Nigeria has been engulfed in many crises because it has failed to harness the benefits of Public Relations in governance, the Principal Consultant at NECCI Consulting, Mrs. Nkechi Ali-Balogun has said.
Speaking in Lagos recently to unveil activities lined up for the 16th NECCI Public Relations Roundtable, Ali-Balogun said that the country’s leaders have failed to understand the unique role of PR and that is why even in presidency today, no department for public relations.
“So, when crisis come, that is when they go helter-scatter looking for crises managers. It is so sad, in our country with all the experts in PR, we still go to South Africa to bring PR expert. PR is always tied to the culture of the people, who can manage our crises more than ourselves because we know who we are, our culture aside bearing the brunt and know our needs.”
She disclosed that the roundtable, which has been slated for July 14, 2016 at Fourpoint by Sheraton, would have Patrick Lumumba, a Professor of Law at the University of Nairobi and an Advocate of the High Courts of Kenya and Tanzania, delivering the keynote address, with other discussants dissecting the presentation.
“Our roundtable has grown bigger, better and drawn experts across the country and even beyond Nigeria. It was established because of PR people often do not have time to go for training. It happened in my time, with the CEO making us feel we are so indispensable. Even when you go to do PR training in-house, most of the times, they are never there, whether the MD sent for them or somebody, so they don’t attend courses or have time to attend courses.
“Yet the same people need to know the new trend in the industry. PR is a profession that things are happening everyday, so you have to keep up with trend. It is also a profession that you are jack of all trade and must be master of all. You must know what balance sheet is saying, what emotional intelligence is all about, what is happening in different sector of the economy. So you just have to keep building capacity, otherwise you will not be effective. So, we thought of the fact the only way that this people can meet up with the rapid changes in our environment, especially in terms of economy, behavioral changes, people and lifestyle, is to create a platform that they can come to listen to an expert talk on a topical issue in PR in less than four hours.”
The former Chairman of the Lagos Chapter of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) said that at the end of the roundtable this year, it hopes to come up with a communiqué. “We are looking at supporting PR students in the country. A lot of them do not have opportunity to attend programmes like this and as such their education becomes too theoretical. So attending a forum like this affords them the opportunity to practicalised some of the things they have learnt and meet industry icons to mentor them. We are also looking at providing a scholarship to a student in a tertiary institution.” She said all these are geared towards enhancing the practice of PR in the country.
