Indigenous Language Media, Language Politics and Democracy in Africa

Abiodun Salawu, Monica Chibita, Abiodun Salawu, Monica Chibita, Kenneth A. Loparo, Sarantakos

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2016
• eBook ISBN:
  9781137547309
• Print ISBN:
  9781349563401
  9781137547293
• Subtopic: Politics

This book deals with the often-neglected link between indigenous languages, media and democracy in Africa. It recognizes that the media plays an amplifying role that is vital to modern-day expression, public participation and democracy but that without the agency to harness media potential, many Africans will be excluded from public discourse.

Part I
Indigenous Languages, Media and Democracy in Africa

1

Indigenous Language Media and Democracy in Africa

Abiodun Salawu

Introduction

The origin of the African language press is usually associated with Christian missionaries. They chose to establish a press in the local language for their evangelical activities (Akinfeleye, 1985; Tsumba, 2002; Salawu, 2003, 2007). The missionaries knew that the only way they could, effectively, diffuse the beliefs and tenets of their religions among the natives was to communicate with them in the indigenous languages. For instance, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) did this in the Yoruba language; the Dutch Reformed Church Mission (DRCM), later known as the Church of Christ among the Tiv or the Nongo U Kristu Ken Sudan Hen Tiv (NKST), in the Tiv and Chiyanja languages; the United Mission for Central Africa (UMCA) in Chiyanja; the Catholic Church in isiZulu, Chichewa and Ewondo; the Overtoun Institute of the Free Church of Scotland in Chiyanja; the Wesleyans and Presbyterians in isiXhosa; the Church of Scotland Mission in Efik; the former Qua Iboe Mission, now the United Evangelical Mission, in Igala, etc.

It is the same idea of effective communication in indigenous languages (McNamara, 1965; Mlama, 1978 in Okombo and Rubgumya, 1996; Fafunwa et al., 1989; Djite, 1993; Prah, 1996; Salawu, 2004) that made local language press a veritable tool for democratic mobilisation. Political theorists (Herbst, 1993; Olukotun, 2000; Entman, 2003; Jamieson and Waldman, 2004; Kovach and Rosentstiel, 2007; Voltmer and Koch-Baumgarten, 2010) have established a connection between democracy and the media. The media are increasingly replacing political parties in stimulating and organising the participation of broad masses in the political system. Issues of participation, which are central to the democratic project, have evolved around the creation of alternative media as well as the use of creoles and local languages. In this vein, an effective public sphere is created when there is a press established as a genuinely critical organ of a public engaged in political debate (Habermas, 1989).

The public sphere is the source of public opinion needed to “legitimate authority in any functioning democracy” (Rutherford, 2000:18). This chapter attempts to place indigenous language media in Africa in a particular historical context with a view to highlight their role in enhancing the participation of Africans in the political process in their local environs. It looks at the involvement of the African language media in Africa mainly in the two epochs of nationalist struggle and post-independence politics. It also considers the pitfalls of the participation of local language media in ethnic politics.

Local language media in the nationalist struggle

African politicians in the colonial period regarded the local language media as an important tool for mobilisation against colonialism. Folarin and Mohammed (1996), for instance, remarked that a major purpose of the early local language newspapers in (colonial) Nigeria was the expression of nationalism. Yoruba newspapers like Eko Akete (1923), Eleti Ofe (1923) and Akede Eko (1931) proclaimed in their mottos that they were for liberation and the defence of people’s rights (Olunlade, 2006). A foremost nationalist, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, also established Iroyin Yoruba in 1945 to further the nationalist struggle and later his own political agenda among the Yoruba people. Political parties in colonial Malawi similarly recognised the need to have their own media in the battle for the minds of the African masses (Kishindo, 2006). The Nyasaland African Congress (NAC) began Kwacha (Dawn) in 1955 for the purpose of counteracting damaging propaganda emanating from newspapers established by the colonialists. Kwacha had enormous influence. It was, for example, credited for being responsible for mobilising massive support for the Congress candidates in the first elections that took place in the country in 1956 when five Nyasas were elected into the Legislative Council. When Kwacha was banned in 1959 during the State of Emergency, it was replaced by another indigenous language newspaper, Mtendere Pa Ntchito (Freedom at Work) to continue the political agitation. The NAC was replaced by the Malawi Congress Party, which within a month of its formation launched Tsopano (Now) as its unofficial organ. Tsopano was a militant mouthpiece which was widely accepted by the people. The United Federal Party also saw the virtue of publishing in the indigenous language. It published a Chinyanja monthly journal called Timvane (Let’s Listen to Each Other).

In Kenya, during the struggle for independence starting in the early 1920s to the late 1950s, nationalist leaders like Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, Harry Thuku and Tom Mboya started news publications in various local languages, which they used as forums to galvanise the support of the African constituency against the existing oppressive political conditions (Ugangu, 2006). Since the colonial administration did not permit African leaders to organise formal political meetings, the indigenous language press platform became a useful forum through which they could explain African grievances against the colonial administration in a manner and language that local people understood. The indigenous language press thus became the vehicle through which the emerging class of political leaders were able to communicate the central issues of African grievances like land, poor wages for African workers, harassment by local authorities, lack of self-determination and the need for liberation. The early African-owned indigenous language press succeeded not only in reaching out to the masses; they also succeeded in making the struggle a collective responsibility for the majority of Kenyans.

Overtime, this created a critical mass of Africans with a growing sense of awareness of their rights such that in later years they would organise and arm themselves to fight the colonialists during the Mau-Mau rebellion in the 1950s. The fervent political atmosphere, in turn, provided ample ground for the mushrooming of the indigenous language press. Even though Isigidimisama Xosa (The Xhosa Express) and Imvo Zabantsundu (Native Opinion) were categorised under the missionary press in the first phase of the local language press in South Africa (Johnson, 1988; CCSU, 1996), they were part of the anti-colonial struggle. One of the editors of Isigidimi was John Jabavu, an important figure in the early phase of African nationalism. It was the same Jabavu who later started Imvo. The second phase (1880–1930) of the indigenous language press in South Africa was tagged the ‘Independent Press’. This phase witnessed the realisation by the black elites that “mission overlordship” was not necessarily in their best interests. They saw the need for a press that would be independent of the influence of the missionaries and the colonialists. The newspapers in this phase included IkwezeLe Afrika (1928–1932),established by Pixley Seme, African National Congress (ANC) President-General (1930–1937); Lwase Afrika, set up in 1928 and published by A. W. G. Champion on behalf of a splinter group of the Natal Industrial and Commercial Workers’ Union of South Africa; and Ankanyiso Yase Natal (The Natal Light).

A major newspaper in the third phase, dubbed the ‘Commercial Press’, was Ilanga (established in 1903). Ilanga, like other newspapers during this phase, sought to exploit the black market for consumer goods. It played this role in Natal until 1978, when it was bought out by the Inkatha Freedom Party. The newspapers in the fourth phase, tagged the ‘Progressive Press’, were platforms for the expression of community struggles. They were located in the wider struggle for democracy. This phase started in the 1980s. The newspapers in this phase were connected to popular political movements. They were not-for-profit and largely relied on subsidies and grants from churches, foundations and trade unions. Ukusa, published in Natal between 1982 and 1985, was a newspaper during this phase. Communication, Culture and Society Unit (CCSU) (1996: 30) noted that UmAfrika had been moving in a progressive direction since 1986.

Local language media in the post-independence period

In Kenya, there was a lull in the indigenous language press in the period immediately after independence. This lasted from 1963 to 1987. These years (1963–1987) saw the gradual development of a very conformist mainstream press in Kenya and very little indigenous language press development. However, the agitation for multi-party democracy from the late 1980s to the early 1990s saw the re-emergence of the indigenous language press as a tool in the agitation for greater democracy and political change in the country. As a result of the conformist stance of the mainstream press, even under the Moi regime, many Kenyans in need of more objective and courageous reporting started moving towards a re-emerging alternative press for news on what was happening in the country. At the height of agitation for democracy in the mid-1980s up to the early 1990s, many publications – some in English, but many others in the various native languages (particularly Kiswahili) spoken in Kenya – started appearing on the newsstands as the alternative press. Pambana was one such newspaper.

The publisher of Alaroye newspaper in Nigeria said that he started the newspaper (in 1996) to fill a gap that existed because there was no independent and in-depth coverage of the political development of the time in Yoruba newspapers (Adedayo, 2006). This was a time when there was fervent agitation for the de-annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and for the establishment of democracy. The election happened to have been won by M. K. O. Abiola, a Yoruba man. Therefore, it was understandable that the struggle was more alive in Yorubaland. The publisher noted that the people yearned for information and a thorough analysis of events as they unfolded. Olukotun (2002a, 2000) catalogued the protest in popular culture in the Yoruba area of Nigeria during the years of agitation against military rule following the 1993 presidential election annulment. Similarly, Williams (1999: 76) wrote about the traditional Yoruba protest media during the struggle for democracy:

they fuelled the climate of popular outrage which led to the precipitate and unceremonious departure of General Babangida following the infamous annulment of the presidential election. Two of these artistes, LanrewajuAdepoju and GbengaAdewuyi, much lionised as Yoruba Ewi poets, were so daring in their personal attacks, so liberal with savage excoriations that between them they probably cost the Babangida government its remaining authority and legitimacy in Yorubaland.

Olukotun (2002b) remarked that this experience showed how in times of repression, when the regular channels of expression are closed or suppressed, civil society falls back on indigenous modes of communication to express dissent and to censure the authorities. Meanwhile, Williams (1995) had noted that Adepoju and others were inheritors of a rich tradition of using popular literature, arts and performance to offer critical comments on the prevailing political climate. Williams recalled that before the military coup of 1966 (staged because of the excesses of the Nigerian politicians of the first republic [1960–1966]) there was “the upsurge of local theatre with explicitly political motives. The local Yoruba dramatists simply took over the rich indigenous tradition and converted it to a vehicle against autocracy and political perfidy” (Williams, 1995: 71). Both Williams (1995) and Olukotun (2002a) recalled the late Hubert Ogunde’s ‘Yoruba Ronu’, which was a biting satire of the misrule of the then premier of the Western Region of Nigeria, Chief Samuel Ladoke Akintola. The drama was subsequently banned by the regional government.

Oso (2003) pointed out that protest arts and performances are rooted in Yoruba traditional culture. According to him, Yoruba traditional artistes exercise a lot of poetic licence to censure an erring ruler and/or any other member of the community. Traditional festivals across Yorubaland provide platforms for such performances. These festivals include the Oro and Eluku among the Ijebu and Remo and the Oke-Ibadan in Ibadan. Olukotun (2002a) referred to an insight provided by Chief Adebayo Faleti, who said that whenever an Oba went off course in the Oyo empire and Yorubaland, in general, the Egungun will enact some sketches to abuse or reprimand the Oba. Using a drama video as a springboard, Salawu (2008) attempted an analysis of the impact of these traditional or folk media in bringing about order and justice in society.

The poets also employed the wide reach of radio to get their message across to a wider audience. Olukotun (2002a: 178) remarked that radio professionals majoring in Ewi occupied a strategic position in the legitimation contests. Olukotun (2002a) observed that even normally establishment musicians like Ebenezer Obey and the late Sikiru Ayinde Barrister produced albums critical of the military rule and the socio-economic hardships being suffered by the people as a result of misrule.

Olukotun similarly recognised the contribution of the local language press to the political discourse of the anti-military struggle. He noted:

Alongside this querulous popular media was the resurgence of a vernacular press, published in Yoruba, of which Alaroye is the most distinct. These emergent vernacular media tried to fill a gap in discourse by translating popular political debates into vernacular and by giving the grassroots a voice in those debates – a development accentuated by the emergence of private radio stations in the mid-1990s. (Olukotun, 2002a: 167)

He specifically remarked on the contribution of Alaroye thus:

Alaroye founded in 1992 and which rapidly became a success in circulation terms has shown the possibility ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• List of Figures and Tables
• Foreword by Tawana Kupe
• Acknowledgements
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction: Language, Structure and Agency: Optimising Media Diversity in Africa Using the Indigenous Languages
• Part I Indigenous Languages, Media and Democracy in Africa
• Part II The Media, Language, Inclusion and Exclusion in Africa
• Part III The Indigenous Language Media in Political and Cultural Expression in Africa
• Index