Analytical Study of the Communication Roles of Traditional Rulers in Governance in North Central Nigeria

Traditional rulers in North Central Nigeria occupy unique hybrid roles as custodians of cultural authority and intermediaries between government and citizens, making their communication functions significant but analytically underexplored in Nigerian political communication scholarship. This study analytically examined the communication roles of traditional rulers in governance communication in selected states of North Central Nigeria. A qualitative analytical design was adopted, drawing on in-depth interviews with 20 traditional rulers, royal council members, and local government liaisons in Benue, Kogi, and Kwara States, supplemented by document analysis of government circulars, palace announcements, and press coverage of traditional ruler communication activities from 2020 to 2023. Thematic analysis identified communication role categories and their governance communication contexts. Results showed that traditional rulers performed five distinct communication roles: downward information relay from government to communities, upward representation of community interests to government, conflict mediation communication between disputing parties, cultural legitimation of government programmes, and crisis communication during security emergencies. Communication role effectiveness was highest for conflict mediation and cultural legitimation and lowest for formal policy communication, where message distortion was documented in 65.0 percent of examples cited by interviewees. Traditional ruler credibility as communicators was positively associated with linguistic competence in community languages and length of tenure. The study provides original analytical evidence on the multidimensional communication roles of traditional rulers in North Central governance and recommends formal communication training as part of traditional ruler capacity building programmes.

Keywords: traditional rulers, governance communication, political communication, North Central Nigeria, community communication