Experts Identify Lapses in FG’s Communications Approach to Governance

Raheem Akingbolu

As Nigeria and Nigerians count their losses in the aftermath of the ongoing hunger protest, top communications experts and fellows of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), including the former President, of African Public Relations Association (APRA), Yomi Badejo-Okusanya and  the former Head of Corporate Affairs of the defunct Skye Bank Plc, Kayode Akinyemi, have faulted the federal government’s approach to communication matter and called for more strategic and purpose-driven mechanism in passing its message across to members of the public.

Speaking on The Morning Show, an ARISE Television current affairs programme, which was monitored by THISDAY, at the peak of the protest, Badejo-Okusanya argued that successive administrations in Nigeria have, over the years, failed to see communication as a key component of governance.

According to him, communication is a deliberate action that people in government should work at, rather than stumbling on it. While tracing the current crisis to May 2023 when the Tinubu administration removed subsidy on fuel and merged the multiple rates for the naira against the dollar into a single rate, the expert stated that the communication plan ought to have been put in place immediately instead of adopting a reactionary approach.

Badejo-Okusanya said: “Looking at the circumstances that surrounded the subsidy removal, it’s difficult to blame the President but the communication approach was poor. Shortly after the removal, my firm carried out a survey on the action and most respondent agreed that government meant well but unfortunately there was no intentional plan to communicate the issues around the removal.”

Though Badejo-Okusanya admitted that prior to the protest, the government engaged a few stakeholders, including the traditional rulers, he observed that the effort didn’t resonate with the masses because it was reactionary at a time the atmosphere was already tense. 

“Leadership is about moving people forward, leadership is about giving people direction, leadership is about pointing to where people are going and communication is a key component in all these. Unfortunately, a lot of people are missing this part; they assume that when you are speaking or looking into the camera, you are communicating. Yes, they want to communicate about the government and about governance but they are not strategic. Communication should be deliberate, it should be intentional and it must be built over a period of time and it must be from layer to layer.

“Yes, we see many government’s spokesmen coming on radio and television and even in the newspapers but in most cases it is like a cacophony of voices but not resonating. The question we should ask ourselves is what is reputation? Reputation is what people think about you, what they feel your character is. In all these, trust is key and when there is trust deficit, there is nothing one can do. In Nigeria, there is a trust deficit that has existed for a long period. So, what does trust deficit bring about; a right ownership. For instance, as people were planning to go on protest, the government made an attempt to avert it but it didn’t work because people didn’t find ownership in the whole process,” Badejo-Okusanya said.

Speaking on the ‘Renewed Hope’ mantra of the current administration, the former APRA President, described hope as intangible but pointed out that it could be made tangible with effective communication. On the way forward, he urged governments at all levels to always recruit communications experts to manage their communication and not quacks, who are not trained in the art of communication.   

For Akinyemi, to avert such a crisis in governance, there is a need for the government to have a crisis communication plan in place as soon as they assume office.

He said: “Crisis is not what we plan for, but it is inevitable in the life of a government or/and organisation. A proactive entity should invest and have a well-articulated crisis communications plan in place. Perhaps, if the current administration has this in place, it probably would have envisaged the event of the fuel subsidy removal and the likely public pains and outcry that will follow.    

“The core issue lies in the communication strategy. While the government has initiated numerous populist and pro-people projects—such as cash transfers to the poor, loans to SMEs and large corporations, a student loan scheme, agricultural programs for the youth, and road projects—these initiatives are poorly communicated to the public. The various information units within government ministries, departments and agencies are not effectively publicizing these efforts.”

Akinyemi also supported Badejo-Okunsanya’s position that the government  must always endeavour to recruit experts who are versed in strategic communications strategy and can come up with sustainable programmes to achieve an understanding between the government and its various stakeholders.