Abstract:
The agitation for the emancipation and political freedom of the Biafra people started way back in 1967. At this period, the then Governor – General of the defunct Eastern region of Nigeria Col. Emeka Ojukwu, declared the region independent after the supposedly breach of the Aburi Accord. This compelled the Federal Republic of Nigeria to engage the secession region (Biafra) in a civil war that lasted for close to three years. After the war, which was declared no “victor no vanquished” the Biafran nation was reintegrated into the Federal Republic of Nigeria. This war which claimed millions of lives and ship loads of properties within the secession region of Biafra has remained fresh in the memory of the people from this region. It has since 1970 affected the political, cultural, social and even the economic history of people from this region of Nigeria. It is close to five decades away now, but the historical feat of the secession adventure of the Biafra war lords has remained alive. The urge for the liberation of Biafra has persisted and generations upon generations have produced front liners who are hell bent on the creation of the sovereign state of Biafra. This lingering agitation for the political independence of Biafra has remained a topical issue and the media across the globe have distinct roles they play in either fueling or suppressing the incessant agitators from this region of Nigeria. The people’s assessment of these media reports as regards this agitation is another issue. This is owing to the fact that within the years some media across the globe have delved deep into the Biafra issue. These media platforms have followed the Biafra issues and circulated their stories amongst their teeming audience. Millions of media audiences across the globe have equally received and perceived these stories in different ways. The divergent views of these media audience are major issue in this context. This to a large extent underscores magnitude influence of the media on their diversified audience. Within the context also are the overwhelming use of the media in attending and satisfying the quest and the need of their audiences. Within these in view, three theoretical framework were employed in anchoring the subject under study. These theories include; theory of perception, Group conflict theories and uses and gratification theory.
