Economic Effects of IPOB Sit-At-Home Order in Southeast, Nigeria: Insights from Nigerian Newspaper Reports

Abstract

Restriction of movement has proven to have effects on the economy of the nation, especially one orchestrated by individuals and groups in the society that may have little or no significance in solving the immediate problem in the society. this study explained the economy effects (negative and positive) of the IPOB sit at home order in the south east geo-political zone of Nigeria with insights from national newspaper reports while relying on qualitative content analysis and framing theory to achieve the objectives of this study. Two national dailies were purposively selected, they include the vanguard and the guardian newspapers. Issues studies span from 1st may - 31st Dec 2022. The publication of the study was 490 editions from where a sample of 98 was drawn using Nwanna(1981) sample formula. The researcher extracted the data from the online newspapers archives and used the data from discussion. The researcher instrument of data collection was coding sheet and also the inter coder reliability technique was used which showed an overall 85 perfect agreement. The researcher's unit of analysis entails, straight news stories, feature stories and opinion columns where the content categories of the study includes, the media, the story type and the frame. The findings revealed, that the selected newspapers did not give adequate coverage to the IPOB sit at home order in the south east Nigeria. Thus it was recommended that the newspapers should not only report on the IPOB activities but should also report deeply about the economic effects it has on the residents of the south east Nigeria.