Propaganda according to Quarters (1962) is defined as the deliberate attempt by some individuals or group to form, control or alter the attitudes of other group by the use of instruments of communication with the intention that in any given situation the reaction of those so influenced will be that desired by the propagandist. Propagandas are persuasions done in sole favour of the sender not in the interest of the receiver. Propaganda Techniques:
According to Damotab (1985), “ the techniques are used to make information exert the required effect; to make people take it seriously or believe it…what is important to the Propagandist is the form of conveying the truth rather than the truth itself” Various Propaganda techniques according to Lee and Lee (1939): Transfer, card stacking, band wagon; according to Damotab: Obsessions selection, mass government etc. 1. Transfer: This technique works by transferring the authority, sanction and prestige of something or somebody respected and revered to something else in order to make the later acceptable. E. g. Is during the regime of Babangida as the head of state he used eminent personalities to attract support for some of its programmes and policies. He paired the personalities and the programmes like Wole Soyinka a Nobel Laureate Chaired the Federal Road Safety Corps and The Peoples Bank chaired by Tai Solarin a popular and respected critic. 2. Card stacking: This entails presenting only one side of information that may likely contradict the position being advocated.
In doing so, arguments are made one-sided and brought out in detail or emphasized and the other side of it scantily treated or not presented at all. E. g. The coverage of the Third Term debate by NTA Network which was obviously in favour of the government which wanted tenure elongation. 3. Bandwagon: According to Lee and Lee (1939) this device adopts the argument that ‘ everybody is doing at least all of us is doing it. Follow the crowd and jump on the Band wagon.’ It is a form of saying “ if you can’t beat them you join them”. This was used during the third term debate by comparing Nigeria with many African Leaders whose tenures were elongated. 4. Obsession Techniques: This technique subjects the citizens to constant bamboozlement of messages through posters, loudspeakers, ceremonies, sirens to announce the movement of senior government officials. The sirens give the leader an aura of significance and seriousness.
We are being told that there is no alternative to Reforms, privatisations etc. 5. Songs: Songs are commonly used and composed and rendered by musicians or particular bodies to support politicians, the government and its leaders. There are many examples of such songs especially in the local languages during election periods. 6. Mass Government: This is expressed through carefully organised and managed acts like public demonstrations in support of government over one action or another. The device is also manifested through the creation of bogus parastatals to prove to the people that government is responding to their yearnings. Most of such bodies are duplication with little relevance to the lives of the people. In the word s of one critic , such actions of government are just to “ change one structure for another, much like changing monkey to baboon, much like green revolution to operation feed the nation… such new structures turn out to be pf doubtful relevance , or a duplication of facilities or simply a money guzzling machine”(Otubanjo 1992)
REFERENCES
•Lecture Note on Introduction to Mass Communication 2012 Revised Edition. Dr. Abdullahi S. Bashir. (2012)
