When Institutions Walk Out on Democracy’s DialogueWalkout

While speaking on radio about my Democracy Communication Project, I explained that when an institution like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) walks out on the National Assembly over a participatory communication demand for accountability, it is not merely an administrative drama—it is a communication crisis.
Such an act exposes a deeper fracture in the relationship between Nigeria’s institutions and the people they are meant to serve. When a public agency refuses to engage the legislature in open and participatory communication, it is not just resisting oversight—it is rejecting the communicative foundation of democracy itself.
Accountability, at its core, is a process of public communication. It is how institutions explain, justify, and open their actions to scrutiny. To refuse that conversation is to abandon the very language of democracy.
From the lens of Democracy Communication, this episode illustrates how silence, avoidance, and bureaucratic arrogance can become tools of resistance against participatory governance. Communication in democracy is not limited to press statements or social media updates; it is expressed through transparency, responsiveness, and dialogue.
When institutions walk out on oversight, they walk out on democracy’s dialogue. They silence citizens’ right to know. And in doing so, they turn the democratic space from a conversation into an echo chamber.
“When accountability becomes inconvenient, communication becomes the first casualty.”
For context, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is Nigeria’s official agency responsible for conducting entrance examinations into tertiary institutions. More information about the agency can be found on its official website: www.jamb.gov.ng.