Development News and the Fight against Terrorism in Nigeria

Abstract: Development communication is the planned and systematic use of communication strategies through interpersonal channels as well as print and audio-visual mass media. This discourse examines development news and the fight against terrorism in Nigeria. It succinctly re-echoes the impediments that make the fight against terrorism in Nigeria unsuccessful. Anchored on Agenda Setting theory and the Media Dependency theory, the discourse builds on existing literature which data were gathered through secondary sources such as textbooks, monographs and scholarly journals of communication and media studies. Findings revealed that journalists should continuously use the media to communicate the dangers of insecurity thereby raising alarm in a bid to draw the attention of government to the voiceless and vulnerable. It is recommended, among other things, that with how formidable terrorists have become in the recent time, the Nigerian military should be provided with the needed training and government should invest more in acquiring sophisticated technology to contain terrorism in Nigeria.