communication Caritas University Amorji-Nike, Enugu drcliffordnwonu@caritasuni.edu.ng ABSTRACT Good governance is much needed in a developing country like Nigeria especially as it has been bedeviled with bad leadership in recent times. This study emphasized on the governance of the past Governor of Enugu State, His Excellency Barrister Sullivan Iheanacho Chime between 29th May, 2007 and 29th May, 2015. There is need to encourage good governance among our political leaders and most importantly to disseminate the works of those who are doing well. This will increase the motivation through effective information dissemination of that work for all to see and acknowledge so that it becomes an encouragement to the good and well meaning people of Enugu State and Nigeria in general. Keywords: Accountability, democracy, elections, good governance and responsibility Introduction The word, propaganda according to Palmer et al., (2004) was first given general definition by the Roman Catholic Church to refer to the dissemination of its doctrines. More recently, after being taken over by the Marxist, it has been so used and misused that it defies exact definition. In the most general terms, propaganda can be defined as "any attempt to persuade persons to accept a certain point of view or to take a certain action."This definition sounds very neutral because it makes propaganda "morally neutral."To persuade per se is neither "good" nor "bad". Moral judgment must be directed to the purposes of persuasion. Confusion arises from the failure to separate procedures from motives. Another definition of propaganda by Lasswell et al (1939) states that, "propaganda is the manipulation of symbols to control controversial attitudes; education is the manipulation of symbols (and of other means) to transmit accepted attitudes (and skills). Some refer to propaganda as organized efforts by government to induce either domestic groups or foreign states to accept polices favourable -or at least not favourable- to their own. This definition takes account of the fact that the size of the group to be propagandized varies with the object of the propagandist-appeal to the masses and to the elites on the good work of Barr. Sullivan Chime because it appears that most of the capital projects he has been embarking upon are not well publicized by the media and more so, some people come up with the insinuation mailto:drcliffordnwonu@caritasuni.edu.ng 436 that most of the projects in Enugu State are World Bank assisted projects. Most importantly, the governor does not want publicity on his achievements. He believes that action speaks louder. According to Encata dictionary, propaganda is (a) publicity to promote something: information put out by an organization or government to promote a publicity, idea or cause, (b) misleading publicity: deceptive or distorted information that is systematically spread. Propaganda started in the early 18th Century by the congregation for the propagation of the faith. This Christian group advanced this cause for the winning of souls to Christ. There are so many other definitions of propaganda but the ones stated above can do for this project. This is because only the positive aspects of the word of propaganda is going to be attended to here. The government of Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime of Enugu State has proved that the masses can actually participate and enjoy basic governmental amenities. Chime's government has actually transformed Enugu State to a modern city. The governor as a person does not like publicity of his achievements and it is in keeping with that some mischief makers, who do not want to see anything good in the administration of the 'peoples' governor, are coming up with insinuation that most of the projects in Enugu State are World Bank assisted projects. Moreover, the government of Barr. Chime of Enugu State has done remarkably well in the following areas of his Four-Point Agenda; (a), physical infrastructure (b). economic expansion and employment, (c). rural development, (d) service delivery and good governance. In physical infrastructure, he has done very well in road construction and maintenance, housing projects for the middle and low income earners, portable water supply and rural electricity for all the communities that hitherto had no electricity. In Enugu urban, all the three local government that made up Enugu have been upgraded to a modern city with good road net work, major roads have been dwalized with street lights and a lot of urban aesthetics. Advert are mounted in strategic positions to give the city the type of look like that of Abuja. Almost all the streets are tarred with asphalt with good pedesrain walk-ways and drainages. Also, in economic expansion and employment, he has set a new record in the history of the state by attracting foreign investors to the state. In Enugu state, there is the presence of conglomerate shopping mall called ShopRite and Game all located at Polo Park. These shopping giants can only be found at Lagos in Nigeria and in major cities in other parts of the world. 437 On agriculture, Enugu state sent out 500 youths outside the country for training on a project called train-the-trainer programme. The team has since returned to the country and have started training our youths on the new mechanized agriculture. The project is aimed at empowering our youths so that they can be useful to the state especially in the area of food sufficient. Professionals believe that agricultural sector is the largest employer of labour if well harnessed. In tourism, Enugu state is ranking among the topmost in the country for so many obvious reasons. Enugu state has more than 10 five-stars hotels and so many other good ones. The type of security being enjoyed by citizens of Enugu state cannot be compared with any other state in the federation. The serenity of Enugu environment is wonderful. This is because there is less noise because of absence of industries. The few ones around are cited in the outskate of residential areas. Now with insecurity of lives and property in most parts of the North, many families are relocating to Enugu. Furthermore, Enugu state rural areas now have good link roads which has further developed these rural areas. Many people are now residing in their localities and prefer to shuttle to their offices in Enugu urban on daily basis. So many people are now shifting to reside in some nearby towns from the urban because of the provision of good access roads and electricity. This is because of high cost of rent in the urban. Also, all the local government headquarters of Enugu state are now linked with good access roads. The service delivery of Governor Sullivan Chime has no rival in the country. There is free medical treatment for pregnant women and children in the state. Free education from primary school to junior secondary school. Secondary school system has been given a face lift by the recent donation of 450 busses (Nissan Urvan) 18 seater. All the traditional rulers in the state were given cars on a soft loan. In the area of transportation, even before the so called palliative measures of the federal government, during the oil subsidy saga, Enugu state had a nice transportation system. The governor provided 50 luxurious buses called Coal City Shuttle. This Coal City Shuttle covers the entire Enugu urban and even beyond from various points and even UNTH Ituku-Ozalla. The governor provided 650 urban taxi in his first tenure to the youths on a soft loan. In 2012 he has added more 400 urban taxi making it over one thousand. The urban taxi popularly called Sullivan Taxi is the most sort after in the state. The taxi now provides security to the rich men in Enugu. The taxi is seen everywhere in the country it is safer to use Sullivan taxi to travel anywhere in the country. The vehicle is very comfortable with air- condition. 438 The climax of the democracy dividend of the governor is in law enforcement. Enugu urban is the most peaceful state in the country. One man attributed the peaceful atmosphere to the empowerment of the youths in the state. "When the youths are fully engaged and properly empowered, crime rate is drastically reduced in the society". The governor, as the chief security officer of the state, is doing very well in this direction. Objectives Going through all that the administration of Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime is doing in Enugu state, yet these are not heard or seen advertised in radio or television and for the fact that the governor does not want praise singing, yet some people come up with insinuations that he is not the actual provider of all these projects. This is why it is imperative to properly and appropriately inform the populace to avoid misinformation and disinformation. It is in keeping with this that the researcher came up with this topic: The Importance of Propaganda in Effective Information Dissemination: A Study of Governor Sullivan Iheanacho Chime. Therefore, the following are the objectives of this study; 1. To properly inform the populace of what is happening in Enugu state in terms of provision of democracy dividend. 2. To disabuse the minds of people of Enugu State on what disinformation mischief makers are making on the projects being provided to the people of the state by Barr. Sullivan Chime, the executive governor of Enugu State. 3. To compare the administration of Barr. Chime with that of the previous administration in the areas of publicity and executed projects on ground. Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework for this work is White Propaganda. This theory came about by scholars who saw good aspects of propaganda and believed that these good aspects could be harnessed to effectively use in countering the negative aspects of black propaganda. They claimed that even though the threat of propaganda was great, there might be a silver lining to this cloud. That if they could find a way to harness the power of propaganda to promote good and just ideals, then they could not only survive its threat but have a tool that could help build a better social order. White propaganda is a strategy that used benign propaganda technique to fight "bad" propaganda and promote objectives that elites considered good. After World War 439 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. In fact, propaganda theory is experiencing a resurgence of interest precisely for this reason-the techniques used in these modem promotional efforts appear to many observers to be even more effective in the contemporary world of corporate media ownership- (Laitinen and Rokas, 19970) Subsequently, it is in the same vain that the propaganda used in this work is promotional and that is why the good work of the Enugu State Governor, Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime should be promoted for all to know and see. This is because if it is not done, some mischief makers could cash on that to misdirect people's attention and perception of the administration of his government. Already, some sections of the society are trying to dissuade people with wrong insinuations that most capital projects of Chime's administration are World Bank Assisted. Therefore, the earlier the public is properly informed about the democracy dividend of this administration, the better. That is why this advocacy for propagating for people to know the truth about these projects should be emphasized. Discussions Discussion about the administration of Barr. Sullivan Iheanacho Chime is like re-enacting the good old days that white people were in Nigeria when things were working as expected. It was Abraham Lincoln who said that, "the legitimate objective of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but cannot do, at all, or cannot, so well do, for themselves- in their separate , and individual capacity." The three basic amenities that government owes it people is, good road network, electricity, and pipe born water or portable water. The administration of Barr. Chime has done wonderfully well in these areas. Abraham Lincoln's wise saying is practically being manifested in Enugu State. Furthermore, Enugu-Coal City- is now wearing the same look with Abuja in terms of good access roads, cleanliness, street lighting, advert board at strategic positions etc. Enugu State workers are paid their salaries before every 25th. In the month. The salary is enhanced unlike what his predecessor, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani was giving the workers. Enugu State workers can now plan and do budgeting with their salary, if not for anything, for the regularity with which it is paid. The pensioners are not left out because their monthly pensions are regular. The pensioners were equally given bonus by the state governor by the adjustment of monthly pension with 21 % of their monthly pension for those that retired earlier than 2008 and 15% 440 for those that retired as from 2009. Smiles are in the faces of both workers and pensioners in the state. Before the palliative measures of the Federal Government, on the oil subsidy imbroglio, transportation in Enugu State was the best and even now because of the number and quality of buses and taxi cabs he provided to the people. The Coal City Shuttle is luxurious buses with air conditioner. The Coal City Shuttle is more than 100 in number. They ply or shuttle within Enugu urban and nearby satellite towns like UNTH Ituku-Ozalla, ESUTH Agbani etc. In his first tenure, the governor bought 600 taxi cabs (new Nissan Saloon Ex). Taxi cabs in Enugu State is the neatest and with adequate number. The government provided over 1000 (one thousand) taxi cabs that are plying the state and other parts of the country. These taxi cabs are given to the unemployed youths of the state on soft loan arrangement (higher porches). Anywhere you go in Nigeria, you must see Sullivan Taxi with Coal City color (yellow with black stripe). If you are afraid you could be kidnapped, simply take Sullivan cab to anywhere in the country; you are safe. The taxi cabs are now providing serious security cover to people and that is why irrespective of the number, most of them are engaged always. On security of lives and property, Enugu State is ranking first in Nigeria. It is only if you are in Enugu State that you can affirm to this. This is quite unlike the era of Dr. Chimaroke, the then governor of the state. The provision of street lights in Enugu urban is a very good measure in the provision of security of lives and property. The activities of hoodlums in Enugu State is at its barest minimum. The law enforcement agents are at alert always to checkmate the 'the bad boys' at any point in time. Enugu capital city is the home of who-is-who in south east or rather, Ibo land. As the capital of the then Eastern Region, most of the Ibo elites have personal buildings in the city because of the serene environment. Incidences of crime related activities in the state are drastically reduced. The regime before this witnessed serious security threat to the extent that people were not all that free to talk or to open ones mouth anyhow. In most of these achievements of Barr. Chime, he does not want publicity to them. It is not enough that people are testifying on the good governance of Barr. Sullivan Chime, it will be pretty well if everybody is aware so that those that ran away from the state during the era of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani will know that things have changed for better in Enugu State. Actually, during the reign of Dr. Nnamani as the governor of Enugu State, the Governor invested heavily on publicity without doing much to justify the level of publicity on ground that time. He had eight (8) Senior Special Assistants on media and publicity alone. Enugu State 441 was perceived to have been working on radio and television. Publicity of unexecuted projects and services was the order of the day. The false propaganda was so intense that 'Enugu is working5 and 'Ebeano family' slogans were everywhere including in the Internet, satellite broadcasting like the CNN, BBC, SKYNEWS talk less of local television houses. With all the propaganda that was on then, there was nothing on ground to show for the quantum of publicity. It is on this premise, therefore, that the paper is advocating that people should be properly informed of the wonderful development that Enugu State is undergoing now, yet the media does not publish these projects or make reference to them whatsoever. Another reason why effective information on these projects is needed is to properly situate these development programmes to avoid misconception and misrepresentation. Furthermore, in the democratic dispensation, it is always presumed that there is freedom of expression but where it is manipulated to suit one's purpose, it becomes propaganda. It is in keeping with this that some scholars have found out that some leaders in democracy resort to cheap publicity because what transpired during the regime of Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani was nothing but excessive show of power. But proper management of information in a democratic dispensation gives everybody fulfilled satisfaction of the activities of the government. Behaviorists Richard Laitinen and Richard Rakos (1997) likened the Chimaroke's propaganda regime thus; "that modern propaganda (as applied by Dr. Nnamani during his tenure as governor of Enugu State) by their definition, the control of behavior by media manipulation " is facilitated by three factors; an audience that is "that is enmeshed and engulfed in a harried lifestyle, less -well informed, and less politically involved, ... and the incorporation of media companies into mega conglomerates". That thus factors combine to put untold power in the hands of powerful business and governmental elites without the public's awareness. In contemporary democracies, the absence of oppressive government control of information is typically considered a fundamental characteristics of a "free society". However, the lack of aversive control does not mean that information is "free" of controlling functions. On the contrary, current mechanisms of influence, through direct economic and indirect political contingencies, pose an even greater threat to behavioral diversity than do historically forms. Information today is more systematic, continuous, consistent, unobtrusive and ultimately powerful (Laitinen and Rakos, 1997). The more reason why white propaganda should be adopted in publicizing Barr. Chime's achievements is the fact that average citizens most often do not seem to know or properly put, nonchalant about the goings on in their domain because of lack of commitment. 442 Writing in the early twenties, Lippmann famously compared the average citizen to a deaf spectator sitting in the back row. He does not know what is happening, why it is happening, what ought to happen. "He lives in a world he cannot see, does not understand and is unable to direct "(Alterman, 1998-Eric Alterman, a political essayist for the Nation, quoted and summarized Lippmann 's position in one of his essays). Therefore, this scholar still maintain that the best way to encourage a good work is by motivation through effective information dissemination of that work for all to see and acknowledge so that it becomes an encouragement to the good and well meaning people of Enugu State and Nigeria in general. Conclusion In Nigeria, many states are not economically buoyant because of certain indices that can be used to determine the viability of states in Nigeria. One of such indices is mineral deposits and that is why all the states in South-South geopolitical zone of the country plus Imo and Abia are considered viable and rich. Revenue sharing formula of Federal Government is like thus: Federal—42%; State—28%; Local Government—19%; Oil Derivation Areas—13%. All the states that have no oil normally get less share of the federal allocation except Lagos State that has so many sources of revenue. Why this information is necessary is to properly place Enugu State because she is not an oil producing state, neither is it a state with many industries. Another area that states could be assessed is in the siting of industries like Lagos State that has so many industries. Number of industries in a state helps to determine the economic viability of that state. So in Enugu State, there are few known industries: ANAMMCO (Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company) that is in serious economic recession, Nigerian Breweries, Emenite, Innosons Industries (Nig. Ltd). Upon the fact that Enugu State is not considered as one of the richest states in the country, development projects on ground baffles visitors of the state. This is because Enugu urban is now transformed to a modern city with all the things associated with a modern city in the world. Therefore, if these things are not well publicized, people might decide to think otherwise in their comments as some are already saying that most of the capital projects in the state capital are World Bank assisted projects. This group of people need to be enlightened and properly informed. But if one may ask; Is it only in Enugu that World Bank is having projects? Where was World Bank during the tenure of the former governor Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani? The fact is that there are people that can never be pleased no matter what and how one tries to live above board to please them. 443 A Permanent Secretary from neighboring South Eastern State visited Enugu urban recently and was marveled on the things he saw in the state. He asked this researcher where the Enugu State Governor was getting his money from because, according to him, there is nothing going on in his state yet, the state is one of the oil producing states that collects a lot of money (more than two-third of what Enugu State collects) from federal revenue allocation. Moreso, had it been that Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani utilized half of the money he collected from Abuja to invest in the state on projects, Enugu State could have been one of the most modern states in Africa. But rather, the then governor appropriated it to himself and invested heavily on black propaganda. He had ten Senior Special Assistants on media alone. By then, Enugu State was 'Working' on CNN, INTERNET, NTA, Radio Nigeria, Cosmo FM, (owned by the governor) Raypower Radio, AIT, national dailies, magazines, bill boards etc on regular basis. Amount invested by Dr. Chimaroke on false publicity of the achievements in Enugu State under the regime of could have given the people of Enugu a better democracy dividends. Recommendations Based on the fore going information and on the fact that every good work should be rewarded, the following are recommended; 1. That since white propaganda does not apply falsehood or misinformation to get her information across to its target audience, it should be adopted by government and all to inform, educate, sensitize and mobilize the citizenry so that they should see and emulate such good work. The best way to motivate people to do good work is to effectively publicize such work for people to see for emulation. 2. That probity should be re-introduced so that those who loot the public treasury should be brought to book to serve as deterrent to others. 3. That the constitution of the country should be re-positioned so that it will be sacred so that leaders that violate the laws of the land should be made to pay the supreme sacrifice. References Paimer, N.D. & Palmer, G. (2004). International Relations. Delhi: A.I.T.B.S. Lasswell, H.D. & Dorathy, B. (1939). World Revolutionary Propaganda. New York: Alfred, a. Knopf. 444 Laitnen, R.E. & Rakos, R.E. (1997). Corporate Control of Media and Propaganda: A Behavioral Analytic Perspectives on Cultural Practices, CT: Praeger. Alterman, E. (1998). The News From Quinn Broderville. The Nation, Feb.24:11-14, in Baran,S.J.and Dennis Page 1