When Media Campaigns Fail: Explaining the Factors of Civil Disobedience to COVID-19 Protocols in Nigeria

Abstract

Media campaigns on COVID-19 protocols were launched in Nigeria to reduce the spread of the virus. There was evidence to suggest disobedience to the protocols. Thus, this study investigates factors that facilitated civil disobedience to COVID-19 protocols and the implications for the management of the virus. Awareness, mediatisation and personal, cultural and societal factors constructs were formulated to measure the level of civil disobedience. Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin’s Measure of Sampling Adequacy used for the study revealed that 86.4% out of the sampled size was sufficient for testing and validating variables in the civil disobedience construct, 69.1% and 63.1% for awareness and mediatisation constructs, respectively. The constructs were subjected to inferential statistical analysis, and the variables measured at the continuous and linear relationship levels. The study found economic status and media reports as the determinants of peoples’ awareness of the virus. Provision of adequate information and exposure to COVID-related contents were dominant factors under mediatisation; social distancing and use of face masks were dominant factors of civil disobedience. This study concluded that media campaigns on COVID-19 protocols failed to achieve needed behavioural changes due to economic issues, language barriers, insensitivity of government and inadequate provision of essential amenities.