AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BROADCAST MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS ABUSE IN NIGERIA

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE BROADCAST MEDIA CAMPAIGN AGAINST DRUGS ABUSE IN NIGERIA

chapter One

Foreword

1.1 Research background

Broadcast media is a promising tool for persuading people to adopt new healthy lifestyles. This has long been recognized by those concerned with the prevention of substance abuse and other unhealthy behaviors. It is a commonly used term when used for change or addiction, ignoring the fact that overdose of such drugs can cause serious side effects. Using broadcast campaigns as interventions to control is relatively strategic and a step in the right direction.While media inventions are widespread, they are not without controversy. The use of broadcast campaigns to alleviate public health problems gained momentum in the 1970s, initially focusing on improving cardiovascular health. The positive results of the initial campaign have led to further use in a variety of areas such as heart disease, cancer prevention, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning and domestic violence. Since the 1970s, media campaigns have increasingly been used to prevent the use of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs (European Center for the Surveillance of Drugs and Drug Addiction, 2013).

Regardless of policy, all governments recognize the role of the media in combating substance abuse. Undoubtedly, the media will make a greater contribution to the improvement of society. .

Nigeria has a number of serious problems with serious health, social and economic impacts on society. According to Anekwe (2014, p. 32), a higher proportion of young people in the 18-year-old group and young people between the ages of 25 and 28 were addicted to one drug or another. The percentage of people hospitalized for mental health problems is also in the same group. Thus, the drug epidemic is undermining Nigeria’s labor base and future.

Substance abuse isn’t just about taking prescription drugs, it’s also about students who can’t read without unsweetened coffee, cola nuts, or pills. It’s about turning filter enthusiasts. Businessmen who have to smoke for work, laid-off workers who have foreign bodies in their veins to forget their worries and adventures, people who try to get high because other people are doing them. Substance abuse is therefore not just about the abuse of drugs, but about the use of any chemical that affects the body, such as Indian hemp, cannabis, heroin cocaine from the hemp plant (Anekwe, 2014).

In the past and present there have been advertisements, campaigns, announcements and public outcry against certain hard his drugs, their effects and dangers through various broadcast media such as television and radio.

According to Romer (2004, p.1073) the broadcast media communication campaigns to alter risky behavior are seen increasingly as a critical adjunct to school-based programs and community-wide interventions”. To what extent is this widespread faith in the power of the media justified? Although the early history of broadcast-media campaigns, particularly those involving health, was largely one of failure, the promise of reaching large audiences has led to continued efforts, a sharpening of design methodologies, and more realistic campaign expectations. These more sophisticated efforts, combined with more powerful evaluation methodologies, provide evidence that media health campaigns can be effective in changing beliefs, attitudes, intentions, and even behaviors, when properly designed (Rogers, 2007).

More rigorous techniques of formative, process, and summative evaluation, coupled with more powerful statistical tools, have detected a variety of campaign effects. Such studies generally show that media combined with other types of interventions are more successful than media or non-media efforts alone. However, there is growing evidence that broadcast media alone, when used appropriately, can have significant positive effects on health-related attitudes, beliefs and behaviors (Flora, 2009).

1.2 Problem Description

Substance abuse risk is defined as “a state of regular or chronic intoxication with a substance that is harmful to the individual and society.” The main symptom of drug use is an uncontrollable desire to use drugs. Physical dependence manifests itself when drug use is reduced or stopped, leading to a withdrawal syndrome that is a very painful experience. sometimes experienced. It is an unprecedented problem in Nigeria and the number of juveniles held in various prisons across the country has increased dramatically in recent decades. In fact, most of these young people have been arrested for drug crimes or have substance abuse problems. So the questions this study entails are:
What is the role of broadcast media in campaigning against substance abuse in Nigeria?