The amalgamation of southern Nigeria with the north in 1914 by the British government has over the years generated hot debates. The critics argue that the people were not consulted, and that the union was a marriage of strange bird fellows. Nigeria, made up of over 250 ethnic groups is also geographically divided along ethnic and religious lines, Islam dominating the north and Christianity, the south; and the mainstay of the economy (oil) concentrated in the southern shores of the Niger Delta. The country since political independence in 1960 has undergone many political turbulence including military coups and dictatorships, a 30-month civil war (1967-1970), and in the recent time, religious extremism and terrorism championed by a radical Islamic sect – Boko Haram who believes that western education is evil and seeks to Islamize Nigeria; a viewpoint very provocative to the Christian south. Several national dialogues conveyed in the past to foster national unity had never yielded desired goals. That of 2014 came at a time of heightened insecurity and other ethno-political tendencies leading to the 2015 general elections in which the main context was between the incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, a Southern Christian and Mohammadu Buhari, a Muslim from the north. This study analysed the framing of group identities in two Nigerian national dailies: The Daily Sun (owned by a Southern Christian of Igbo ethnic group) and Leadership newspaper (owned by a northern Muslim of Hausa ethnic group). 68 editions made up the study population. Agenda setting served as the theoretical base. Findings suggest low coverage of the Conference in the two newspapers. Many of the stories were straight news that lacked in-depth analysis. Majority of the editions carried stories with sectional undertones; and many of the reports showed unsupportive slants to opposing ethnic groups’ viewpoints on the Conference; while dominant frames were issues of sectional interests such as power rotation, creation of additional states for equity, religion, state police, security and secession. The study calls for greater media interest in issues of national significance, and intensified crusade for national cohesion; it urges the media to lead the campaign by example; and suggests a review of the Code of Ethics for Nigerian Journalists to stress nationalism as against sectionalism in media reportage.
Keywords: Newspaper Frames. Group Identities.National Dialogue. Nigeria. The Daily Sun/Leadership Newspaper
