2025
This research investigated the prospects of data-driven marketing solutions in enhancing audience engagement in Nigeria. Our interest is in knowing how advanced analytics methods can offer deeper insights into consumer demographics, interests, and behaviour so that marketers can shape their campaigns based on a specific target audience. With a mixed-methods design combining interviews with social media and website analytics, we investigated the impact of data-driven strategies such as real-time audience segmentation, predictive analytics, and tailored content delivery. Our findings show that data analytics is central to gaining audience attention and communicating in a relevant manner, which ultimately leads to more effective marketing communication. However, the study also revealed fundamental challenges that prevent the full use of data-driven marketing strategies in Nigeria, including data quality problems, privacy concerns, and technological infrastructure limitations. The study raised key questions about dominant audience engagement practice and the specific challenges of leveraging data analytics in the Nigerian market. Based on the findings, the study recommended that businesses should invest heavily in data analytics software and employee training to gain a deeper insight into their audience's interests and streamline their marketing efforts. Doing this will allow them to make the most of data-driven marketing and enjoy the advantages of more targeted and compelling campaigns.
The growing spread of misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda presents seriouschallenges to national security in today’s digital age. This study investigated how these formsof information manipulation undermine public trust, disrupt democratic processes, and exposecountries to both internal and external threats. The research aims to examine the role of falseor misleading information in shaping security vulnerabilities and to compare its impact acrossdifferent national contexts. Drawing on existing literature, reports, and case studies, the studyemploys the library research method to analyse patterns of information warfare, includingelection interference, cyber-enabled influence campaigns, and the polarisation of publicopinion. The findings reveal that both state and non-state actors strategically deploypropaganda and deceptive content to weaken social cohesion and exploit political divisions.While the degree of impact varies depending on each country’s political and media systems,the consequences are consistently damaging, ranging from civil unrest to weakenedinstitutional authority. The study concludes that building national resilience against suchthreats requires a multi-faceted response, including improved media literacy, stronger cyberdefences, and coordinated international efforts. These strategies are essential for safeguardingnational security in a globally connected information environment.
The study examined the interplay between media ownership structures, political influence, andjournalistic independence in Nigeria, using the reportage of the 2022 presidential primaries of theAll Progressives Congress (APC) as a case in point. Employing qualitative content analysis of ninemedia outlets and twelve key-informant interviews with politicians and senior journalists, the studyidentifies systematic patterns of ownership-based bias, editorial interference, and professionalcompromise. Findings reveal that media owners often with vested political interests exertconsiderable influence on the frequency, tone, and slant of coverage, particularly in high-stakespolitical reporting. While state-controlled media displayed a slight bias in favour of incumbents,privately owned media outlets overtly promoted the political interests of their proprietors. Seniorjournalists reported facing pressure to align with partisan agendas, thereby undermining editorialindependence and journalistic ethics. Drawing on Media Capture Theory and the Hierarchy ofInfluences Model, the research proposes a multidimensional framework for analysing the extentto which political journalism in emerging democracies is compromised by elite influence. Itcontributes to the literature by extending the theory of media capture to the Nigerian context andby exposing structural constraints on journalistic autonomy. The study concludes that Nigeria’smedia landscape remains vulnerable to elite capture and calls for structural reforms, includingtransparent ownership regulation, independent public broadcasting, and enhanced media literacy.These measures are essential for safeguarding democracy and restoring professional journalism.
This study investigated the use of social media by the Nasarawa State Primary Health CareDevelopment Agency (NSPHCDA) in disseminating integrated immunisation awarenessmessages, focusing on respondents' exposure, platform preferences, perceived effectiveness, andassociated challenges. Guided by the Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), the study employed aquantitative survey method involving 281 respondents. Findings revealed low exposure to theagency’s campaign messages, with 69.7% of participants indicating they rarely encountered themon social media. Facebook emerged as the dominant platform used (80.7%), followed byWhatsApp (45.5%), while other platforms recorded minimal engagement. The perceivedeffectiveness of the agency’s social media campaigns was moderate, with 52.6% of respondentsdescribing them as somewhat effective. Key challenges identified included the lack of timelyupdates (91.9%), poor user engagement and feedback mechanisms (88.7%), unengaging visualcontent (73.4%), and concerns about the trustworthiness of information (52.9%). The studyrecommends, among other measures, that the Nasarawa State Primary Health Care DevelopmentAgency should improve the consistency and reach of its social media campaigns by schedulingregular posts, enhancing the use of other platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, andbecoming more active in engaging users through responses to comments, polls, live Q&A sessions,and participation in community forums.
