TY - JOUR AU - Sunday Olayinka Alawode AU - Uduakobong Sunday PY - 2013/04/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - HOME VIDEO AS NIGERIAN IMAGE MAKER JF - European Scientific Journal, ESJ JA - ESJ VL - 9 IS - 11 SE - Articles DO - 10.19044/esj.2013.v9n11p%p UR - https://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/view/970 AB - The home video is a medium of communication which many individuals, people and organizations can utilize for different purposes, advantages (and disadvantages). It has been recognized as a popular culture which not only mirrorizes and tells stories of the societies which it subsists; the films depict the lifestyles, attitudes, environments and activities within and around them. The films are produced by the people of the milieu who can put forth actual representations and portrayals with defined objectives without bias, exaggerations, misrepresentation and/or underrepresentation. With the view that the Nigerian film industry has grown to become an important phenomenon which has attracted diverse kinds of people and interests as a result of the home video phenomenon, it is expected that the home video can serve as a possible loud speaker for the purpose of projecting the Nigerian image in positive lights just as the advertisers and marketers would. For the purpose of this study, fifty (50) video films televised by television stations in Lagos and Africa Magic (a cable network station) were watched and content analyzed. The study was underpinned within the frameworks of agenda-setting and cultivation theories. The findings of the study reveal that the video makers have undoubtedly done a great deal to portray the traditional settings, cultures and lifestyles, flamboyance and religious persuasions of the Nigerian people. Very little has been done to project the nation’s natural environments, agricultural and mineral resources as well as monumental and historical centers; the nation’s symbols like flags, coat of arms and currencies amongst others are also rarely projected. Negative attitudes like witchcraft, occultism/cultism, ritualism, violence, thuggery and hooliganism, corruption and get-rich-quick tendencies amongst others seem to be overrepresented and exaggerated in the films and could be contributing to the increasing embarrassing actions and attitudes meted to Nigerians (especially honest and decent travelers) outside its shore. This is why the home video makers need to effectively play the role of the nation’s image maker to rebrand and project the nation and its people in better light yet truthfully, pragmatically and affirmatively. ER -