Introduction
The history of the mass media development in Nigeria is directly connected to the historical, cultural, and political development of the country. Printed communication was the basis of the discourse and enlightenment of the population long before radio, television, and digital communication came into existence.
The printing presses owned by missionaries in the middle of the 19th century became the first organized mass communication in Nigeria. These early activities were not purely religious ones, but they influenced literacy, fostered intellectual activity, and slowly cultivated a culture of media which would become an extremely useful instrument of national consciousness.
Knowledge about the origins of mass media in Nigeria gives an idea of how communication started as simple religious publications, and then it can be turned into educational and political mobilization, a transformation of society.
This article, therefore, discusses how missionary presses, early publications like Iwe Irohin, and indigenous publishers contributed to the development of the mass media tradition in Nigeria.
The Concept of the Mass Media in History
Mass media has been defined as systematic communication that is applied to share information to a heterogeneous number of people at once. Electronic communication did not start this process in Nigeria. Rather, it expanded slowly via print media, which was used as the major method of communicating with people in the colonial period.
Prior to the emergence of printing presses, pre-colonial societies of Nigerian society depended on oral communication. The common forms of information dissemination were town criers, village meetings, drums, symbols, and storytelling. These forms were only effective in small communities, and they were not permanent or had a broad geographical scope. With the advent of print, communication was changed because it offered a uniform, written, distributable body of information.
Print Media and the Birth of Missionary Activities in Nigeria
The Place of Christian Missionaries
The early modern print media in Nigeria was established by the Christian missionaries. They mainly aimed at evangelizing people, but soon they realized literacy was the key to religious education. In order to do this, missionaries came with Western education, erected schools, and set up printing presses, which were used to print religious and educational texts.
These were the presses that printed catechisms, hymnbooks, translations of the Bible, and texts to teach, and they were written in many native languages including Yoruba, Igbo, and Efik. That method encouraged local people to be literate, and reading was brought as a social activity.
The Early Printing Presses Were Established
The coming up of printing presses in mission stations, especially in Abeokuta and later Lagos, was one of the greatest milestones in the history of the Nigerian media. Some of these included the Church Missionary Society (CMS) Press which was at the center stage of early publishing efforts.
It was these small-town presses that had a revolutionary influence. The first time was when ideas could be printed and shared outside immediate communities and therefore spread to a wider public.
Nigeria First Newspaper, Iwe Irohin
Founding and Purpose
In 1859, Iwe Irohin fun Awon Ara Egba, which is the first newspaper in Nigeria, was founded by a Christian missionary, educator referred to as Reverend Henry Townsend. The name, which translates to Newspaper of the Egba and Yoruba, was based on its initial mission, namely, to inform and educate the Yoruba-speaking people.
First released in its complete version in the Yoruba language, Iwe Irohin was used as a literacy text, a source of religious education, and local news and community events. Subsequent issues contained English language material, adding to its distribution.
Influence on Literacy and Community Education
Iwe Irohin was paramount in promoting reading and writing amongst the Nigerians. It gave solid encouragement to the idea of reading by making the content relevant and relatable. Readers were not acquiring religious motives of learning how to read, they were acquiring the ability to be interested in news, ideas, and issues of society.
Another idea that the newspaper has brought about is periodical dissemination of information. Frequent edition of the paper led to expectation and culture of reading, which would later become the foundation of the new newspapers.
Service to the Enlightenment of the People
In addition to literacy, Iwe Irohin helped in the enlightenment of people by covering local events, trade practices, and social developments. It provoked debate and sharing opinions, which implicitly supported the ideas of critical thinking and awareness among readers of the magazine.
Growth of Colonial and Aboriginal Age Newspapers
Development of Lagos as a Media City
After the triumph of Iwe Irohin, Lagos became the hub of newspaper publishing in Nigeria in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The fact that the city was an administrative and commercial center of the colonial period was a means of attracting educated elites, merchants, and professionals who realized the strength of the press.
Newspapers like Lagos Times, Lagos Observer, and Nigeria Chronicle started emerging. These papers were less missionary but more political, the world newspapers.
Dawn of Indigenous Publishers
The appearance of indigenous publishers in Nigeria was one of the most important changes during this period. African-educated people started to own and run their own newspapers, and they used them to express their feelings, criticize colonial policies, and bring about social reforms.
Such people like John Payne Jackson who was the founder of The Lagos Weekly Record exploited journalism to fight injustice and inequality. These publications signified a change from the missionary-controlled media to the African-led discourse.
The Press as a Nationalist and a Political Consciousness
Anti-Colonial Sentiment and Media
By the early 20th century, the newspapers in Nigeria had been strong tools of mobilizing politics. The press helped journalists and editors to challenge the colonial rule, criticize discriminatory policies, and promote the rights of Africans.
The media took the role of the oppressed, becoming the voice of nationalist consciousness and bringing different ethnic groups together with common political interests.
Newspapers and the Struggle for Independence
Newspapers became a participatory instrument in the formation of the opinion of the masses as Nigeria approached its independence. The newspapers like West African Pilot, which was started by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1937, achieved an enormous readership, fostered cohesion, self-rule, and nationalism.
This era of the press showed how mass communication could be a potent social change agent.
Missionary Press to Modern Media Platforms
Switching to the Electronic Media
Electronic media came about as a result of the same principles developed by the early print media. Radio broadcasting was introduced in Nigeria in the 1930s, and television in the late 1950s. These media widened the scope of information, and communication became closer and available.
The ethics, news values, and social responsibility that were advocated by the early newspapers, however, did not cease to impact broadcasting activities.
Online Media and Modern Platforms
The media has diversified in modern times to incorporate online newspapers, blogs, podcasts, and social media in Nigeria. Although the technology has evolved, the purpose of the media, to inform, educate, and entertain the people, has not changed.
The current media can be said to have its origin in the simple missionary presses of the 19th century, which brought the basic principle of media information being beneficial to society.
The Enduring History of Old Publishers
Mass media publishers in Nigeria established the platform that goes on to further define communication in the modern world. Their work encouraged literacy, provided citizens with the desire to take part in civic life, and proved the strength of information as a means of developing society.
Missionary presses brought in print culture, native publishers regained control of the narrative, and nationalistic journalists turned the press into a freedom weapon. They both formed the ideals of responsibility, enlightenment, and service to the people that shape the media tradition of Nigeria.
Conclusion
The history of mass media in Nigeria is a story of struggle that was influenced by faith, education, resistance, and innovation. Since the missionary-owned printing presses of the 19th century, the emergence of indigenous newspapers, early publishers were influential in the formation of communication, literacy, and the enlightenment of the people.
Newspapers such as Iwe Irohin were not just newspapers but rather tools of social change that brought about literacy, aroused intellectual interest, and prepared the way to political consciousness. The history of these primitive platforms to the current ones points to the timeless significance of the press in Nigerian society.
When looking at the origins of the mass media in Nigeria, one gets to know how communication has been utilized as a social influence as opposed to a channel of information. The initial attempts of media served to create values, shape attitudes and bind communities even after they moved out of their localized setting.
They were also able to build forums of discussion and awareness which slowly transformed the society. This paper illustrates how the press has had a long-standing role in education, unity, and democratic participation in Nigeria through a discussion that spans from the missionary publications to the indigenous and modern media.
