Audience Exposure to News Reports on Bobrisky's Arrest for Naira Abuse and Their Perception of Money Spraying: A Study of Emeka-Offor Plaza

Abstract

Few months ago, during one of the occasions as attended by Bobrisky, he was seen spraying money which made the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Nigeria, to arrest him. The news of this incident was reported in the press. Whether these reports had any influence on the respondents is the major thrust of the study which sought to find out respondents’ level of exposure to the news reports under study as well as the perception of the respondents about the news reports. Anchored on agenda setting and perception theories, the study made use of focus group discussion method to source information from 90 business persons from a population of 705 persons at Emeka-Offor Plaza in Onitsha. Interview guide served as the research instrument in this study. Findings revealed a high level of awareness of the news reports of the arrest of Bobrisky by the respondents. Though most of the respondents have negative perception of the reports, they still feel that the arrest is worthwhile so as to reduce the abuse of the naira notes; yet, the reports had little or no effect on them as many of the respondents believe it is a way of showing love to one another in a typical Nigerian society which will always make them to remain their brothers’ keepers. It was recommended that the Government should critically evaluate certain policies that may be viewed as a form of punishment on the citizens who feel they have to show love to one another and should not be disallowed to avoid civil disobedience.

Keyword: Exposure, News report, Arrest, Naira abuse, Perception, Money spraying, Audience.