1. DILEMMA OF PUBLIC RELATIONS CONSULTANCY IN NIGERIA
Introduction
The PR Academy, today, will be a remarkable departure from the familiar. Unusual because I
have decided to ply my trade in a rather different manner from paths earlier trodden since we
first began. As an „intern‟, I have made an inviolable commitment that I will not withhold my
skill as an academic for the mutual benefit of an organisation that has been so generous
enough to throw its doors wide open for me as a protégé. My letter of application dated 11
July, 2013 attests to this allegiance. It reads in part: "As a scholar and researcher, I shall bring
to the table my academic skills and theoretical insights to drive the systems and processes of
the organization." Gentle men and ladies, I am more obligated in more ways than one to see
to the realisation of this objective.
The thoughts I want to share with you today is, designed with all intents and purposes,
primarily to stir up a conversation, or possibly lend my voice to one, provided it is ongoing,
on the need to refine and redefine the realism of our profession within the existing socio-
political dynamics of the Nigerian state.
As an academic who deploys his craft through theory-driven research, I have come to
appreciate the world and its fundamental operations through the lens of social scientific
theoretical frameworks. So, in engaging this topic, my arguments and my conclusion, which
may not necessarily align with your points of view, are hinged on some sound conjectures.
After all, theories provide us with the parameters for making sense out of the chaotic
configurations of the world. It is against this background that Laszlo (1977) validly argues in
favour this position when he says that:
If you want to change the world, or at least make sure that it doesn‟t
head blindly to its own destruction, you have to understand the nature
of the world. And if you want to understand it, you have to interpret
what you experience and know of it through some intelligible
hypothesis. Unless you have privileged access to ultimate reality
through intuition or illumination, you must choose an empirical
concept for your understanding—one that is based on how human
beings interact with the world around them (pp. v-vi).
Having been guided by the underlying principle of Laszlo‟s (1977) submissions which was
quoted above, this presentation, aptly entitled “The Dilemma of Public Relations Consultancy
in Nigeria” emerged from a conversation I had with Mr Femi Olaleye, which was equally a
„matter arising‟ from the questions and answer session of the previous interaction at the
Academy. Mr Olaleye‟s genuine concerns about the misperception of the profession and its
attendant stifling operational environment indeed provided the motivation for this paper. And
with the kind permission of the MD, I got the approval to share my thoughts on this topic.
Before then, I was privy to some under-the-table manoeuvres by a certain „disgruntled‟
individual who for reasons best known to him had embarked on a campaign of calumny
against the agency on the free-for-all-social media platform. While I am not under any illusion

2. or pretence to have the answer to this seeming contentious situation, on the contrary, I hope
my intervention will provide the required impetus for concerned stakeholders to begin to
address the issue headlong.
The Reality of PR practice
Public relations is a victim of its own evolution. In other words, the metamorphosis of the
profession through its four stages of development namely, Press Agentry (Publicity Era-
1800s), Public Information Model (Information Era-Early 1900s), Two-Way Assymetry
(Advocacy Era-Mid 1900s) and Two-Way Symmetry (Relationship Era-Late 1900s) may be
attributed to the continued misperception of what PR really is or attempts to pursue as a goal.
Thus, a critical understanding of the historical development of the profession is crucial for an
appreciation of the seeming crisis of identity that PR persistently suffers. It is observable that
PR started as a form of propaganda but over the years, through refining, has come to be seen
as relationship management-oriented. Although Grunig and Hunt (1984) emphasise that the
ideal form of PR practice is the Two-Way Symmetry model, Moloney (1997) argues to the
contrary that the “popular perception of public relations is one of opprobrium.” Perhaps it is
in line with this controversy that some have argued that the line of difference between PR and
propaganda is indistinct. Based on this assumption, they say “PR is a dozen and propaganda
is twelve.” (See Table 1)
Accordingly, a disputation on the desirability of a name change in order to salvage the poor
reputation of the profession engaged the attention PR professionals and academics in the
quest to salvage it. For instance, Jon Aarons, Head of Issues Management, Financial
Dynamics who argues for a name change says:
PR people have been suffering from an identity crisis for as long as I
can remember. In a sense it doesn‟t matter what we call our industry,
what matters is that we keep improving the quality of the experience
that others have of it. There‟s no denying that standards vary and that
sections of the media have eagerly promoted misconceptions of both
„public‟ and „relations‟. We have always described ourselves as
communications experts, but personally I prefer reputation
management because I think it more accurately describes the multi-
faceted expertise which most of us offer today.
On the contrary, the advocates of the profession not changing name are of the opinion that it
is an exercise that would end in futility. According to one them, “to abandon the term „public
relations‟ and replace it with some other term would lay the industry open to accusation of
attempting to pass it off as some other less openly criticised activity. We would be guilty of
not standing up for the profession we practise and teach” (Danny Moss, Manchester
Metropolitan University).
I doubt if any of the other components of the marketing communication mix is ever inundated
with such fait accompli that PR repeatedly experiences. But in our own case, we persistently

3. try to offer explanations on the peculiarities of PR in relation to related disciplines such as
advertising, marketing, propaganda, human relations and publicity. For avoidance of doubt,
you may pick up any PR text in order to confirm or refute this claim. Nevertheless, an
example from Adegoke‟s (2001, pp. 12-13) differentiation between PR and Advertising will
suffice:
Table 2: Differences between Public Relations and Advertising
Public Relations Advertising
1. It is a management function It is a marketing function
2. It uses both mass media and narrow
cast media: play-backs on video
cassette recorder, private cinema
Uses the mass media and machine assisted
communication
3. Involves interpersonal two-way
communication most often
Involves interpersonal communication but
seldom
4. Its messages usually appear in form
of news items, editorials, features
and thus does not pay for the space
and time allotted to it
It is usually sponsored and consequently
paid for, e.g. spotlight on an establishment,
an advertorial, or corporate advertising
which is a tool of public relations
5. It softens the ground for advertising It is employed to enhance public relations
programme, especially when it is corporate
advertising
6. It sells goodwill of a corporate body
by cultivating favourable public
opinion
It sells goods and services
7. It can design programmes to restore
favourable public opinion if a
circumstance creates a distorted
image of a country
It cannot restore a battered image arising
from the detection of defects in goods
advertised
8. It places emphasis on the thoughts
and feelings of a company‟s publics
It places emphasis on how to ensure that the
goods and services of a company are sold
By and large, the point that is being stressed here is that given the in-exactitude of the nature
and character of PR, it has been difficult for the profession to be accorded its rightful place in
the marketing communication mix. While many organisations recognise the invaluable role
of public relations as a value-addition, their commitment to its unfettered operation shows
otherwise. In the course of analysing the hypocritical stance of some clients to honour with
reverence the counsel being offered by agencies, Mr Olaleye in his uncommon wisdom used
the analogy of a patient-doctor relationship to draw a parallel with that of PR agency and its
client. According to him, no patient queries the competence of a physician. But this is not the
case with our profession, where clients assume the posture of Mr-Know-it-all. I cannot but
wonder why some of them hired an agency in the first place.
Best Practice and Normative Reality: The Delicate Balance
In addressing the dilemma that agencies face, I have decided to focus among others, on two:
managing client‟s expectation and handling the media. I am not unmindful of the debilitating
consequences of the nation‟s socio-political climate. As important as it is in defining the
success of our activities, particularly the bottomline, however I am of the opinion that it is a

4. factor that is beyond our immediate intervention. It is for this singular reason that it is not
within the scope of my engagement.
Meeting Client’s Expectation: In executing its functions, agencies are under intense and
excruciating pressure to meet and possibly surpass clients' expectations. Often, this comes at
a huge sacrifice to the agency but mostly unknown to clients. As a matter of fact, some of
them cannot be bothered about going beyond the call of duty to get their briefs executed--
they are only interested in deliverables. It is unlikely that they impose such tall orders on the
clients to ensure that they get mentions in all „Tier A‟ media. And such demands are made
with such fiats as though agencies own and run media.
Interestingly, those in the league of 'barking out' orders at agencies claim to be best practice
companies that do not operate under the table. Some of these companies operate oblivious of
local realities. But a fact that must be faced, although very difficult, is that successful
companies benchmark their operations against global best practices, however, with local
flavour. The integration of global with local realities has been referred to as glocalisation. Am
I advocating that companies jettison what is right and adopt condemnable habits under the
guise of „localisation‟? Certainly not! Rather my argument is that subscribing to the notion of
“best practice” with disregard to certain defining socio-political parameters is to suffer the
fallacy of “naive universalism.”
Working with the Media: working with the media is another dilemma that PR agencies have
had to contend with in their discharge of strategic public relations functions. The „hostility‟ of
the mediascape in perpetuity exerts untold pressure on agencies. It is even more challenging
when one discovers the media constitute the hub of the execution of most PR activities. The
insatiable quests of clients‟ demand for Share of Voice ultimately but indirectly fuels the
arrogance of the media to perceive their importance as indispensable.
Perhaps the overwhelming notion of self-importance and the inability of the media to
appropriately self-regulate are responsible for the gradual collapse of their moral stamina. It
is for this reason that Ayetan, cited in Soola (2008) laments that the “Once vibrant and
independent, the Nigerian media is gradually transforming into a behemoth of corruption, a
situation which threatens the capacity of the media to report the truth objectively and perform
its role of making the government accountable (pg. 71)” He further adds that the “act of a
journalist brazenly demanding bribe from people to publish or kill a story and failing which
they resort to blacking you out or outrightly concocting stories that would embarrass you”
(pg. 73) is no longer an exception.
It is unfortunate that journalism in Nigeria could descend to such abysmal level of depravity
despite protesting against the establishment of the Nigerian Press Council as a measure “to
develop and enforce a code of conduct for the press” arguing that it is their professional
responsibility to do so (Ugboajah, cited in Ebo, 1994, pg. 89). Hence, in 1979, the Nigerian
Press Organisation came up with “professional standards of practice that reflects the Western
libertarian journalism model. Some of the provisions of the code are:

5. It is the moral duty of every journalist to have respect for the truth and
to publish and to prepare for publication only the truth to the best of
his knowledge. It is the duty of the journalist to publish only facts;
never to suppress such facts as he knows; never to falsify to suit either
his own purpose or any other purpose. It is the duty of journalists to
refuse any reward for publishing or for suppressing news or
comments, other than salaries and allowances legitimately earned in
the discharge of his professional duties. Once information has been
collected and published the journalist shall observe the universally
accepted principle of secrecy and shall not disclose the source of
information obtained in confidence (Ugboajah, cited in Ebo, 1994, pg
89)
Noble as this code is, it is instructive to note that the social system in which journalists
operate sets standards and values of performance and determines how they fulfil their social
responsibility mandate. When the “unwholesome working environment” and “poor
conditions of service” of journalists among other factors are considered, it would be
impracticable for them not to succumb to the pressure of „cash and carry journalism.‟
Therefore, the profession being described as a “cesspool of corruption” (Ayetan, cited in
Soola (2008, pg. 74) remarkably reflects the deep-seated moral decadence that characterises
the Nigerian society. Adedayo, cited in Soola (2008) argues that “whatever sharp practices
are prevalent in the newsroom today can also be found at the bench, bar, in banks and
everywhere else” (pg. 75) even the most sacred places.
Creating Ways Round these Dilemmas
The pressures that PR agencies face in their interactions with clients and journalists have
gross repercussions on their effectiveness. It is however crucial to note that while these
pressures differ very considerably from one agency to another, reason being that some
agencies are run by owners while others have Chief Executives who have superintendents.
The implication is that agencies run by their owners are less likely to face some of these
dilemmas unlike their counterparts being run by managers who in turn report to superiors.
This notwithstanding, the dilemma experienced by PR agencies in relation to clients and
journalists can be described by the metaphor of being caught between the devil and the deep
sea. Some dilemmas may appear hopeless with no redeeming values; my take in such
circumstances is that desperate situations call for desperate measures. I shall proceed to shed
more light on this.
1. According to McLaughlin, cited in Berger and Reber (2006) public relations “has a
far greater potential and responsibility in our society than is realised.... I am not upset
by its derogation by some elements of the mass media. Of more concern is the
prevalent narrow concept of the role of public relations to be found among opinion
leaders and public relations practitioners themselves” (pg. 1). The truism of this point
of view is fore-grounded when PR professionals reduce everything about the practice
to media relations and management. I am not in any way diminishing the strategic
importance of the media in the execution of PR strategies. But the overly dependence

6. on the media to supposedly make the impossible happen gave journalists an undue
advantage to call the shot. Therefore, I am advocating that PR professionals can
increase their influence and legitimacy with clients by engaging in resistance
activities against the forces that constrain them.
2. Rob Cohen of Glaxo Wellcome reiterates the fact that the task of the PR professional
is “...always looking to forge relationships with the public in order to achieve a given
objective.” (Theaker, 2001, pg. 322) It is an irony that practitioners are so busy
creating climates of mutual understanding between their clients and publics, while
they with reckless indifference carry on without connecting with their critical
stakeholders. The only times such relationships are reckoned with, often times are for
damage-control activities. It is high time we displayed altruism in our relationships
across board. However, for this to happen, Berger and Reber (2006) posit that insights
into the operations of power in organisations seems necessary for advancing a
profession that advocates for decisions, actions, and communications that fall in the
area of doing the right thing (pg. Ix)
3. The notion “...of a universalistic media tradition is misleading because it ignores the
unique impositions of socio-political environments on media institutions” (Ebo, 1994,
pg. 84). This implies that there is no such thing as a universal template by which
media operations should be gauged. Western journalists may be perceived to be more
professional and dignifying in the course of duty. But have you bothered to find out
about their conditions of service? Where in the world is a journalist hired and all he
gets as remuneration are identity and call cards if not in Nigeria? Friends, let us wake
up and smell the coffee, corruption is an entrenched social institution from where the
“brown envelope syndrome” evolved. I am not in any way making a case for the
journalists, but what I am saying is that the system itself reeks of corruption, and we ll
know it. If clients will not offer „bribe‟ to journalists, so be it. But we should make a
convincing case for them to be paid honorarium. No societal institution, the media
inclusive can rise above its socio-political values.
4. One of the most important career management habits for career success and resiliency
is regular attention to building relationships. It is incontrovertible that the core of PR
operations is basically relationship management on behalf of clients. Again, while
agencies do a yeoman‟s job managing relationships on behalf clients, they perform
woefully in their relationship with critical stakeholders. I mean individuals have to
themselves as ambassadors of the agencies they work for so that beyond the demands
of the job, they interact with some the critical stakeholders. People these days are
becoming more anti-social because of some inconceivable religious tendencies. PR
professionals can be social without necessarily compromising the integrity of their
religious principles.
5. PR agencies should also adopt a policy of continuous engagements with the media.
This should be hinged on the basic assumption of “meeting them before you need

7. them.” It is only through such interactions that “a gap between corporate practice and
stakeholder expectation” (Regester and Larkin, 2002) can be realised and possibly
bridged.
6. It is potentially suicidal for PR agencies to always assume that all is well with their
reputation. Hence, agencies should conduct periodic perception audit to determine
how they fare in the „marketplace.‟ An exercise of this nature will stave off the
possibility of malice.

8. Reference
Adegoke, L. (2001) Introduction to Public Relations: Principles, Media and Methods.
Ibadan: Phoenix Global Press.
Berger, B. K. And Reber, B. H. (2006) Gaining Influence in Public Relations: The Role of
Resistance in Practice. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,
Publishers.
Ebo, B. L. (1994) “The Ethical Dilemma of African Journalists: A Nigerian Perspective.
Journal of Mass Media. Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 84-93.
Folarin, B. A. (1999) “Mass Media Ethics and the Nigerian Journalist.” Journal of
Communication and Language Arts. Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 45-57.
Foss, K. A. and Littlejohn, S. W. (2005). Theories of Human Communication (Eighth
Edition).Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Grunig, L. A., Grunig, J. E., and Dozier, D. M. (2002) Excellence Public Relations and
Effective Organisations: A Study of Communication Management in Three
Countries. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Laszlo, E. (1972) The Systems View of the World: The Natural Philosophy of the New
Developments in the Sciences. New York. George Braziller.
Soola, E. O. (2008) “Myths and Realities of the “Brown Envelope Syndrome” in the Media:
Implications for Desirable Change in Political and Social Spheres of Life.”
Mohammed Kuta Yahaya (ed.) Communication for Social Change in Developing
Countries. Ibadan: Kraft Books Limited.
Theaker, A. (2001) The Public Relations Handbook (Second Edition). London and New
York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).