ASSESSMENT OF THE BROADCAST MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS ABUSE IN NIGERIA
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ASSESSMENT OF THE BROADCAST MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS ABUSE IN NIGERIA
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study.
Broadcast media has great potential as a tool for reaching and encouraging people to embrace new and better lives. This has long been acknowledged by people engaged in the prevention of drug misuse and other undesirable behaviours.
Drug misuse is a word widely used to describe the use of prescription medications having sedative, anxiolytic, analgesic, or stimulant qualities for mood altering or intoxication, despite the fact that overdose on such medications has catastrophic consequences.
The employment of broadcast media campaigns to prevent drug abuse and control is a somewhat planned and positive move forward. Media innovation is common, but not without controversy.
The use of broadcast media campaigns to minimise health problems in society gained traction in the 1970s, with an initial emphasis on cardiovascular health.
The favourable outcomes of the first campaigns led to their widespread usage in areas such as heart disease, cancer, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, and domestic violence. Since the 1970s, media campaigns have been widely employed to reduce tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drug usage.
Every government, regardless of its policy, recognises the role of the media in combating drug abuse. Without a doubt, the media makes a greater contribution towards societal improvements, so with this in mind and the features and types already mentioned above
it can rightly be said that the media is the hub that holds the wheel of society together and it has a role to play in combating the various scourges that afflict man today, and one of such problem that has threatened the existence
Nigeria faces numerous major difficulties that have far-reaching health, social, and economic consequences for society. According to Anekwe (2014, p.32), a higher percentage of our youths aged eighteen (18) and twenty-five (25) to twenty-eight (28) have taken one or more drugs.
A large majority of patients admitted for mental health problems are also from the same category. Thus, the drug pandemic is undermining Nigeria’s manpower base and future.
Drug addiction is more than just taking drugs prescribed by a doctor; it also includes kids who can’t read without drinking unsweetened coffee, kola nuts, or taking tablets. It also features a filter lover who uses pharmaceuticals to enhance his sexual performance.
The business executive who must smoke in order to work, the laid-off worker who fills his veins with superfluous chemicals to forget his miseries and adventures, and the person who attempts to get high because others are doing it.
Thus, drug abuse is more than just misusing drugs; it also includes the use of any chemical compound that has an effect on the body, such as India hemp, cannabis, and heroine cocaine derived from the hemp plant.
In the past and present, there has been advertising, campaigns, announcements, and a public outcry against certain hard drugs, their effects, and dangers through various broadcast media such as television and radio, with slogans such as “say no to drugs, drugs kill,” “a drug-free child is the pride of the parents,” “lend a hand in ridding Nigeria of hard drugs,” and “will you try anything?” You might never get off the hook.” ”
Avoid drug trafficking. You could wind up in jail,” and so many others. The aforementioned slogans, as well as many more, are examples of government and private sector campaigns against drugs and drug trafficking in order to assist agencies in preserving life rather than destroying it (Aliu, 2014).
According to Romer (2004, p.1073), broadcast media communication initiatives to change risky behaviour are increasingly viewed as an important supplement to school-based programmes and community-wide interventions.”
To what extent is this broad belief in the power of the media justified? Although the early history of broadcast-media campaigns, particularly those concerning health, was mostly one of failure, the promise of reaching big audiences has resulted in increased efforts, sharper design techniques, and more realistic campaign goals.
These more advanced initiatives, paired with more powerful assessment procedures, demonstrate that properly conceived media health campaigns can effectively change beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and even behaviours (Rogers, 2007).
More rigorous formative, process, and summative assessment methodologies, combined with more powerful statistical tools, have identified a wide range of campaign effects.
Such study consistently reveals that combining media with other types of interventions is more effective than either media or non-media activities alone.
However, there is rising evidence that when employed effectively, broadcast media can have a considerable positive impact on health-related attitudes, beliefs, and behaviours (Flora, 2009).
1.2 Statement of Problem
Drug abuse is defined as “a state of periodic or chronic intoxication, detrimental to the individual and society, of a drug.” The primary indicator of drug addiction is an insatiable need to use drugs in any way.
Physical dependence presents itself when drug intake is reduced or discontinued, resulting in withdrawal syndrome, which is a highly unpleasant experience. Psychological dependence occurs when an abuser relies on a drug to provide a sense of well-being.
The number of young people detained in various jails around Nigeria has skyrocketed in recent decades, creating an unprecedented situation.
In truth, the vast majority of these young people have been arrested for drug offences and/or suffer from drug addiction. The question that this study addresses is: what role does the broadcast media have in fighting against drug misuse in Nigeria?
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