The print media plays a central role in development and transformation of a society. This is usually carried out through its communication process which centres on enormous amounts of information that shapes new values, costumes and ideas of an emerging society. Media is also considered a powerful instrument that influences and often promotes new standards in society. As a vehicle for development communications, print media has the potential to create awareness and motivation for development and change by promoting both individual and communal interests in a society (Forsberg, 2016). The various functions of print media make it an indispensable source of development. For example, print media function as a source of power that influences, controls and promotes new orientation in society (Gisprud, 2012). The print media must however play their role in national development in an environment that is free and independent, with fair ownership spread. It is necessary to define the phrase “national development”, before delving into the discourse so as to understand and appreciate the issues involved in the relationship between print media and national development. According to Oxford dictionary, development is a change process geared at improving or making the life and environment of man better. Development involves the creation of opportunities for the realization of human potentialities as posited by Dudley Sears (2015). It is also a multidimensional exercise that seeks to transform the society by addressing the entire complex interwoven strands, living in pulses which are a part of an organic whole (Haqqani, 2013). Development involves enhanced quality of life, equity and justice, as it takes into consideration the wellbeing, growth and advancement of individuals within the society. Where the print media comes in development process is through what is called “development communication”. This development communication which is consciously packaged by the sender such that the message content or the information sent could persuade, encourage or convince the receiver or target audience to adopt an attitude and participate in actualizing a development plan or goal. The message sent aims at making the target audience adopt a positive attitudinal change towards a development purpose at certain instances. Development communication has been engaged in finding a niche in the efforts to deal with the formidable problems of underdevelopment and marginalisation of millions of people and thousands of communities worldwide through a process of directed social change. Print Media’s role in national development can be analysed from political, economic and social perspectives. In the political sphere, print media’s role can be found in areas of democracy and good governance, political transparency, foreign policy, human rights, war on terrorism, and public relations. In the economic sphere, print media can play their roles in the areas of economic policy and growth, economic empowerment, advertisements and tourism, business and investment, etc. Socially, print media’s role cover social issues like; corruption, criminal violence, communal conflicts, prostitution, war on drugs, population control, education and food security. The Nigeria print media over time and consistently has been on the vanguard of championing the cause for sustainable development in the country. The strategic role of the mass media in achieving national development in any society cannot be downplayed. The value of print media in particular and the mass media in general as development agents has been well documented (Ashong, 2016). The World Bank acknowledges the importance of the utilization of communication in development processes and highlights the impact of communication by the types of outcomes produced, including change in knowledge and attitude, behavioural change, empowerment and capacity building, coalition building and partnership, resource development, etc. (Inagaki, 2017). Incidentally, Nigeria is amply supplied with a variety of mass media, ranging from radio and television to newspapers and magazines of all sorts. In the twenty-first century information-rich society, news sources should be more analytical, proactive, and critical of strategic development efforts that impede or forestall constructive attempts at raising citizens’ consciousness and patriotism beyond tribal sentiments. Consistently, historical and empirical studies of past decades (Obotette, 2014; Faringer, 2011; M’bayo, 2015, The World Bank, 2015) noted that Nigeria’s development problem hinged on the relationship between the nation’s news sources and political system and the ability of the press/news sources to contribute significantly to the bid for sustainable national development. In other words, communication channels, especially the press by virtue of its responsibility and obligation, should be able to set the agenda for political and informed debates to guide the actions of the citizenry, electorate, and stakeholders in general. As echoed in The World Bank’s reports (2009), sustainable democratic governance is critical for the emerging democracies and developing nations of Africa. Nigeria government over time had come up with series of development plans, programmes and policies that would have enlist the country among the top economically developed country in the world. It is worthy to note that the print media threw their weight behind these programmes by making sure that people were acquainted with them. However, despite the massive support of this programmes and policies by the print media, achieving sustainable development in Nigeria is still not very visible. This is pathetic considering the billions of naira usually spent on the execution of government programmes, and yet there is no any tangible evidence of development in the nation. The issue of unemployment is still high, health services are in a deplorable state, the power sector is decaying by the day, the manufacturing sector has totally collapsed and political instability and insecurity is growing worse by the day. In view of these un-ending national problems, this study will attempt to examine the place of the print media in national development in Nigeria. It will also discuss some of the challenges that the print media faces in promoting national development in the country. It is in view of these roles that this study seeks to establish the relationship between the print media and Nigeria national development, focusing on the contributions of print media to the development of the Nigerian economy.The role of the print media is enormous despite the problems facing them in discarding their responsibilities. Print media helps in national development due to its easy reach and penetration to diverse and scattered listening audience, the literacy level notwithstanding. But of all these impact and contributions to the national development of Nigeria, there are still case of poor funding and poor management of the print media to effectively carry out these impacts of national development. The fundamental focus of this study is on the role of the print media in Nigeria’s national development. Over an extended period of time, this issue has been a recurrent debate and a focus of scholarly analyses among researchers across political science and communication disciplines. While discussions and findings regarding print media role have been mixed and inconclusive, recent studies (Mbayo, 2015; The World Bank, 2009; Okoro, 2010; Graber, 2010) characterized the print media in developing nations as ineffective in news dissemination and analysis, and described its relationship with governments as controversial and antagonistic. The nature of the relationship that has been largely instrumental to the heightened misunderstanding and disunity among the diverse ethnic groups in the country, which continues to perpetuate tribal consciousness, engenders political instability, negates and compromises national unity and collectivity. Against the background of this study, the researcher seeks to find out what role the print media play in national development.
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