Effective Application of Dialogue and Social Marketing Campaign for Strategic Management of Boko Haram Crisis in North Eastern Nigeria

Abstract

The study investigated effective application of dialogue and social marketing campaign for strategic management Boko Haram crisis in North Eastern Nigeria. Several attempts had failed to result to an everlasting end to the crisis due to misapplication of relevant public relations strategies. The specific objectives were to assess the extent of the relationship between dialogue and resolution of Boko Haram crisis and to investigate the extent of the influence of social marketing campaign on resolution of Boko Haram crisis. The population of the study is 9446 which was drawn from the postgraduate students of University of Nigeria Nsukka. The sample size is 400 using Taro Yamani sample size determination method. For the validity of the instrument, the questionnaire was vetted by research professionals based on face validity in terms of relevance to the subject matter, objective of the study, coverage of the content areas, appropriateness of language usage and clarity of purpose. The value of the test of reliability is 0.881 which was conducted using Cronbach's Alpha. Primary data was adopted for the study. Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient and simple linear regression data analyzing techniques was applied. The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between dialogue and resolution of Boko Haram crisis (r = 0.945, p < 0.05). And secondly, it was also revealed that the influence of social marketing campaign on resolution of Boko Haram crisis is significant ( r = 0.840 ; t = 22.866; F= 522.843 ; p < 0.05).The study recommends that the federal government should secure through a concerted effort a lasting dialogue with the key leaders of the Boko Haram terrorist group. It is more economical than the use of combat that wastes a lot of human, material, and financial resources. And also, that the media through the strategy of social marketing should hammer and bombard the air with messages that will instill good character on the members of the Boko Haram and make them to dump their anti-westernization believe and Jihad.