Citizen Journalism Involvement and Perception of Security Challenges among Students in The Polytechnic Ibadan, Oyo State

Abstract

Engagement in citizen journalism through the use of social media has a broad impact on the
security of every nation. This study reviewed citizen journalism on security challenges in
Nigeria among The Polytechnic Ibadan Students, and the descriptive survey research design
was adopted for the study. 403 respondents were selected using the multi-stage sampling
technique, and a validated instrument named “citizen journalism social media questionnaire”
(CiJoSoMeQ) was used for data collection, while data were analysed using descriptive and
inferential statistics. Findings revealed that students’ involvement in citizen journalism was
very high (weighted mean 1.85), and the majority of the students had a good perception of the
use of social media in discussing national security challenges (weighted mean 2.83). There was
no significant difference (r = 0.053, p<0.05; r = 0.941, p<0.05) in the level of engagement in
online discussion and perception of social media use in discussing security challenges in
Nigeria. Thus, the study concluded that The Polytechnic Ibadan Students’ engagement in
citizen journalism does not have any influence on security challenges in Nigeria. This study
recommends that students as well as citizens should be adequately trained on the need to filter
information before spreading, and also, topical security updates as they affect the nation should
be disseminated on social media, thereby limiting the spread of wrong news regarding security
matters.