THE CHALLENGES AND FUTURE OF THE PRESS/MEDIA IN NIGERIA Wogu, Joseph Oluchukwu Abstract Essentially, the Press/Mass Media has being an un-negligible instrument in the organization and development of the society. It is a tool in the hands of elites and government functionaries with which to influence, reorientate, control and guide (he masses, Nigeria as a nation - state is not an exception. However, the complexities associated with the origin, sustenance and administration of the Nigerian state, together with the inherent character of a multiethnic nation have tended to raise many challenges for and the threaten the objective operation of the press/mass media in future. Thus, this paper in explaining these myriads of challenges, observed that multiplicity of languages, ownership of the communication industries, ethnicity, lack of technological skills and manpower together with economic crisis among other factors have hindered and determined the fate of information dissemination in Nigeria. If these problems are uncorrected, the Nigerian ' press/mass media shall degenerate to agencies of mass ^communication in the future. Thus, over-coming these, poses a challenge to the press/media industry both in the present and the future. Therefrom, this paper made some useful suggestions/communications on how to overcome these challenges and safeguard the future. Introduction The press/mass media as observed by Nwosu (1990:iii) in his forward to an edited work perform the following functions in any society: i. Servicing the political system by providing information, discussion and debate on public affairs, ii. Enlightening the public so as to make it capable of self government, iii. Safeguarding the rights of the individual by serving as a watch dog against government, iv. Servicing the economic system, primarily by bringing together the buyers and sellers of goods and services through the medium of advertising, v. Providing entertainment, and vi. Maintaining its own financial self-sufficiency so as to be free from the pressures of special interests, (see also Siebert et al, 1963). The above roles are at variance with the fundamental goals/roles for which the press/mass media was first established in Nigeria. According to Wogu (2002:2), "the state power holders in Nigeria established different communication industries in the early days of colonialism both as sources of fund, and instrument for propagating the Western ideology and as an instrument to safeguard the status quo". From this, we extrapolate two important phenomena that have tended to reproduce myriads of problems and or challenges to the communication systems in Nigeria. First, ownership of the press/media outfits determines and affects their roles and responsibilities in the society (Sobowale, 1977; Almaney, 1972 and Ugboaja, 1971). Thus, in Nigeria, it has been used as a tool in the hands of the proprietors for the pursuit of personal, group and ethnic interests. Secondly, the colonial origin of the Nigerian Pres/Mass Media has made it a servant of neo-colonialism who suffers from its consequences such as socio-political and economic crisis, and dependency. The forceful amalgamation of over 250 ethnic nationalities in Nigeria by the colonial power has also created the problem of language barrier and ethnic sentiments in the communication industry. These have re-directed the press/mass media away from its objective role, deter its objective development and threaten the future of the press/mass media in Nigeria. Consequently, this paper has as its central focus, the expositions of these problems, and inherent challenges with a view to recommend appropriately for positive development of the press/mass media in Nigeria. This shall safeguard, reform and develop the Nigerian media network for the future.