In public relations practice, decision-making processes on an issue
and crisis management are always the toughest before any act of
communication can be effectively executed.
Unlike journalism that feasts on bad news, which is what sells, the
tradition of public relations or PR is to engage in ‘damage control’
through effective crisis communication strategies.
The key to successfully navigating a crisis is through preparation
and teamwork, as the communicator needs a fast and carefully crafted
response to minimise damage and prevent reputational erosion.
I was not only alarmed but I have been deeply concerned about some
recent statements by the Presidency, particularly through its
spokespersons, Mr. Femi Adesina and Mallam Garba Shehu, who have both
incidentally served as Presidents of the Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE)
in the recent past.
Some of their reactive statements to issues could essentially be
described as journalistic, for the predilection towards making news
headlines, and these have been quite disturbingly below the standards of
PR, which tend towards demonstrating empathy, employing diplomacy and
forestalling the attrition of relationships, when responding to issues
of deep concern.
The recent statements by the Presidency over what they considered as
the unsavoury comments of Father Ejike Mbaka, alongside the reaction to
allegations of the past extreme views of Dr. Isa Pantami, the Minister
of Communication and Digital Economy, are teachable instances of how not
to engage in public communication. If anything, they can both be said
to have been hasty in their conception and execution, and ultimately
needless.
Dr. Pantami, an Islamic cleric as well as an ICT scholar, was alleged
to have proffered extremist views in the past while describing some
religious extremists as “fellow Muslims,” and praising the leadership of
Al Qaeda in a video. Another report claimed that Dr. Pantami had
chaired a meeting in a North-Eastern state in Nigeria, which had sat to
plan an attack on a Christian governor in the North-West of the country.
While Pantami has come out to blame immaturity, ignorance, and a lack
of exposure to global politics for some of the opinions he expressed
over a decade ago, he has equally expressed regrets for those once-held
views and recanted on them, while denying some other untoward
allegations made about him. In seeming solidarity to his plight, the
Kaduna Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the
Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), among other groups, have
faulted some of the allegations levelled against the Minister.
While some commentators called for his resignation, others have
tempered this by pointing out that Dr. Pantami has rather being at the
receiving end of intolerance for condemning the evil ideology of Boko
Haram leaders, including the founder of the group, Mohammed Yusuf, in a
debate. His criticisms of terrorism had made the commander of Boko
Haram, Abubakar Shekau, to subsequently threaten Dr. Pantami with death
in a series of audio and video recordings that are available on the
Internet.
The otherwise swift response of the Presidency to the allegations
made against the Minister can be faulted as being fairly hasty and
unduly defensive. While one may be uncomfortable with some of Pantami’s
past remarks, and his earlier advice that clerics should shun public
office, it is an undeniable fact that he remains one of the most
focused, result-oriented and charismatic Ministers in the current
dispensation. He is a round peg in a round hole, in terms of
professional competence in the sector he oversees.
The points in the presidential statement released in Pantami’s
defence could have been highlighted by third parties and beneficiaries
of some of the projects he has executed in office. It is without
controversy that within the past two years, Pantami as the Minister in
charge of ICT in the country, has ensured the implementation of digital
projects nationwide, including the creation of ICT Innovation Hubs, the
enabling of the acquisition of digital skills for entrepreneurs and
innovators, alongside the setting up of Community IT Training Centres,
Tertiary Institution Knowledge Centres (TIKC), and School Knowledge
Centres (SKC). Also, the commissioning of more Emergency Communication
Centres (ECC) across Nigeria, the downward review on Right of Way
Charges for improving broadband penetration in states; the mandatory
registration of SIM Cards to ensure these are not used for criminal
activities, etc.
Apart from saving the Federal Government over N22 billion through the
clearance of information technology (IT) projects, as of April, over 51
million Nigerians had been registered for the National Identification
Number (NIN) , with the majority having updated their SIM registration
records. Therefore, it was not surprising that the latest data from the
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that the contribution of the
ICT sector to the Nigerian economy grew by 14.70 per cent in the last
quarter of 2020. It further indicates that it is the fastest-growing
non-oil sector, with double-digit growth within the period under review.
In a similar vein to its problematic release pertaining to Dr.
Pantami, the Presidency’s reaction to Father Ejike Mbaka’s call for the
president to resign over the deteriorating insecurity situation in the
country was needless, unwarranted and unjustifiable.
Therein the Presidency made a strong accusation that Mbaka’s latest
uncomplimentary public commentary was due to his anger at President
Muhammadu Buhari for not awarding him contracts as a reward for his
previous campaigns and support for the president in the elections of
2015 and 2019.
In January 2015, the outspoken Igbo Catholic priest had urged
Nigerians to vote out President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to stem
the tide of insecurity and corruption in the country.
At a greater risk to his life and parishioners, the Spiritual
Director of the Adoration Ministry (AMEN) had endorsed and campaigned
vigorously for Muhammadu Buhari, a Northern Fulani Muslim from the
pulpit, saying that was what would bring the needed change to Nigeria.
The religious leader then said, “I love President Goodluck Jonathan
and I used to be his ardent fan, but I want good for my people and
that’s why I want Nigerians to vote out Goodluck Jonathan and vote
General Muhammad Buhari. I don’t care if Buhari is a Muslim and from the
North; all I care about is that Buhari can save Nigeria.”
Shortly after Buhari’s victory in the election, and on becoming the
Nigerian president, he had commended Father Mbaka for his patriotism in
the run-up to the general elections, saying that the renowned cleric’s
courage had earned him a spot in the sands of time.
In a statement to congratulate Mbaka on the occasion of his 20th
priestly ordination, the president said history would be kind to Father
Mbaka for daring to speak truth to power, even at great personal risk.
Buhari mentioned that Father Mbaka had chosen the path of honesty,
despite realising that this could attract hostility from those he
described as, “leaders detached from reality.”
The president further stated that “the priest’s courageous actions,
while the Peoples Democratic Party was still in power, was clear
evidence that religious leaders are the custodians of truth and morals
in society.”
In addition, the president noted that Fr. Mbaka’s decision to
identify with the masses and uphold the struggle for improved governance
in the country was, no doubt, enviable. In that statement signed and
released on behalf of Mr. Buhari by Garba Shehu, the President was
extremely impressed by the priest’s sincere comments and patriotic
disposition over the state of the nation at the time.
The statement concluded by praying to God to grant Father Mbaka
greater wisdom, good health and long life, as well as the continued
resolve to serve humanity.
I strongly believe that those who stood by us when it really
mattered, especially respectable public figures, do not deserve a
demeaning and disrespectful response, no matter the situation.
A professional and effective communicator should always realise that
even when there are disagreements and contestations of opinion,
particularly on behalf of a public personage like a president, the
communicative endeavour should
be one that sets out on persuading from opposition to a more
agreeable point of view, in the most civil language, and without seeking
to inflame a situation further. PR ought to build up mutually
intelligible relationships, even when this is strained while avoiding
the seedy route of the public fight, in the manner of motor park touts –
the bolekaje and roforofo mode of confrontation – in the name of
political communication.
We should always acknowledge and bear in mind all the well-meant
gestures of those who might have been admirers in the past and also
learn to develop a greater capacity to tolerate criticism, without
muddying up issues by dredging up other sordid narratives.
In all these, while I have noticed that the media is generally more
inclined to celebrate conflict and crisis, they also deliberately – and
rather, unfortunately, censor – other crucial sides of stories that
ought to temper the public drift towards hysteria. On one level, if the
Presidency had released another slew of commendations of Father Mbaka,
very likely this wouldn’t have received the same attention the attack
has received, which offers an eternal insight into the psychology of the
media.
On the other level, while the situation that Dr. Pantami has found
himself in is quite saddening, yet there is the flip side in which there
are dozens of videos and audios of his attacks against religious
extremism and terrorism in the past decade that his newly hatched
critics have wilfully refused to acknowledge. As earlier mentioned,
these had attracted several death threats from Boko Haram, which though
were widely reported in the media in the past, have barely been referred
to in the present assault on him.
While public relations is different from journalism, they equally
have much in common, which should be affirmed, rather than being
negated. In this regard, the professional communicator and journalist
should strive towards emphasising more of what unites us, rather than
focusing on our divisions.
Yushau A. Shuaib is the author of “Award-Winning Crisis Communication Strategies”
