| Abstract: |
The study adopts a content analysis research method to examine whether or not Nigerian press covers the crisis in Aso Rock, the Nigeria seat of power between Mallam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Security Adviser, General Babagana Monguno. The contents were examined to ascertain if the selected newspapers promoted the issue on front page and in the editorial. The study was restricted to Vanguard, The Punch and The Nation of February 17 to March 3, 2020. The findings of the study showed that the issue was not given prominence by the Nigerian press particularly from the Vanguard and The Nation newspapers respectively. However, the researcher concludes that The Punch gave prominence to the issue. This conclusion is based on the fact that, The Punch covers the issue twice on front page and in the editorial. These two critical components (front page and editorial are often used to measure media prominence given to an issue). The researcher therefore recommended that Nigerian press should pay adequate attention to serious political development by promoting it on the front page and in the editorials. The non-coverage of the issue by Vanguard and The Punch is worrisome and appears to have some conspiracy theory which should not be. In this regards, it is recommended that Nigerian press should not take sides with political office holders in order to perform its watchdog function creditably. |
