An Original Investigation into Post-Colonial Communication Theory and Its Applications to Contemporary Nigerian Media Practice

Post-colonial communication theory offers critical tools for understanding how colonial media legacies, including language hierarchies, institutional forms, and epistemological assumptions, continue to shape Nigerian media practice. However, a systematic investigation applying post-colonial theory to the contemporary digital and converging media environment of Nigeria represents an important scholarly gap. This study conducted an original theoretical and empirical investigation applying post-colonial communication theory to contemporary Nigerian media practice. A critical theoretical methodology combining post-colonial theory, critical communication studies, and empirical grounding through qualitative research was employed. The theoretical analysis critically engaged Frantz Fanon's analysis of colonial communication, Ngugi wa Thiong'o's language decolonisation arguments, Chinua Achebe's critique of colonial media representations, and more recent post-colonial communication scholars including Nyamnjoh, Wasserman, and Banda, identifying their application to contemporary Nigerian digital media dynamics. Empirical grounding was provided through 55 in-depth interviews with senior journalists, media executives, media educators, and communication practitioners, selected to represent all six geopolitical zones and multiple media sectors, probing how colonial communication legacies manifest in current professional norms, language choices, ownership structures, and audience relationships. Three original theoretical constructs were developed: Digital Re-colonisation (theorising how global platform dominance creates new forms of communication sovereignty deficit), Indigenous Epistemic Suppression (documenting how professional journalism norms suppress indigenous knowledge communication forms), and Decolonial Communication Practice (identifying emergent Nigerian media practices that actively disrupt colonial communication legacies). The investigation constitutes a theoretically rigorous and empirically grounded original contribution to post-colonial communication theory.

Keywords: post-colonial communication theory, Nigerian media, decolonial practice, media colonialism, original contribution