GUEST COLUMNIST
Courtesy of Nigerian Tribune
Dr. Sunday O. Ajai, MD/CEO, SOA Communication Bureau, Lagos
ONE of the Ex-governors indicted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) granted an interview to a group of journalists, claiming during the press session that the money he was accused of stealing would be invested in the state. He. sees nothing wrong in amassing the wealth that belongs to the masses of his state as his own personal wealth as the Chief Servant of the people. The irony of the whole episode is that the people were hailing him for stealing their money. It is true, ignorant is a deadly disease.
A few years ago, the rector of one of the leading institutions of higher learning in Nigeria, admitted unqualified students to the institution; when questioned by a member of the panel set-up by the Federal Government to probe his activities why he did such a thing, he replied that he did it for public relations.
Public relations in Nigeria is a child of many parents. The attitudes of these various parents bastardised the instinct of the child and the child has lost his bearing.
As public relations is a part of the marketing mix, and gifts service is a bonafide of public relations, it appears that, that is the only aspect interested to other members of the mix. An average sales man would always tell you that he has to do PR to boost his sales.
Cancer of moral corruption has eaten its way slowly into the vitals of Nigerian society. Not a man escapes entirely. Truly, Nigeria is in a lost condition. Unless everybody in the nation becomes discreet and socially responsible in his civic conduct, efforts to restore buoyancy to the economy may be in vain. Only our collective change of attitudes can facilitate the much desired socio-economic regeneration.
Dewey believes that man in the course of solving his problems and mastering his environment, acquires intelligence, which, to him, is simply another name for the habit of using one’s mind effectively with forethought and resourcefulness.
He identified this process of growth with education and sees it as a process of continuous interaction between an individual and his environment going on throughout life and not to be thought of simply in terms of formal schooling. Education, thus, is a fostering, a nurturing and a cultivating process.
Public relations is a divine spiritual science. This spirituality has a long way to go before being fully accepted, thus, giving our enterprises the fourth dimension which they require. According to the Institute of Public Relations of Belgium, “The crises of our contemporary civilization is due to the fact that humanity’s technical progress is not counter - balance by moral progress”.
In the United States of America, Public Relations practitioners are regarded as social engineers; making practical applications to human relation’s problems the principles evolved by the social scientists, particularly in the areas of communication, attitudes, group dynamism and leadership.
I personally see public relations as a divine spiritual science. The spirituality of the profession has been my main principle since the past 40 years.
Public Relations was a divine creation and pronouncement by God in about1250BC at the beginning of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Aaron (Harun), a Levite was the first Public Relations Officer (PRO) appointed by the Universal God. That is why Public Relations is a spiritual science. But with ages and the activities of the people like Pope Urban viii, who set up the congregation of propaganda in 1622 AD, the true nature and origin of Public Relations was lost.
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, once identified absence of God in the people’s heart as the root cause of the nation’s problems. He said, “To survive as a nation, God must be restored as the soul of the nation”. He stressed that there was an urgent need for a concerted effort between the family, the religious groups and the state to enable the nation to move forward.
He pointed out that our nation could not succeed without being rooted in God, and planning together for a productive future.
Cardinal Okogie emphasized the need for new orientation and re-direction to give a new hope for the future, adding that necessity called for the removal of various injustices in our society.
He condemned moral bankruptcy in the society and the lack of concern, by the leadership. He lamented that a good number of those in the corridors of power shed crocodile tears over the level of our social bankruptcy as a nation but that they were not ready to take the bull by the horns and right the wrong.
The true nature of public relations demands flawless morality from the practitioner. That means, he/she must be on good terms with his fellow men and environment, must be honest, sincere, truthful, just and kind. He must He must be proud to associated dealings. He must never live off others, if he is able to work faithfully within the laws of his nation.
The inner preparation simply must be made. If a public relations practitioner is not prepared in his heart, he needs not come into the Public Relations profession. That every practitioner must duly and truly be prepared, worthy and well qualified are primary facts of the true nature of Public Relations.
The International Code of Ethics for Public Relations states that each member shall endeavour to contribute to the achievement of the moral and cultural conditions enabling human beings to reach their full stature of which they are entitled under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another clause in the code of Athens says that each member shall undertake to observe in the course of his professional duties, the moral principles and rules of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Clause four of the Code of Athens emphasises that every member shall endeavour to bear in mind that because of the relationship between his profession and the public, his conduct, even in private will have an impact on the way in which the profession as a whole is appraised.
Clause seven wants a public relations practitioner to establish the moral, psychological and intellectual conditions for dialogue in its true sense, and to recognise the right of the parties involved to state their cases and express their views.
In clause ten, members are warned to refrain from subordinating the truth to other requirements.
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) approved her own code of ethics at an Extra Ordinary General Meeting held at the Bristol Hotel, Lagos, on Friday, January 30, 1981.
Clause one says that every member of the institute, shall respect the moral principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the freedom entrenched in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the performance of his/her duties.
Another important clause is clause five, which says that every member shall put truth and honesty of purpose before all other considerations.
Public relations philosophy emphasises a two-way communication. The implementation of this two-way communication is the responsibility of the public relations practitioner.
Never before has this task been as challenging as it is today. We must be constantly alert to the pressure of change in today’s climate of high technology, increasing social and economic conflicts, and constant shifts in public opinion. As a consequence of development in communication technology, the public is more enlightened. There are more audiences to cope with, demanding less propaganda and more dialogue. In general, people are more anxious, more concerned and always want to be on the alert.
It is apparent, therefore, that the major factor to be borne in mind is that change is now something that can happen almost overnight and is no longer a slow trend from one generation to the next.
The true nature of public relations enjoins every practitioner to lead a simple, straight forward life and become a noble example to all others. He must be modest in mind and in his professional practice. A genuine morality, a well ordered life, is taken for granted as the primary consideration and foundation upon which the true nature of public relations practice was founded by God. Therefore, a public relations practitioner must think deeply too. He must carefulIy discriminate between that which is good and that which is less good, between the true and the false, the useful and the useless. A well establish morality was the foundation upon which the true nature of public relations was built.
Public relations practitioners need to take note of another aspect of contemporary life. It has been said, “To sin by silence makes cowards of men”. How long then, can one remain in silence and mute witness to the gradual disintegration of the once strong and powerful higher institutions of learning in Nigeria turned devil’s workshop? In a society like Nigeria, there is obviously a crying need for the practitioners with visceral sensations, intuitive power of perception of erudition and understanding with responsive conduct and with the technical ability to develop mechanisms of conciliation and compromise.
In the recent past, there had been out cries concerning the dwindling relevance of our higher educational institutions. Many Nigerians are fast losing hope on our institutions of learning as variable sources of intellectual advancement. How disciplined are the students that are trained in our higher institutions? Moral decadence had spilled over from higher institutions to secondary schools.
Public relations as a moral moulding professional and as a key stakeholder in the development of this nation has a lot to contribute to moral rejuvenation in our higher institutions. All the institutions of higher learning, may it be a university, a polytechnic, Federal or State owned are bedeviled by similar problems of cultism and moral decadence. There is the need for this group of public relations practitioners to come together at least once a year to share experiences and refocus their perception to see themselves as not only image builders, but also as a moral moulders in the academic envi ronment.
As I see it, particularly in the case of public relations practice in higher institutions in Nigeria, we need to take a continuous and critical look at what would make for more effective communication.
In order to achieve our mission as “bridge builders”, a worthy practitioner should always be credible. The authorities, our management, the media and the general. public must have confidence in our professionalism and standard of ethical behaviour.
By professionalism, I mean not only that public relations practitioners should know his job, but, that he is familiar with all aspects of the organisation he works for, that he knows its external environment, that he acts strictly and faithfully according to the professional ethics.
To be a true public relations professional means to’ inspire confidence and be respected by the management and the public and to be recognised as such inside and outside the profession as a person of truth and integrity who can be trusted. The true nature of public relations thus, demands courage in certain sensitive situations, that is, courage to refuse offers, sometimes very attractive especially, in financial terms, from groups of individuals whose activities impinge dignity and integrity. Courage to fight within the organisation in which one is employed to ensure that the democratic ideal prevails over the sometimes selfish and surely material interests of certain chief executive officers.
The true nature of public relations enjoins every practitioner to have an important role to play through his management functions as a mediator or an image builder. He should help, to modify the behaviour of people by helping them to know and understand each other better. As consultants to governments, companies, corporations, parastatals and non - profit making organisations, public relations practitioners are in a better position to stimulate the flow of knowledge world wide.
By evaluation and interpreting the opinion and aspirations of foreign publics, they help to overcome the difference of cultures, traditions, custom, mentalities, religions, political and social environments.
Public relations professional fosters great mutual understanding through dialogue and consensus, while respecting fundamental freedoms and avoiding any desire to dominate. It works for a harmonious co-existence between people, groups and nations.
Public relations practice contributes to peace and stability which are the pre-requisites for economic prosperity and social development. Everyday media, especially television brings us the bad news in the form of shock figures and dramatic statistics and by spreading distrust and fear among the public. Just think of the Middle East crises, Bosnia Herzegovina, Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia yesterday and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, in which over 6,000 people perished. Some people responded to these with cynicism, others with fatalism, while in many cases, public opinions remain silent, apathetic or indifference to tragedies that strike the most vulnerable among us.
Just think of Niger Delta back home here in Nigeria. The crisis started like a child’s play in the late 1960s with Isaac Boroh and gradually built up to Saro Ken Wiwa and has now snowballed to a thorny issue for the government to crack. It is a sign of bad leadership. I honestly feel Nigeria truIy needs moral renaissance.
The restoration of confidence, especially that of young Nigerians facing extremely uncertain future is one of the greatest challenges that must be given priority by the present democratic dispensation. No remedy for the greatest problem of our time can produce results unless there is a minimum of confidence and trust between the leaders and the electorates in our nation.
According to the Frenchman, Lucien Matrat, “Public relations is the strategy of confidence”. With this definition, the true nature of public relations is quite a challenging one.
In conclusion, I have propounded a thesis that public relations is a divine spiritual science created by the universal God in about 1250 BC. I also theorised that an Israelite, Aaron (Harun) was the first public relations Practitioner in the world appointed by God for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. I am saying that public relations practitioners should see themselves as Prophets, Imams, Archbishops, Senior Apostles, Deacons and Deaconesses and, above all, Social Engineers of our time, who are the shepherds of the flocks of our nation’s industries and institution.
A few years ago, the rector of one of the leading institutions of higher learning in Nigeria, admitted unqualified students to the institution; when questioned by a member of the panel set-up by the Federal Government to probe his activities why he did such a thing, he replied that he did it for public relations.
Public relations in Nigeria is a child of many parents. The attitudes of these various parents bastardised the instinct of the child and the child has lost his bearing.
As public relations is a part of the marketing mix, and gifts service is a bonafide of public relations, it appears that, that is the only aspect interested to other members of the mix. An average sales man would always tell you that he has to do PR to boost his sales.
Cancer of moral corruption has eaten its way slowly into the vitals of Nigerian society. Not a man escapes entirely. Truly, Nigeria is in a lost condition. Unless everybody in the nation becomes discreet and socially responsible in his civic conduct, efforts to restore buoyancy to the economy may be in vain. Only our collective change of attitudes can facilitate the much desired socio-economic regeneration.
Dewey believes that man in the course of solving his problems and mastering his environment, acquires intelligence, which, to him, is simply another name for the habit of using one’s mind effectively with forethought and resourcefulness.
He identified this process of growth with education and sees it as a process of continuous interaction between an individual and his environment going on throughout life and not to be thought of simply in terms of formal schooling. Education, thus, is a fostering, a nurturing and a cultivating process.
Public relations is a divine spiritual science. This spirituality has a long way to go before being fully accepted, thus, giving our enterprises the fourth dimension which they require. According to the Institute of Public Relations of Belgium, “The crises of our contemporary civilization is due to the fact that humanity’s technical progress is not counter - balance by moral progress”.
In the United States of America, Public Relations practitioners are regarded as social engineers; making practical applications to human relation’s problems the principles evolved by the social scientists, particularly in the areas of communication, attitudes, group dynamism and leadership.
I personally see public relations as a divine spiritual science. The spirituality of the profession has been my main principle since the past 40 years.
Public Relations was a divine creation and pronouncement by God in about1250BC at the beginning of the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Aaron (Harun), a Levite was the first Public Relations Officer (PRO) appointed by the Universal God. That is why Public Relations is a spiritual science. But with ages and the activities of the people like Pope Urban viii, who set up the congregation of propaganda in 1622 AD, the true nature and origin of Public Relations was lost.
The Catholic Archbishop of Lagos, Cardinal Olubunmi Okogie, once identified absence of God in the people’s heart as the root cause of the nation’s problems. He said, “To survive as a nation, God must be restored as the soul of the nation”. He stressed that there was an urgent need for a concerted effort between the family, the religious groups and the state to enable the nation to move forward.
He pointed out that our nation could not succeed without being rooted in God, and planning together for a productive future.
Cardinal Okogie emphasized the need for new orientation and re-direction to give a new hope for the future, adding that necessity called for the removal of various injustices in our society.
He condemned moral bankruptcy in the society and the lack of concern, by the leadership. He lamented that a good number of those in the corridors of power shed crocodile tears over the level of our social bankruptcy as a nation but that they were not ready to take the bull by the horns and right the wrong.
The true nature of public relations demands flawless morality from the practitioner. That means, he/she must be on good terms with his fellow men and environment, must be honest, sincere, truthful, just and kind. He must He must be proud to associated dealings. He must never live off others, if he is able to work faithfully within the laws of his nation.
The inner preparation simply must be made. If a public relations practitioner is not prepared in his heart, he needs not come into the Public Relations profession. That every practitioner must duly and truly be prepared, worthy and well qualified are primary facts of the true nature of Public Relations.
The International Code of Ethics for Public Relations states that each member shall endeavour to contribute to the achievement of the moral and cultural conditions enabling human beings to reach their full stature of which they are entitled under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Another clause in the code of Athens says that each member shall undertake to observe in the course of his professional duties, the moral principles and rules of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Clause four of the Code of Athens emphasises that every member shall endeavour to bear in mind that because of the relationship between his profession and the public, his conduct, even in private will have an impact on the way in which the profession as a whole is appraised.
Clause seven wants a public relations practitioner to establish the moral, psychological and intellectual conditions for dialogue in its true sense, and to recognise the right of the parties involved to state their cases and express their views.
In clause ten, members are warned to refrain from subordinating the truth to other requirements.
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) approved her own code of ethics at an Extra Ordinary General Meeting held at the Bristol Hotel, Lagos, on Friday, January 30, 1981.
Clause one says that every member of the institute, shall respect the moral principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the freedom entrenched in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the performance of his/her duties.
Another important clause is clause five, which says that every member shall put truth and honesty of purpose before all other considerations.
Public relations philosophy emphasises a two-way communication. The implementation of this two-way communication is the responsibility of the public relations practitioner.
Never before has this task been as challenging as it is today. We must be constantly alert to the pressure of change in today’s climate of high technology, increasing social and economic conflicts, and constant shifts in public opinion. As a consequence of development in communication technology, the public is more enlightened. There are more audiences to cope with, demanding less propaganda and more dialogue. In general, people are more anxious, more concerned and always want to be on the alert.
It is apparent, therefore, that the major factor to be borne in mind is that change is now something that can happen almost overnight and is no longer a slow trend from one generation to the next.
The true nature of public relations enjoins every practitioner to lead a simple, straight forward life and become a noble example to all others. He must be modest in mind and in his professional practice. A genuine morality, a well ordered life, is taken for granted as the primary consideration and foundation upon which the true nature of public relations practice was founded by God. Therefore, a public relations practitioner must think deeply too. He must carefulIy discriminate between that which is good and that which is less good, between the true and the false, the useful and the useless. A well establish morality was the foundation upon which the true nature of public relations was built.
Public relations practitioners need to take note of another aspect of contemporary life. It has been said, “To sin by silence makes cowards of men”. How long then, can one remain in silence and mute witness to the gradual disintegration of the once strong and powerful higher institutions of learning in Nigeria turned devil’s workshop? In a society like Nigeria, there is obviously a crying need for the practitioners with visceral sensations, intuitive power of perception of erudition and understanding with responsive conduct and with the technical ability to develop mechanisms of conciliation and compromise.
In the recent past, there had been out cries concerning the dwindling relevance of our higher educational institutions. Many Nigerians are fast losing hope on our institutions of learning as variable sources of intellectual advancement. How disciplined are the students that are trained in our higher institutions? Moral decadence had spilled over from higher institutions to secondary schools.
Public relations as a moral moulding professional and as a key stakeholder in the development of this nation has a lot to contribute to moral rejuvenation in our higher institutions. All the institutions of higher learning, may it be a university, a polytechnic, Federal or State owned are bedeviled by similar problems of cultism and moral decadence. There is the need for this group of public relations practitioners to come together at least once a year to share experiences and refocus their perception to see themselves as not only image builders, but also as a moral moulders in the academic envi ronment.
As I see it, particularly in the case of public relations practice in higher institutions in Nigeria, we need to take a continuous and critical look at what would make for more effective communication.
In order to achieve our mission as “bridge builders”, a worthy practitioner should always be credible. The authorities, our management, the media and the general. public must have confidence in our professionalism and standard of ethical behaviour.
By professionalism, I mean not only that public relations practitioners should know his job, but, that he is familiar with all aspects of the organisation he works for, that he knows its external environment, that he acts strictly and faithfully according to the professional ethics.
To be a true public relations professional means to’ inspire confidence and be respected by the management and the public and to be recognised as such inside and outside the profession as a person of truth and integrity who can be trusted. The true nature of public relations thus, demands courage in certain sensitive situations, that is, courage to refuse offers, sometimes very attractive especially, in financial terms, from groups of individuals whose activities impinge dignity and integrity. Courage to fight within the organisation in which one is employed to ensure that the democratic ideal prevails over the sometimes selfish and surely material interests of certain chief executive officers.
The true nature of public relations enjoins every practitioner to have an important role to play through his management functions as a mediator or an image builder. He should help, to modify the behaviour of people by helping them to know and understand each other better. As consultants to governments, companies, corporations, parastatals and non - profit making organisations, public relations practitioners are in a better position to stimulate the flow of knowledge world wide.
By evaluation and interpreting the opinion and aspirations of foreign publics, they help to overcome the difference of cultures, traditions, custom, mentalities, religions, political and social environments.
Public relations professional fosters great mutual understanding through dialogue and consensus, while respecting fundamental freedoms and avoiding any desire to dominate. It works for a harmonious co-existence between people, groups and nations.
Public relations practice contributes to peace and stability which are the pre-requisites for economic prosperity and social development. Everyday media, especially television brings us the bad news in the form of shock figures and dramatic statistics and by spreading distrust and fear among the public. Just think of the Middle East crises, Bosnia Herzegovina, Burundi, Rwanda, Angola, Algeria, Sierra Leone and Liberia yesterday and the September 11 attacks on New York and Washington, in which over 6,000 people perished. Some people responded to these with cynicism, others with fatalism, while in many cases, public opinions remain silent, apathetic or indifference to tragedies that strike the most vulnerable among us.
Just think of Niger Delta back home here in Nigeria. The crisis started like a child’s play in the late 1960s with Isaac Boroh and gradually built up to Saro Ken Wiwa and has now snowballed to a thorny issue for the government to crack. It is a sign of bad leadership. I honestly feel Nigeria truIy needs moral renaissance.
The restoration of confidence, especially that of young Nigerians facing extremely uncertain future is one of the greatest challenges that must be given priority by the present democratic dispensation. No remedy for the greatest problem of our time can produce results unless there is a minimum of confidence and trust between the leaders and the electorates in our nation.
According to the Frenchman, Lucien Matrat, “Public relations is the strategy of confidence”. With this definition, the true nature of public relations is quite a challenging one.
In conclusion, I have propounded a thesis that public relations is a divine spiritual science created by the universal God in about 1250 BC. I also theorised that an Israelite, Aaron (Harun) was the first public relations Practitioner in the world appointed by God for Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. I am saying that public relations practitioners should see themselves as Prophets, Imams, Archbishops, Senior Apostles, Deacons and Deaconesses and, above all, Social Engineers of our time, who are the shepherds of the flocks of our nation’s industries and institution.
Hope your perception of the PR profession has been updated and changed. Thanks for going thru the piece. -Sambo, Sumner Shagari
