The Journal of Impactful Communication (TJIC)

By Ishola N. Ayodele “Trust is earned in drops and lost in buckets.” Swedish proverb In Nigeria’s electoral landscape, this old saying is not a cliché it is an urgent diagnosi s . Decades of electoral manipulation, opaque collation processes, and repeated public disappointment have created a legitimacy deficit that now threatens the very idea of democratic governance. The rancorous debate over electronic transmission of election results whether it should be mandatory or optional is not merely a technical argument about devices and signals. It is a crisis of trust . Political theorist John Locke warned that “ wherever law ends, tyranny begins ” (Locke, 1689). In contemporary democracies, tyranny does not always wear uniforms; sometimes it lurks in behaviours that strip citizens of confidence in institutions. When voters begin to believe that their votes do not count, democracy ceases to be a system of self-government and begins to resemble performance art. Afrobarometer data sh...

  By Ishola N. Ayodele Warren Buffett once said, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it". Now, in this age of AI and social media, it takes 30-SECOND to destroy a reputation. This is because a 30-second video can now do what years of political opposition could not. It can i. End a career. ìí. Damage a reputation. iii. Rewrite a public narrative.   No press conference. No court ruling. No investigation. Just one clip. One upload. One share. And it’s everywhere. Recently, Nigerians watched this play out. A grainy private-jet video allegedly showing a man resembling Senator Adams Oshiomhole inside a luxury private jet cabin massaging the leg of a beautiful lady (Not his wife) (The Whistler Newspaper, 2026). Shared rapidly on platforms including SaharaReporters’ Facebook, it sparked outrage, memes, and calls for accountability, amplified against the backdrop of economic frustrations (The Whistler Newspaper, 2026). Senator Oshiomhole’s media office, thr...

 By Ishola N. Ayodele In mid-October 2025, Nigeria buzzed with dangerous whispers. Social media and street conversations exploded with rumors of an attempted coup to oust President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The air thickened with suspicion, especially after the abrupt cancellation of Independence Day celebrations officially tied to a presidential bilateral meeting and ongoing security operations. Then, on October 18, the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) delivered a firm, unequivocal denial. They labeled the reports "false and misleading," "malicious," and designed to sow tension. The arrests of 16 officers? Routine disciplinary matters for "indiscipline and breaches of service regulations," nothing more. The military reaffirmed absolute loyalty to the Constitution and the Tinubu administration, ending with the resolute declaration: "Democracy is forever." Fast-forward to January 27-29, 2026. Screaming headlines shattered the calm: "Military set to court-...

  By Ishola N. Ayodele Long before sunrise in Lagos (The Commercial nerve centre of Nigeria), sachet water manufacturing plants come alive. Generators hum, machines roar into motion, and production begins in earnest. This is not casual trading; it is organised manufacturing driven by schedules, regulations, labour coordination, and power supply. Survival here is engineered, not improvised. It was into this structured yet pressured environment that a notice arrived from a sachet water manufacturers’ association. Drafted by a lawyer and issued with formal authority , the message was intended to provide operational direction during a sensitive period . Instead, it created widespread confusion. The notice read:       The notice read: Important Notice to Sachet Water Manufacturers Kindly be reminded of our standing policy on the suspension of no sachet water sales every Thursday between 5:00am and 12:00 noon. In addition, due to the current situation within the (Redacte...