VISUAL COMMUNICATION, PROPAGANDA AND NIGERIAN POLITICAL ADVERTS

Abstract

The growing reliance on visual communication in Nigerian political advertising has transformed electoral campaigns into powerful spots of persuasion and ideological propagation. However, scholarly discourse has largely emphasized campaign rhetoric, with narrow attention given to the visual strategies through which persuasion and propaganda are fashioned and disseminated. This study addresses this gap by examining the relationship between visual communication, propaganda, and Nigerian political adverts, with particular emphasis on how visual elements shape political perception and their implied interpretation. The paper is anchored in Erwin Panofsky's Iconological Theory, which provides a framework for interpreting the symbolic, cultural, and ideological meanings entrenched in political advertisements. A qualitative research approach was adopted, employing purposive sampling of selected political adverts in Nigeria's contemporary democratic elections. Data were analyzed using iconographic and interpretive visual analysis to examine recurring tropes, colour symbolism, imagery, typography, and compositional techniques. Findings
reveal that Nigerian political adverts strategically deploy culturally familiar symbols, national colours, iconic imagery, and emotional visual narratives as persuasive tools, and perhaps employing propaganda devices that construct political identities and reinforce ideological messages that may shape public opinion. The study further demonstrates that visual components frequently exert greater
persuasive influence than textual content, making them central to contemporary political communication. It concludes that a critical understanding of visual tropes in advertising is essential for strengthening media literacy, promoting informed electoral participation, and advancing scholarship on political visual culture in Nigeria.