Manji Yarling dissertation final

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TOWARDS PROFESSIONALISATION:
A REVIEW OF THE PUBLIC RELATIONS INDUSTRY
IN NIGERIA.
By
YARLING MANJI LYDIA
MA International Public Relations and Global Communications Management
This dissertation is submitted to the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media & Cultural
Studies, Cardiff University; in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts in International Public Relations and Global Communications.
August 2014

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DECLARATION
CANDIDATE’S ID NUMBER: 1316956
CANDIDATE’S SURNAME: YARLING
TITLE: Miss
CANDIDATE’S FULL FORENAMES: MANJI LYDIA
This work has not previously been accepted in substance for any degree and is not
concurrently submitted in candidature for any degree.
Signed ………………………………….… Date …………………………
STATEMENT 1
This dissertation is being submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of MA.
Signed ……………………………………. Date …………………………
STATEMENT 2
This dissertation is the result of my own independent work/investigation, except where
otherwise stated.
Other sources are acknowledged by footnotes giving explicit references. A Bibliography is
appended.
Signed …………………………………… Date …………………………
STATEMENT 3
I confirm that the electronic copy is identical to the bound copy of the dissertation
Signed …………………………………. Date …………………………

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STATEMENT 4
I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and
for inter-library loan, and for the title and summary to be made available to outside
organisations.
Signed …………………………………. Date …………………………
STATEMENT 5 - BAR ON ACCESS APPROVED
I hereby give consent for my dissertation, if accepted, to be available for photocopying and
for inter-library loans after expiry of a bar on access approved by the Graduate
Development Committee.
Signed ………………………………… Date …………………………

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
To the Almighty God, my Jehovah Jireh, the one that chose to bless and favour me –
Ndinchi.
To the best gift God ever gave me after the gift of life; my parents – Mr. and Mrs. Andrew
Yarling; thank you for the financial, spiritual and emotional support.
To Elliot Pill, my dissertation supervisor; Nick Mosdell, my research methods tutor; and
Sara Robb, my personal tutor – I couldn’t have done it without your help. Thank you.
I appreciate the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission for granting me a one
year study leave to undertake this programme. In particular, I thank my head of
department, Mr. Olugbenga Odugbesan, for encouraging and motivating me non-stop till I
took this step.
To the twelve extremely busy individuals who took time off to participate in my key figure
interviews - your wealth of experience and honest answers to my questions made this
dissertation a reality. Thank you.
To my family and my friends – you have made life’s journey so beautiful; thank you for
your encouragement and for standing by me always.
IPR/GCM class of 2014 – you guys rock! We ‘embraced the pain’ and made it through
together. Jan Ajwang, the first day you walked into class (and late – lol), I knew we were
going to have a connection and we did! Coach as I fondly call you, thanks for your
friendship and genuine criticism of my work.

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ABSTRACT
This study carries out a relatively comprehensive review of the Nigerian PR industry in
terms of its history, dominant practice, factors that have affected and still affect the
practice, capacity of practitioners, type of education available to current and aspiring
practitioners and areas that need to be addressed as the industry strives towards
professionalisation. Primary research was carried out through key figure interviews, case
studies and qualitative content analysis methods. The interviews showed that PR in Nigeria
is still perceived by many as the giving of brown envelopes, advertising and/or journalism.
It also showed that the dominant PR practice in Nigeria is still the press agency and public
information models, especially within government cycles. However, in multinational
agencies, financial institutions, as well as fast moving consumer goods sectors for instance;
PR is understood and appreciated as a strategic management function. Case studies were
carried out on three universities that offer undergraduate PR courses; one in the UK and
two in Nigeria. The aim of the case studies were to establish the kind of education
available to current and aspiring Nigerian PR practitioners and benchmark this with global
standards. The case studies found that no university in Nigeria offers a fully-fledged PR
undergraduate degree, rather PR modules are offered under Mass communications
department thus giving the subject an undue emphasis on media relations. The qualitative
content analysis of the CIPR and NIPR code of conduct documents showed that the NIPR
code of professional conduct document has not been reviewed since 1992 when it was first
drafted. There is therefore an urgent need to review this document to reflect the current
challenges that the PR industry faces due to globalisation. In conclusion, the findings of
this research showed that the work toward the professionalisation of Nigeria’s PR industry
will be a combined effort by practitioners, scholars, the professional organisation and the
government.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Declaration ii
Acknowledgements iv
Abstract v
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Background………………………………………………………………….1
1.2. Objectives of the study………………………………………………………2
1.3. Rationale of the study ………………………………..……………………..3
1.4. Scope of the study…………………………………………………..……….3
CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 OVERVIEW OF PR
2.1.1 Defining PR ……………………………………………………………4
2.1.2 PR as a Management function…………………………………………5
2.1.3 What is a Profession? ………………………………………………….6
2.1.4 Is PR a profession? …………………………………………………….6
2.1.5 Professionalisation …………………………………………………….10
2.1.6 PR Global Best Practices………………………………………………10
2.1.7 The role of culture in PR ………………………………………………13
2.2 HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF PR…………………………………………..14
2.2.1 PR in America…………………………………………………………..14
2.2.2 PR in Britain …………………………………………………………...17
2.2.3 PR in Africa ……………………………………………………………19
2.3 PR IN NIGERIA
2.3.1 Profile of Nigeria ……………………………………………………….21
2.3.2 History and development of PR in Nigeria…………..………………..23
2.3.3 Current state of the PR industry in Nigeria……………………………26
2.3.3.1 Dominant PR practice…………………………………………..27
2.3.3.2 PR education and training………………………………………27
2.3.3.3 Trends in PR consulting ……………………………………… .28
2.3.3.4 Public sector in-house PR ……………………………………...30
2.3.3.5 PR practices and multinational oil companies ………………..31
2.3.3.6 The mass media and government influence……………………33
2.3.3.7 The relationship between PR and the media/Journalists ……..34
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 Research questions………………………………………………………….36
3.2 Methodology ……………………………………………………………….37
3.2.1 Key Figure Interviews…………………………………………….38
3.2.2 Case Study………………………………………………………..39
3.2.3 Qualitative content Analysis……………………………………..43

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CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF KEY FIGURE
INTERVIEWS………………………………………………………………………….46
CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF CASE STUDIES…………….58
CHAPTER 6: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF QUALITATIVE CONTENT
ANALYSIS
6.1 QCA of CIPR and NIPR official websites…………..................................70
6.2 QCA of CIPR and NIPR Code of Conduct Documents…..........................79
CHAPTER 7: CONCLUSION, LIMITATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………84
7.2 Limitations…………………………………………………………………...86
7.3 Recommendations……………………………………………………………87
BIBLIOGRAPHY……………………………………………………………………….88
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………93
APPENDICES
Appendix 1: Interview Guides (Questions) ………………………….......................108-119
Appendix 2a: Sample Pre-Interview Questionnaire/Schedule for PR Practitioners……120
Appendix 2b: Sample Pre-Interview Questionnaire/Schedule for PR Educators………121
Appendix 3: Case Study Design (Questions Answered) ……………………………….122
Appendix 4a: Coding Sheet for Qualitative Content Analysis of Code of
Conduct Document …………………………...…………………………........................123
Appendix 4b: Coding Sheet for Qualitative Content Analysis of Websites...................125
Appendix 5: Interviewees Definitions of PR.................................................................128
Appendix 6: Summary of Roles Carried Out By PR Nigerian PR Practitioners
(Obtained From Pre-Interview Questionnaires And During Interviews)……………… 129
Appendix 7: Sample Transcripts of selected Key Figure Interviews………………….. 130

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CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1. BACKGROUND
It is 6 April 2014, the world wakes up to an interesting BBC news headline; “Nigeria
becomes Africa's biggest economy.” The story reads in part:
Nigeria has ‘rebased’ its gross domestic product (GDP) data, which has pushed it
above South Africa as the continent's biggest economy. Nigerian GDP now
includes previously uncounted industries like telecoms, information technology,
music, online sales, airlines, and film production. GDP for 2013 totalled 80.3
trillion naira (£307.6bn: $509.9bn), the Nigerian statistics office said.
Sriramesh and Vercic (2003: 6) suggest that “a country’s economic development provides
PR professionals opportunities as well as challenges.” The opportunities that have been
provided for PR professionals in Nigeria as a result of the country’s economic growth is
reflected in the market size growth of PR estimated at N26b (£95m) in 2009, N31b
(£113m) in 2010; and a projected 20% increase in 2011, according to data provided by C
& F Porter Novelli (slide 16)1
; ‘the trusted business advisor and leader in strategic
communications for West Africa.’
This clearly shows that Nigeria has a steadily growing local PR industry, but with the rapid
growth of consumer markets and influx of multinational corporations (MNCs) as a result
of globalisation, clients have become more demanding for professional PR services that
can contribute towards social and economic developments (Wells 2006; Skinner and
Mersham 2009:280), hence the challenge for Nigeria’s PR industry.
In addition to economic variables, Sriramesh and Vercic (2003: 1) further established that
the social and political environmental variable of a country affects the practice of PR. In
1
Conversion was done with http://www.oanda.com/currency/converter/ on 14 August 2014.

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Nigeria for instance, records from 1960-1997 shows that the country made about US$250b
from oil revenues alone (Enyinnaya, 1998 cited in Alozie 2004: 243). Sadly though,
Ihonvbere (1997) notes that within the same period of this oil windfall, the country was
plagued by dictatorial military leaderships, wars, instability, endemic corruption, economic
stagnation among other debilitating factors (Alozie 2004: 243). These factors (highlighted
in details in the next chapter) shaped the current practice of PR in Nigeria and have led to
its explosion; same factors will also affect its professionalisation.
This study seeks to review the state of the Nigerian PR industry as it strives towards
professionalisation. ‘Industry’ here covers practitioners (public and private sector in-house,
consultants), scholars, the educational system and the trade/professional organisations.
1.2 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The aim of this review is to examine/analyse the:
1. Predominant style of PR practice in Nigeria.
2. Capacity (knowledge, skills, and resources) of Nigeria’s PR industry so as to assess
its preparedness to take advantage of the growth in the economy.
3. Extent to which the Nigerian PR industry has met the criteria necessary for a
practice to be considered a profession.
4. Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) with the view to assess how well it
has performed its function to “regulate the practice/development of the PR
Profession and monitor professional conducts through an established Code of
Ethics and Professional Conduct regime.” (NIPR website 2014).
5. Type of education available to current and prospective PR practitioners.

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1.3 RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
Having examined and analysed the state of the Nigerian PR industry, this study will
suggest how the Nigerian PR industry can be better positioned in terms of capacity
(knowledge, skills and resources) to provide professional services in line with constantly
evolving global best practices. Some of these global best practices are enumerated in the
next chapter.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
Scholars have identified averagely six criteria that a practice should satisfy to be
considered a profession (detailed in literature review), this study will review the extent to
which Nigeria’s PR industry has achieved professionalisation by benchmarking with the
highlighted criteria.

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 OVERVIEW ON PR
2.1.1 Defining PR
The task of defining PR is a difficult one owing not only to the diverse forms of PR
available in different parts of the world, but also to the various roles played by different PR
practitioners depending on their job description and needs of their organisations (Grunig
and Hunt 1984, Curtin and Gaither 2007: 2).
However in 1976, Harlow made an attempt to define PR using the 472 definitions that he
had found in books/journals/magazines in addition to speaking with 83 PR leaders. In the
end, he came up with a definition of PR summarised by Grunig and Hunt (1984: 7) as the
“management of communication between an organisation and its publics.”
The PR News defines PR as the “management function which evaluates public attitudes,
identifies the policies and procedures of an individual or an organisation with the public
interest, and plans and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and
acceptance” (Grunig and Hunt 1984: 8). While Cutlip et al (1985:4) suggest that PR is the
“management function that identifies, establishes, and maintains mutually beneficial
relationships between an organisation and the various publics on whom its success or
failure depends.”
Pohl (1995) on the other hand sees PR as the “management function which seeks to
establish and maintain mutually beneficial relationships between and among its publics.”

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More recently, Stephen Waddington (2014a), President of the Chartered Institute of Public
Relations (CIPR) defined PR as a “strategic management discipline focused on building
influence and reputation by promoting mutual understanding.”
Three major themes arise from a review of these definitions of PR; PR is a management
function, should be mutually beneficial and is concerned about relationship building.
2.1.2 PR as a Management Function
Dozier and Broom (1995) assert that PR is a management function, if it participates in the
governance of an organisation by making inputs into policies, programs and procedures
before they are adopted; adding that the PR manager’s role involves strategic planning,
issues management, environmental scanning and program evaluation.
In addition to the above stated roles of a PR manager, Hon (2007: 9,15) shares results of a
survey on excellence in PR conducted among top PR managers in which one of the
managers emphasised the importance of conducting research as key to practicing PR as a
strategic management function, prior to launching any campaign or programme. Another
participant noted the value of secondary research including “best practices, industry
standards/norms, and new trends.” However, another participant views it from the vantage
point of effective crisis management, saying, “The more high-profile problem you solve
with minimal pain, the more PR will be trusted and invited into the management suite.”

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Pearson (1990: 28) notes that despite the seeming global consensus about the role of PR in
contemporary organisations as a management function, there still remains a series of
unanswered questions as:
Is PR a profession? Should the practice of PR be regulated, licensed? What kind of
education is required for PR practice? Does the PR curriculum belong in journalism
departments, schools of business, schools of public affairs, or in a department all
[on] its own? To what set of values should PR adhere? What makes the practice of
PR legitimate? In whose interest should PR be practiced? What constitutes ethical
PR practice?
2.1.3 What is a Profession?
A profession as defined by Freidson (1970b: xvii) is “an occupation which has assumed a
dominant position in the division of labour, so that it gains control over the determination
and substance of its own work.” (L’Etang and Pieczka 2006: 266)
Kultgen (1988) cited in Cutlip et al (2000: 146) sees professions as having a social
responsibility toward society which is beyond the provision of skilled services and
knowledge but extends to being responsible for constantly improving the administering
their services. This is because, professions play an important stabilising role in the social
structure of the community (Durkeim, 1933 cited in L’Etang and Pieczka 2006: 266).
2.1.4 Is PR a Profession?2
Professionalism is described by Collins and Zoch (2002) cited in Sriramesh and Vercic
(2009: 645) as the ‘Achilles heel’ of the global PR industry with some PR practitioners and
scholars agreeing for most part that PR is not yet a profession. Some of these PR scholars
2
Some elements of this session have previously been used in my Focus Group report submitted in May 2014.

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and practitioners prefer to describe PR as a quasi-profession (ibid); a practice (Black 1995
cited in Sriramesh and Vercic 2009: 382), an occupation (L’Etang and Peiczka 2006: 276),
or an emerging profession (Dozier and Broom 1995: 24).
Pieczka and L’Etang (2001: 224) note that starting from the early 1960s, researchers began
to log the traits that make professions different from occupations, some of these traits
according to Grunig and Hunt (1984); Cutlip et al. (2006); L’Etang and Pieczka (2006);
Sriramesh and Hornaman (2006: 156) include:
- A specialised and standardised education that aspiring practitioners must go
through as a prerequisite for qualifying to practice;
- An established body of knowledge and constant research to add to this knowledge;
- Availability of strong professional organisations that set standards, control
membership and liaise with wider society;
- Adherence to codes of conduct and ethics;
- Individual and group commitment to being socially responsible; and
- Community recognition as an essential service.
2.1.4.1 A specialised educational programme/training
A leading PR practitioner, Ferguson (1987: 49) points out that PR will not achieve
professional status as long as people from other fields can get in and practise successfully
without undergoing a comprehensive training. In addition, Hess (1950) cited in L’Etang
and Pieczka (2006: 276) suggests that modern society will be greatly disadvantaged
without the skilled practice of PR hence the importance of a proper PR education and
training.

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However, as much as PR practitioners do recognise the role that good educational
qualifications play as a means to improve the reputation of PR practice, L’Etang (1998b)
cited in L’Etang and Pieczka (2006: 276) notes for example that attempts in the UK in the
1960s to use PR qualification as a prerequisite for membership admission into professional
organisations failed, with experience remaining a ‘tradable commodity.’
2.1.4.2 An established body of knowledge and constant research to add to this
knowledge.
A profession is defined by its foundation on a body of complex formal knowledge
(Freidson 1986 cited in L’Etang and Pieczka 2006:279). It is for this reason that Heath
(2001) argued that PR practitioners and academics must out of necessity establish an
international body of knowledge, develop standards for entry into the field, share ethical
values and form a foundation of knowledge to provide practitioners with reasons to depend
on educational institutions for knowledge.
Cutlip et al. 2000, however notes that research so far in the field of PR has contributed
little to building and testing of theories resulting in the current body of knowledge been
inadequate to consider PR as a profession.
2.1.4.3 Availability of strong professional organisations
L’Etang (2004: 97) emphasises the importance of the roles that professional organisations
play in the “natural history” of any profession because “professional organisations are
stable elements in society … they engender modes of life, habits of thought, and standards
of judgement which render them centres of resistance to crude forces which threaten steady

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and peaceful evolution.” (Carr-Saunders and Wilson 1933 cited in L’Etang and Pieczka
2006: 266). Cutlip et al (2006) adds that the establishment of professional organisations is
part of the efforts being made by many practitioners to surround their practice with status
and promote competence among members through conferences, publications, seminars and
advocacy initiatives.
2.1.4.4 Adherence to codes of conduct and ethics
Friedson (2001) cited in Tench and Yeomans (2014: 222) suggests three duties under
which professional codes fall including: obeying laws and regulations; practicing
competently; and reflecting values in behaviour, such as care and trust. The Public
Relations Society of America (PRSA) emphasises that “successful PR hinges on the ethics
of its practitioners” having admitted that the practice of PR by its very nature “can present
unique and challenging ethical issues” but “protecting integrity and the public trust are
fundamental to the profession’s role and reputation” (PRSA website, 2014).
However, as much as all PR professional organisations emphasise the importance of codes
of conduct and ethics, the enforcement of these codes by various PR professional bodies
globally has been a major problem (Grunig and Grunig 2008 cited in Sriramesh and Vercic
2009: 644). Peiczka and L’Etang (2001) agree, stating that given the fact that entry into
PR practice is easy and there is difficulty in imposing ethical standards on members, it is
questionable whether PR can be considered a profession like law and medicine.

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2.1.5 Professionalisation
The Oxford Dictionary describes the word professionalisation as a derivative of the word
professionalise defined as: “Give (an occupation, activity, or group) professional qualities,
typically by increasing training or raising required qualifications.” While the Hughesian
approach defines professionalisation as “an attempt to translate one order of scarce
resources – specialist knowledge and skills – into another – social and economic rewards.”
(L’Etang and Pieczka 2006: 268)
According to Cutlip et al 2006, the professionalisation of PR is beneficial because it
institutionalises best practices and establishes standards of quality that will in turn serve
the best interest of the public by ensuring that there is more competent PR counsel. In
addition, professionalisation will increase the credibility and reputation of the industry and
provide practitioners the chance to contribute toward organisational decision making
processes (Sriramesh and Hornaman 2006: 156).
2.1.6 PR Global Best Practices
Globalisation has presented a scenario whereby the environment that PR operates is
constantly evolving and practitioners need to be both aware and prepared to take advantage
of these changes or become obsolete. Presented below are some current trends in the field
of PR.

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2.1.6.1 The Melbourne Mandate and Generally Accepted Practices (GAP)
Certain global PR best practices are enumerated by the Global Alliance for PR and
Communications Management. The Global Alliance seeks to raise professional standards
of PR world over through knowledge sharing of best practices, it achieves its mandate
through several activities/programmes, one of which is the World PR Forum (WPRF) that
started in 2001 and holds biennially. The WPRF is an assembly of PR and communication
professionals from around the world to discuss major issues affecting the profession and
also affected by the profession. Each edition of the forum presents important outcomes and
points at trends that the profession needs to note remain relevant (Global Alliance 2014).
As at the time of this study, the latest WPRF held in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia and
gave birth to the “Melbourne mandate”. The mandate was predicated on the fact that as a
result of exceptional public access to communication, organisations in a global society are
presented with challenges and opportunities. Hence the new mandate for PR and
communication management include defining and maintaining its organisation’s character
and values; building a culture of listening and engagement; and instilling responsible
behaviours by individuals and organisations (ibid).
Another programme of the Global Alliance by which it surveys current practices and
trend/developments in the PR profession within different countries and continents is the
Global survey called Generally Accepted Practices (GAP). This survey provides a world-
centric view of how PR is evolving in different settings as a basis for charting further
developments in the future (ibid).
One major finding of the GAP 2012 survey is the rise in the importance of measurement
and evaluation which has become a front burning issue because of the general acceptance

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of social media monitoring tools and increased use of primary research in program
planning and evaluation. The finding points clearly that the success of a PR campaign is
not determined by the measurement of just its output – for instance clips, impressions, and
advertising value equivalency (AVE), but by its ‘Outcomes’ (ibid).
This standard of measurement agrees with the ‘Barcelona Declaration of Measurement
Principles (Barcelona principles)’.
2.1.6.2 Barcelona Principles
The International Association for the Measurement and Evaluation of Communication
(AMEC), at its 2nd European Summit on Measurement held in Barcelona, Spain in 2010;
declared the widely accepted ‘Barcelona Principles’ which emphasised seven principles on
how PR measurement should be carried out for best practice. The principles state:
1. The importance of goal setting and measurement of all PR programmes
2. Measuring the effect on outcomes is preferred to measuring outputs.
3. The effect on business results can and should be measured where possible.
4. Media measurement requires both quantity and quality.
5. AVEs are not the value of PR.
6. Social media can and should be measured.
7. Transparency and replicability are paramount to sound measurement (AMEC
website 2014).
2.1.6.3 PR education undergraduate curriculum

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The executive summary of the Commission on PR Education’s Professional Bond report
(2006: 47) on undergraduate PR education in the United States made recommendations
that though not designed to be prescriptive, provides a set of objectives for excellence
identified by a cadre of distinguished educators and practitioners. It developed a set of
minimum standards for undergraduate PR education that include:
1) introduction to PR (including theory, origin and principles); 2) PR research,
measurement, and evaluation; 3) PR writing and projection; 4) supervised work
experience in PR (internship); and 5) an additional PR course in law and ethics,
planning and management, case studies, or campaigns. The Professional Bond also
addresses issues of diversity, rapidly advancing communication technology, and global
implications for PR education” (Cited in the Global PR Education Report, 2010: 4).
Developing countries like Nigeria can use above curriculum as a guide but with
consideration to the cultural context of their unique operating environment.
2.1.7 The Role of Culture in PR
In seeking to understand the professionalisation of PR in any jurisdiction, it is important to
note the significant role that culture plays in communication processes especially in non-
US settings (Heath 2001: 229; Curtin and Gaither 2007: 36). Sriramesh (2009: 48)
describes this role; “culture affects communication, and is affected by it. Because PR is
fundamentally a communication activity, it is logical to conclude that culture affects PR
also.” This is because culture, meaning and language are intricately linked as people will
usually draw meanings by linking to something they already know through their cultures
(Curtin and Gaither 2007).
Sriramesh (2003: pxxv) suggests that in order to be effective, every PR professional should
have a multicultural and global perspective because effective communication in a global

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market requires PR practitioners be sensitive to the “cultural heterogeneity of their
audiences … the result will be the growth of a culturally richer profession.” (Sriramesh and
White 1992: 611).
2.2 HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF PR
It is important to study how PR evolved because it will help in understanding its strengths,
weaknesses, functions and purposes in society. Such understanding is vital towards the
current professionalisation of the practice as the history and development of PR are
intertwined (Cutlip et al 2006:87).
Friedson’s approach to professionalisation recognises the importance of a unique set of
historical circumstances in determining the way a profession is practiced (Heath 2001:
229). However, it is important to note before delving into these histories, that no single
interpretation of the history of PR exist, rather, there are many perspectives on the subject
depending on the chosen point of view of the author (Pearson 1990).
2.2.1 PR in America
The practice of PR in America is arguably the most advanced worldwide as seen in the
number of educational institutions offering PR courses, large membership of the PRSA,
and the number of available PR journals (Heath 2001: 228). The American PR system was
born in a time of adversity and change when long before the revolution, talents for
promotion were visible in fund raising activities, sale of land, promotion of causes and
boosting commercial ventures (Cutlip et al 2006: 88).

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During the revolutionary war, the work of Samuel Adams and his fellow revolutionists
shaped the practice of PR at the time. This group garnered support using various PR tools
and techniques, proceeding on the assumption that “the bulk of mankind are more led by
their senses than by their reason” (Davidson cited in Cutlip et al 2006: 89).
Another event that led to the significant development of PR in America is the power
struggles evoked by political reform movements. Between the late 1920s and early 1930s
for instance, when President Andrew Jackson was in power, a key member of his “kitchen
cabinet” was Amos Kendall a former newspaper man. Kendall served as the President’s
counselor, ghost writer and publicist and was excellent at creating events that molded
public opinion (Cutlip et al 2006: 91).
It is clear from the American history of PR that it was taken more seriously by businesses
when their positions of power were threatened and by the government during periods of
crisis like World War 1, World War 2, the Persian War, Gulf War etc (ibid).
PR has clear origins in Press agentry which was a systematic effort to either attract or
divert people’s attention by the giving out of inaccurate or incomplete information
(Ibid:92). A key foundational contributor that made a drastic change to the press agentry
method and contributed enormously to the contemporary PR techniques and principles still
in use today is Ivy Lee (1877 – 1934). In 1906, Lee and Parker were hired by the anthracite
coal mine operators to tell management’s side of a strike; following which Lee issued the
famous “Declaration of Principles” in 1906 which states:
Our matter is accurate … our plan is, frankly and openly, on behalf of business
concerns and public institutions, to supply to the press and public of the United

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States prompt and accurate information concerning subjects in which it is of value
and interest to the public to know about (Cutlip et al 2006:99).
Lee made it clear that businesses could no longer fool or ignore the public but keep them
informed in the most open and accurate manner (ibid).
However, much of the roots of the practice of PR in America was before the 1900s, a time
described by Edward Bernays as the “public-be-damned” period of American enterprise.
But definitive beginnings of PR started from 1900-1916, a period described as the seedbed
era when America was in the “public-be-informed” period and muckraking journalism was
the order of the day. The muckrakers maximised new platforms like popular magazines,
national wire services and feature syndicates which had just enjoyed a surge in circulations
(ibid).
Bernays labeled the period following WW1 as that of “mutual understanding” when PR
practice was done based on lessons learnt from behavioral sciences. However, following
the increasing power of citizens through protests and demonstrations in the late 1960s, the
status quo drastically changed leading to an era of “mutual adjustment” which transformed
how PR was practiced in the later part of the 20th
Century and beginning of the 21st
Century (ibid:95).
Edward Bernays (1891-1995) often referred to in some quarters as the ‘Father of PR’; is
credited with having introduced the term “PR Counsel” in his first book ever published on
PR titled “Crystallising Public Opinion” published in 1923 (Bernays, 1965 cited in Cutlip
et al 2006:103).

17
The end of WW2 brought the postwar boom to PR from 1946 - 1964 as during this time,
PR was used in motivating military morale, garnering civilian support, and encouraging a
seamless flow in the conversion from a wartime to peacetime economy. The period from
1965 – 1985 was that of public protest and empowerment where powerful advocacy groups
pushed for social change, increased government oversight of business and industry,
environmental protection etc; a popular saying “power to the people” captured the essence
of this era. PR was no longer about just “telling our story” because there had to be a
balance of power (ibid: 108-113).
Cutlip et al (2006: 113) note that from 1986 to date, the internet radically changed
everything; providing unlimited access to a powerful and instantaneous system of
information distribution and consumption.
2.2.2 PR in Britain
While PR started and boomed in the USA in the business sphere, its development in
government, political and non-commercial fields started in Britain (Black 1989: 202),
where overall legislation is determined by the central government with local communities
allowed to work within their own budgets in the implementation of certain policies
(L’Etang 2004).
L’Etang (2004) point out that the 19th
century social reforms came with a need for Britain
to deal with the social problems caused by the industrial revolution, this resulted in greater
participation by local governments in communicating with the populace. Because of this
communication responsibility, local officials began looking for ways of giving their PR
function a professional status. Therefore by 1922, the local and central governments

18
formed the Institute of Public Administration and by 1930, there was a clear understanding
of the paramount role which PR played in facilitating smooth administration.
Peacetime propaganda by the central government was another important influence on the
practice of PR in Britain. At the time, the government reckoned that since propaganda
played a key role in educating and informing citizens during the democratic transition, it
could well be used even in peacetime for communication and campaigns (ibid: 231).
At the end of WW2, Britain was the largest debtor nation. By 1945, there was increased
infrastructure expenditure because of the government’s rebuilding efforts following
wartime destruction. This led to new legislations and economic policies that needed to be
explained to the public and as at 1947, the local government had created several PR roles
that were handled by different experts who eventually formed the Institute of Public
Relations (IPR) in 1948 (ibid). IPR sought to establish social legitimacy and respectability
and declared “the correct intelligent practice of PR is something without which modern
society would be immeasurably impoverished.” (Hess 1950: 5)
The British code of ethics was written in the 1920s by Basil Clarke but it was in 1963 that
IPR formulated a code that attempted to protect both public interests and those of
employers/clients (L’Etang 2004). In any case, membership of IPR is still not required to
practice PR in Britain, this presents a situation where the code has limited impact (White et
al 2009: 386).
Another key factor that led to the growth of PR in the British state in relation with other
countries was the challenges stimulated by the process of decolonisation. These challenges

19
also affected British businesses operating in the former colonies and as admitted by a
practitioner who worked for Unilever in Africa in an interview on March 26, 1997, PR had
to be used among other things to convince the Africans that “we were a good thing for
them and their country.” (L’Etang and Pieczka 2006: 275)
2.2.3 PR in Africa
Traditional forms of PR have existed in African societies for centuries. These have been in
the form of consultations, negotiations, conflict resolution processes, personal and group
visits, giving of gifts and intermarriages each aimed at fostering relationships and
achieving some level of mutual understanding among the parties involved (Alozie,
2004:245).
Skinner and Mersham (2009:286) emphasise that traditional forms of PR in Africa are
intricately linked to a culture of humanism - being one’s brother’s keeper, and
communalism - placing great value on inter-personal relationships. Other forms of PR
commonly used by religious and traditional African groups are the acts of ‘oration and
narration’ which are used to “influence people’s behaviour, especially related to fear
appeals probably stemming from a long tradition of naturalistic beliefs.” (Koper et al,
2009: 295)
Fobanjong (2004: 203,212) notes that the stories of Africa as told by the earliest explorers
who discovered the continent abounded with beautiful memories that were shared through
PR, such stories put a desire in the listeners to visit Africa at the time. However, as the
continent got more exposed to the outside world, these tales turned to those of woe with
Africa being described through negative PR as the “dark continent.” For emerging

20
economies like those found in Africa, a three pronged strategy that can encourage
competitiveness and attract FDI combines political stability, economic growth and the
development of effective PR strategies that can create demand and help gain market share.
PR plays a key role because globalisation has created a situation whereby the stimuli for
domestic economic growth are more external than internal, therefore, Africa needs to do a
lot of work in changing its prevailing external negative perceptions.
Fobanjong (2004: 209-210) suggests further that America has outdone Africa in its PR as
seen in the preference for western commodities by Africans rather than locally produced
items; this clearly points that what imperialism did not accomplish during the colonial
period –that is to “acculturate Africa and turn its peoples into dependent consumers of
Western products”, it is now accomplishing through the mass media.
In 2006, a UK based PR company called Gyroscope Consultancy developed the Africa
Communications Index (ACI). ACI is a composite index that measures the extent to which
PR and corporate communications can be planned and managed in any given African
country, and the extent to which messages can be effectively delivered to target audiences.
Factors within the ACI include ease of access to trained (or trainable) PR staff; the
presence and development of a professional body for the communications industry; and the
range and reach of traditional media channels. South Africa and Egypt had the highest
ACIs (89 and 81 respectively, with a maximum possible ACI of 100). Nigeria fell into the
next group with 75 (Wells 2006).
Wells (2006) concludes that although it is obvious that African countries have enormous
problems, yet the continent is a vast and untapped market with a mix of needs and

21
opportunities thus making managing communications critical to businesses seeking to
expand to Africa.
2. 3 PR IN NIGERIA
Before delving into details on Nigeria’s PR industry, it is important to give a brief profile
of the country in order to understand the political, economic, social and technological
environment.
2.3.1 Profile of Nigeria
Nigeria is often described as the “Giant of Africa” due not only to its large economy but
also its population of about 174m people making it the most populous African country and
the seventh most populous in the world. It is geographically located in West Africa and
surrounded by the Republic of Benin in the West, Niger Republic in the North, Chad and
Cameroun in the East, and the Gulf of Guinea on the Atlantic Ocean to the South. Nigeria
comprises 36 states with Abuja as the Federal Capital Territory. It has over 500 ethnic
groups with Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba been the most predominant languages spoken
(http://www.nigeriaworld.com/focus/).
British enterprises started being established in West Africa in the 1600s and by 1861, the
formal British administration had spread to the interior parts of Nigeria from the Lagos
coast with its greatest success being in the Northern part of Nigeria following resistance
from the South. Because of the acceptance that the British colonialist received in the North,
they tended to favour Northerners politically thus making other parts of the country feel
marginalised (Agbagha 1999 cited in Alozie 2004: 241).

22
At the expense of the overall welfare of the people, Britain began to consolidate Nigeria in
the 1800s and by 1914; it had finished the process and amalgamated the Northern and
Southern protectorates (Alozie 2004: 241). The amalgamation might have created what is
officially known today as the ‘Federal Republic of Nigeria’ but the highly heterogeneous
nature of the people in terms of tribe and culture is yet to foster a basis for real unity
(Madiebo 1980 cited in ibid). Alozie (2004) observes further that the several social and
political crises that Nigeria has suffered since its independence in 1960 can partly be
attributed to this heterogeneous nature of the people.
Following the country’s independence, it experienced a civil war in 1966 and several
military coups. The country enjoyed a brief period of democracy from 1979 to 1983, but
for most of its independence period, it has been ruled by several military juntas. Finally in
May 1999, following a successful election, Nigeria returned to democratic rule and has
since enjoyed a growing democracy (http://www.nigeriaworld.com/focus/).
Nigeria’s oil reserves play a key role in its growing wealth, potentially positioning it to
become one of the world's top 20 economies by 2050 (ibid). Although in addition to
petroleum resources, Nigeria has large mineral deposits of coal, bitumen, iron ore,
phosphates, columbite, gold, barite, kaolin, gypsum, tin ore and zinc. Besides mineral
wealth, Nigeria is rich in agricultural, marine and forest resources with its equatorial and
tropical vegetation zones enabling growth of food crops like cassava, maize, rice, melons;
and cash crops like cotton, groundnut, rubber (Koper et al. 2009).
Nigeria is a member of the so-called MINT group of countries, which are widely predicted
as the globe's next "BRIC-like" (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies. MINT is an

23
acronym that refers to the economies of Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Turkey, originally
coined by Fidelity Investments, a Boston-based asset management firm but popularised by
Jim O'Neill of Goldman Sachs, who had created the term BRIC. In an interview with
O’Neil, he suggests that “Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey all have very favourable
demographics for at least the next 20 years, and their economic prospects are interesting”
(Business Insider; November 13, 2013).
The lack of adequate communication infrastructure is a bottleneck in international PR
campaigns especially in developing countries such as Nigeria (Sriramesh and Vercic 2003:
6). Skinner and Mersham (2009: 275) suggest that internet access in schools is a key
indicator of the ability to manage communications with specific audiences. In 2005, the
World Economic Forum (WEF) assessed internet access in Nigerian schools using a scale
where 1 denotes very poor and 7 denotes excellent; Nigeria fell dismally between 1 and 2.
2.3.2 History and Development of PR in Nigeria
Formal PR practices in Nigeria started in 1944 when the British colonial administrators
created the first PR department with the aim of enlightening the populace on government
activities. Following Nigeria’s independence, this PR department was put under the newly
formed Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) where it continued its function of
information dissemination through public campaigns (Nwosu 1990 cited in Alozie 2004:
244).
Generally, the early 1950s and 1960s witnessed the creation of many other PR units in
government ministries and corporations with some of the information officers who
worked in these departments becoming the first generation of home grown PR
practitioners and consultants in Nigeria which might have prompted the formation of

24
the Public Relations Association of Nigeria (PRAN) in 1963 by Dr. Samuel Epelle, who
also served as the first President of the association (Otubanjo and Amujo 2009). Epelle,
who at the time was the Director of PR at FMI played a central role towards the
development of PR practices in Nigeria. In 1967, he published the first influential book
on PR in Nigeria titled ‘Essentials of PR’ (Koper et al 2009: 290).
PRAN was renamed the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in 1969. The NIPR
among other things, encourages the enforcement of the PR code of ethics in Nigeria as a
way of promoting and driving ‘professionalism and excellence’, in the industry (NIPR
Website 2014). Koper et al (2009) observe that while the setting up of PRAN was
commendable in consolidating the practice of PR in Nigeria, a series of events followed
that not only interfered with the professionalisation process of PR in Nigeria, but
significantly shaped the current style of practice. These events include, coups (January &
July 1966), a civil war (1967 -1970), on-and-off military dictatorships (1966-1979 and
1984 – 1999), a series of political and religious crises and the Niger-Delta crises in its oil-
rich region. More recently also, is the menace of the Islamic fundamentalist group called
Boko Haram.
When the Civil war ended on 20 January 1970, the Federal government under the then
Nigerian Head of state, General Yakubu Gowon, was faced with a dilemma on how to
launder the country’s battered image and improve its reputation both locally and
internationally. The Nigerian government opted for the use of PR and massively paid
advertisements to handle the situation; a decision which made the practise of PR that was
earlier limited to FMI explode to include private practitioners and international consultants
(Alozie 2004 and Koper et al 2009).

25
During the extended period of military dictatorship in Nigeria, human rights abuses,
nepotism and corruption were the order of the day, with the country’s economy and image
in sharp decline. Propaganda was employed by the government of the day in the hope to
repair the marred reputation of Nigeria; thus further damaging the credibility of PR
(George and Ogbondah 1999 cited in Alozie 2004: 247 and Koper et al 2009).
According to Shuaib (2006), the year 1984 brought some level of progress towards the
professionalisation of the Nigerian PR industry with the inauguration of the Public
Relations Consultancy Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) (Otubanjo and Amujo 2009).
PRCAN is a trade sectoral group for the PR industry in Nigeria whose primary objective
is the promotion of professional reputation management in Nigeria within the public and
private sectors. PRCAN draws legal backing primarily from Bye Law Number 3 1993 of
the NIPR Act 16, 1990, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, which makes membership of
PRCAN a legal requirement for firms wishing to offer PR services in Nigeria (PRCAN
Website 2014).
By 1986, the Nigerian government began encouraging the creation of an open market
economy through the privatisation and commercialisation of state owned corporations
leading to a competition in most sectors of the economy. Companies adopted fierce
marketing and PR strategies as a survival means causing an increased demand for PR
services (Otubanjo and Amujo 2009). This led to an influx of poorly trained people
scrambling to fill this demand. Noticing the trend, the then Federal Military Government in
the hope of bringing sanity to the industry promulgated decree 16 of 1990 that empowers
NIPR to control and regulate PR practices, making it illegal for non NIPR registered
individuals to practice (Molleda and Alhassan 2006; NIPR 2008 cited in ibid).

26
"June 1, 1990 was a memorable day for the PR profession in Nigeria" comments Black
(1991) on the NIPR decree 16 promulgation (Otubanjo and Amujo 2009). However in an
article written by Dangogo in the Nigerian newspaper Daily Trust of November 30, 2007,
he notes with concern “the institute has found it rather difficult to monitor the over 6,000
registered members across the country due to insufficient resources… the law [Act 16
1990] has not been effectively enforced… we’ve simply failed to develop our institute over
the years” (Koper et al 2009: 293).
In addition, Koper et al, 2009 notes with reservation the fact that following the enactment
of the NIPR Act in 1990, NIPR became integrated into the three tiers of government (local,
state and federal) with the aim of getting the body to support government programmes and
initiatives. This raises concerns over the level of control that the government has over PR
practice and if this control does not reduce the practitioners to government spokespeople as
typically practiced in propaganda.
Given the Nigerian experience of how PR developed, it can be said that PR has emerged as
a response to relational crises such as wars and conflicts rather than strictly business needs
as obtained in the US (Koper et al 2009: 294).
2.3.3 Current State of the PR Industry in Nigeria
“As Africa's most populous country, one would expect Nigeria to be a natural hotbed of
PR innovation. Instead the PR industry has languished behind advertising, hampered by a
risky commercial environment and slow strides towards professionalism”, writes Arun
Sudhaman in PR week of April 2010.

27
2.3.3.1 Dominant PR practice
The dominant PR practices in Nigeria are the press agency and public information models
(Nwosu 1990 cited in Alozie 2004: 246, Koper et al 2009); both one-way asymmetrical
communications techniques which involve the organisation ‘telling’ the publics without
‘listening’ to them. While the preferred professional model of PR is often described as
Grunig and Hunt’s two-way symmetric model. In the two-way symmetric model, PR
practitioners serve as intermediaries between organisations and their publics with the aim
of achieving mutual understanding among both parties through the use of theories of
communication rather than those of influence (Grunig and Hunt 1984: 41-42).
With Nigeria now a democracy, there are several opportunities for the development and
professionalisation of the PR industry hence moving it away from press-agentry and public
information communication models towards a strategic practice that is concerned with
relationship management and organisational positioning (Cropp and Pincus 2001 cited in
Koper et al 2009: 301).
2.3.3.2 PR Education and training
Most higher education institutions in Nigeria offer PR modules under Mass
Communications and/or Journalism programmes (Koper et al 2009: 296; Skinner and
Mersham 2009: 276). This trend gives the subject of PR in Nigeria an undue emphasis on
media relations rather than management, social psychology, strategy and organisational
behaviour which are the skills that graduates require to perform core PR functions like

28
campaign planning, strategic communication and evaluation methods among others (Koper
et al. 2009: 296)3
.
Some participants in a survey on excellence in PR conducted by Hon (2007) were
concerned about the kind of relationship that existed between PR and businesses, and
suggested that more business courses should be included in the University PR curriculum
to help PR practitioners better understand business.
Where PR training is concerned, a critical challenge the NIPR faced especially in the
early 1990s was the lack of holistic and structured PR body of knowledge and
professional training programs for aspiring practitioners, this they addressed by designing
professional PR certificate and diploma programs for students and short training courses
for practitioners (Otubanjo and Amujo 2009).
However, Koper et al (2009: 296) finds “NIPR’s influence on education worrying as it
seems to serve only short-term practice needs rather than contributing to the establishment
and progress of a more advanced body of knowledge.”. Adding that although national and
state chapters of NIPR have Research and Education departments saddled with the
responsibility of publishing books, journals and newsletters; these publications
demonstrate a lack of academic approach to PR practice despite the fact that Nigeria has a
good number of critical thinkers, social critics and large body of original literature.
2.3.3.3 Trends in PR consulting
As is the predominant practice among PR practitioners in advanced economies, Otubanjo
and Amujo (2009) observed an emerging trend of specialisation in Nigeria’s PR
3
Please refer to table 1 (p93) for higher institutions offering PR programmes and modules in Nigeria.

29
consulting in areas like media relations, financial PR and marketing PR for various
industry sectors. Another interesting trend is in corporate affiliations between local firms
and top multinational PR firms for the purposes of capacity building, professionalism,
access to a global network companies and development of insights into new approaches to
PR management. Examples of such affiliations are JSP corporate communications
(Nigerian) and Hill and Knowlton, UK; Sesema PR, Nigeria and Edelman PR, UK. (Ufot
2004 cited in Otubanjo and Amujo).
According to C & F Porter Novelli, the public sector accounts for 60% of Nigeria’s PR
market size, sadly the local PR industry does not seem to be the greatest benefactor of this
market. Fabonjang (2004: 210) notes the penchant of African governments for spending
billions of dollars in hiring the services of western PR firms thus inhibiting the
development of their local PR industries because for most African leaders, “self-promotion
and self-preservation [is] far greater than the quest for national development.”
More recently on August 13, 2014; Jeffrey Scott Shapiro of the Washington Times notes
that this engagement of foreign PR consulting by Nigeria in particular is on the increase.
Shapiro says “the opportunity for American advisers is clearly found in the Foreign Agents
Registration Act filings at the Department of Justice. Over the last eight years, there have
been 24 reports filed by American firms documenting foreign agent work for Nigeria, 11
of them in just the last year.”
He gave examples of such engagements to include the engagement of AKPD, the Chicago
political firm, by All Progressives Congress (APC) from December 2013 to March 2014.
APC is the strongest opposition party to Nigeria’s ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP);

30
and in preparation for the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, APC hired AKPD to better
position it to contest the forthcoming elections. This could have prompted the ruling PDP
to hire Levick, a political and legal crisis managing firm in the summer of 2014, to provide
international media advice.
Skinner and Mersham (2009: 280) commenting on this trend opine that it does not help to
develop the viability of local firms and ignores the components that are important for the
successful execution of any PR programmes which includes “local knowledge of the
people, environment, language, history, culture and philosophy.”
This trend has been kicked against by Nigerian local practitioners. In a chat with Raheem
Akingbolu of Thisday newspaper published on 17 July 2014, the President of the PRCAN,
Mr Chido Nwakanma, emphasises the need for the Nigerian government to obey the
Nigerian law which requires that for any individual or organisation to practice PR in
Nigeria, it has to be registered with the NIPR, adding that both NIPR and PRCAN are not
aware that any of these firm are registered in Nigeria. He noted with dismay that while
other countries use their economic resources to build local capacities and provide jobs for
their citizenry, Nigeria does the opposite, stating that “it is not in the best interest of
Nigerians or Nigeria … to be paying money to external bodies for jobs that can be
executed by Nigerian firms.”
2.3.3.4 Public sector in-house PR
The Nigerian state and federal ministries are staffed with information officers whose main
functions include generating support for government programmes and policies by sending

31
out messages, gauging the public’s reaction to these messages and then using feedback to
refine subsequent messages. However, it is yet to be determined whether government
information officers do perform the feedback function leading to the poor development and
implementation of PR strategies by Nigerian governments. Policy and structural factors
such as budgetary constraints, lack of communication facilities, and inadequate training of
government information officers are also prevalent among public-sector in-house PR
offices (Nwosu 1990 cited in Alozie 2004: 244).
2.3.3.5 PR practices and multinational oil companies
“The country's massive oil industry means that companies such as Shell, Total, Mobil,
Chevron and Oando play an important comms role. ‘Big Oil' has, though, attracted
vociferous criticism for some of its alleged activities in Nigeria, and has invested millions
in PR firms to defend its reputation.” (Sudhaman 2010)
Nigeria has constantly experienced crises in its Niger-Delta oil producing region. The
region consists of six states - Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross river, Delta, Edo and Rivers;
whose people have over many years had a frosty relationship with multinational oil
companies that operate in the region (Henderson and Williams 2004). As pointed by Koper
et al (2009), the Niger Delta crises and the Nigerian Government’s selfish and brutal
response to it has continued to impact the profile of PR practice and its professionalisation
in Nigeria.
The Shell Petroleum Development Corporation (SPDC) is a case in point.

32
SPDC is the dominant, oldest and largest of the six oil companies that operate in Nigeria.
SPDC has drilled oil in Nigeria since 1958 making billions of dollars in profits but heavily
polluting the environment in the process. The host communities, feeling that SPDC had not
behaved like a good community neighbour started a wave of hostage taking, vandalism,
killing of oil company workers, and other activities that hampered the business of SPDC
and made it lose millions of dollars (Ogbondah and George 2004).
Ogbondah and George (2004: 272) comment that SPDC’s initial response to these crises
can best be described as a ‘PR Disaster’ because they denied responsibility for the
environmental/ecological damages that resulted from their activities and instead, connived
with the Nigerian government in the blatant use of force to quell host community
uprisings. A typical example of Shell’s poor PR strategy at the time can be seen in the
handling of the Ogoni crisis.
The Ogoni people, tired of the squalor that they lived in demanded for more benefits from
the natural resources tapped from their land by SPDC and rather than listen and negotiate,
SPDC connived with the Nigerian government at the time to quell the uprisings by the use
of brute force (Ogbondah and George 2004; Coombs and Holladay 2007; Curtin and
Gaither 2007).
The situation was compounded when in 1995, the Nigerian government hanged Ken Saro
Wiwa and eight other environmental activists for their alleged involvement in the
assassination of four of its community leaders whom they suspected were receiving
financial favours from SPDC and compromising. The killing led to a series of militant
revolts among the Ogoni people but SPDC, knowing it had the full backing of the Nigerian

33
government which has a 55% stake in the company, kept quiet (Moss and DeSanto 2002;
Curtin and Gaither 2007). This incidence led to international condemnation of both Shell
and the then Nigerian military government and also a global boycott of Shell’s products
(Ogbondah 1999 cited in Ogbondah and George 2004: 267).
Donkin (1997) cited in Coombs and Halladay (2007: 124) notes that SPDC came to realise
the power and influence of its publics through the Ogoni experience and has subsequently
learnt to listen, understand and try to meet their reasonable needs. As at 2006, SPDC
introduced a new PR strategy with their host community which gives the host greater
decision power and control over their own development. In this new strategy, communities
identify their need areas, collectively decide how the set amount will be utilised, and
implement these projects using local content (SPDC Nigeria website 2013).
It can be noted that, although SPDC had more than sufficient capability to contribute to the
socioeconomic development of its host communities, it did not do so until crisis erupted.
The lesson to be learnt by other multinationals is that a sound corporate PR strategy must
of necessity incorporate two-way model of communications (Grunig and Hunt 1984)
between the organisation and its publics, giving the publics an opportunity ab-initio to
voice their concerns (Ogbondah and George 2004: 271).
2.3.3.6 The mass media and government influence
According to the BBC (2008), Nigeria has a vibrant media landscape which includes over
100 newspapers (local, regional and national), several state-run radio and TV stations
(national and regional), as well as a few privately owned stations; with the “publish and be

34
damned” principle still firmly entrenched within the Nigerian press (Koper et al 2009:
300).
Koper et al (2009:301) note with concern that the widest reaching media agencies are
government owned like Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN), News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN), Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) etc. This makes it almost impossible
for these groups to report government stories without bias compared to independent news
outlets like CNN, BBC and CBC. Despite above scenario, the Nigerian press can still be
viewed as agents of socio-political change as the debates they cover increase the awareness
of the average Nigerian towards government programmes, actions and inactions
2.3.3.7 The relationship between PR and the media/Journalists
There exists a critical relationship between the mass media and PR; which is ‘symbiotic’
but sometimes also ‘contentious’. Symbiotic in the sense that PR practitioners wish to use
the media for the purpose of publicity, while the media also depends on PR for information
subsidies (Sriramesh and Vercic 2003).
In Nigeria, the relationship between Journalists and PR practitioners is not only critical, it
is complex because of woven interests and idealism may be ethically compromised; the
journalist may no longer be seen as the “watchdog” of society but as an in-house PR
professional paid to “cover-up” the truth in corporate and governmental organisations
especially during crises (Koper et al 2009: 301).
This payment to skew the opinion of the Nigerian media in reporting events is described as
the ‘Brown Envelope Syndrome’ (BES). BES is derived from the nomenclature called

35
“Brown envelope …. [which is] derived from the underworld business of wrapping of
wares in brown envelopes” (Ekeanyanwu & Obianigwe, 2012: 514).
BES borders on the violation of media professionalism and ethics; and describes “a system
whereby journalist collect money or other material gifts from news sources, company
executives or event organisers to cover such events and probably give it the [widest]
publicity”. BES most and generally tampers with the journalists’ “responsibility of
informing the members of the public objectively and accurately” as it influences them to
write in “favour of the givers” (ibid).
In conclusion, Sriramesh (2013) cited in Abeywickrema (2013: 64) notes:
Every country in the world has deficiencies. Developed countries may be ahead in
some respects as far as PR education and practice are concerned but they are not
there yet by any stretch of the imagination ... most practitioners in developed
countries are struggling to cope with the demands of globalisation and operating in
emerging markets … [while] developing countries have infrastructural problems
and most have rather fledging PR programmes at the university level with scope for
a lot of improvement [but] both sides need to work toward bridging gaps – albeit in
different ways.

36
CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
In order to do a thorough appraisal of the current state of the Nigerian PR industry with the
view to identify gaps that may exist and suggest how these gaps may be filled by the
concerned stakeholders, the following research questions were put forward:
Research Question 1 (RQ1): What are stakeholder perceptions of PR in Nigeria?
Research Question 2 (RQ2): What is the current professional profile of the PR industry in
Nigeria?
Research Question 3 (RQ3): Is PR in Nigeria part of a management process or still a low
level tactical role?
Research Question 4 (RQ4): How effective has the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations
been in the role of contributing to the growth and progression of the Nigerian PR industry?
Research Question 5(RQ5): What forms of educational trainings are available to current
and aspiring PR practitioners in Nigeria?
Research Question 6 (RQ6): What areas/issues if addressed could facilitate the
professionalisation of the Nigerian PR industry?

37
3.2 METHODOLOGY
This study used three qualitative research methods for data collection including key figure
interviews, case studies and qualitative content analysis.
Qualitative research “usually emphasises words rather than quantification in the collection
and analysis of data …. [with] an inductive view of [showing] the relationship between
theory and research … [aimed] at understanding the social world through an examination
of the interpretation of that world by its participants.” (Bryman 2012:380). This study
chose to use qualitative methods because the “sampling techniques in qualitative research
are rarely probabilistic or random as in quantitative methods … [instead], they are …
strategic … [and] directly related to the purpose of the research” (Daymon and Holloway
2011: 209).
Strengths of qualitative research methods
Daymon and Holloway (2011:5) believe that the method has the “ability to delve into
meaning, and the critical or interpretive ways of thinking which are concerned with the
social construction of reality”. It also provides a rich account of the subject matter.
Weaknesses of qualitative research methods
Some of the weaknesses of qualitative methods are that they are “too impressionistic and
subjective” making it difficult to replicate because “qualitative investigators are the main
research instrument” with the researcher been more concerned about the integrity of his

38
findings than “generalisability” (Bryman 2008 cited in Daymon and Holloway 2011:10-
11). The method also tends to lack transparency because it has “few well-established and
widely accepted rules for the analysis” and for arriving at conclusions (Bryman 2012: 565).
3.2.1 KEY FIGURE INTERVIEWS
Interviews were described from an interpretive stance by Webb and Webb (1932) as
“conversations with a purpose” (Daymon and Holloway 2011: 220). Interviews are a
useful tool for gaining ‘cultural knowledge’ on a particular issue (Moisander and Valtonen,
2006 cited in ibid: 222).
Sample
In order to ensure a fairly all round revision of the Nigerian PR industry from all
stakeholders at least one participant each was selected from academia, media,
multinational company, indigenous company, PR consultants, PR professional
organisations and both public and private sector in-house PR practitioners. The samples
are top decisions makers in their organisations with substantial years of industry
experience and were therefore capable of giving informed points of view on the subject.
Please see table 2 (p98) for mini profile of interviewees.
Interview methods
Daymon and Holloway (2011: 220) suggest that interviews can be conducted face-to-face,
by telephone, through video conferencing or using online programmes. For this project,

39
fifteen e-mails requesting for interviews were sent. Out of these, one person declined, one
did not respond and the third person accepted too late into the research and was therefore
not interviewed. Out of the twelve interviews conducted, one was face-to-face, four were
via telephone, two were via Skype, three were via e-mail, two were via both e-mail and
telephone.
In all cases ‘qualitative interview’ method using a ‘semi- structured’ approach was used.
This method starts with a scheduled set of questions (called an interview guide) with the
view to get the interviewees detailed point of view on the subject but gives room for
‘rambling’ as a means of providing insight into what is important to the interviewee. This
method also allowed for an interviewee to be spoken to on more than one occasion
(Bryman 2012: 470-471).
To help develop a mini-profile for the interviewees, a pre-interview questionnaire was sent.
A standard format was not used, it was adjusted slightly to fit the type and purpose of the
interview. Please see appendix 1 for interview guides and appendix 2a, 2b for sample pre-
interview questionnaires
Ethics/Consent
Before the start of each interview, participants were informed that the study was designed
purely for academic purposes, their participation was voluntary and they could withdraw at
any time during the discussion. The permission of participants was sought to electronically
record the interviews and quote their views in the report either by their names or
anonymously depending on their preference.

40
Advantages of interviews
 Interviews tend to be flexible thus allowing the interviewer to gain understanding
of the viewpoints of the interviewees because of the opportunity it provides to
“prompt for more information if something interesting … emerges” (Daymon and
Holloway 2011: 220-221).
 E-mail interviewing provides interviewees the opportunity to reflect and review
their answers and make changes as appropriate before sending them to the
interviewer while telephone and online interviews make it easy to reach people that
are geographically distant or otherwise difficult to reach face-to-face because of
their activity schedule, hence saving the researcher time and money (ibid).
Disadvantages of interviews
Wimmer and Dominic (2006: 134) & Daymon and Holloway (2011: 238) highlight some
of the disadvantages of interviews to include:
 It is time consuming and labour intensive because of the quantity of data
usually collected and also the amount of time required to transcribe and analyse
this data.
 The interviewer can have an effect on the interview such that the respondent
could chose to modify certain responses to give the impression of positivism to
the interviewer.
 There is the possibility of misinterpreting the words of the participants during
data analysis; which could be due to cultural differences.

41
3.2.2 CASE STUDY
Bryman (2012: 66) states that “the basic case study entails the detailed and intensive
analysis of a single case”. According to Merriam (1988) cited in Wimmer and Dominic
(2006:137), this analysis is done with the aim of discovering new relationships between
variables rather than verifying existing hypotheses. Wimmer and Dominic 2006, notes that
this method draws from several data sources so as to investigate an event and understand
certain phenomenon.
Samples and sampling methods
Three universities that offer undergraduate PR courses or modules (under other
programmes) were selected as samples including the Mass Communications Department of
University of Jos, Nigeria (Unijos); the Mass Communication Department of Covenant
University, Nigeria and the PR and Communications Department of Leeds Metropolitan
University, UK (LeedsMet).
As suggested by Wimmer and Dominic (2006:138-140) the following were taken into
consideration in carrying out the case study:
Design: This answered “what to ask” and “what to analyse”; using available resources. For
this study, the design analysed the three samples and answered the questions in appendix 3.
Data collection: Data was collected from the websites of sample Universities; any
additional data was collected by contacting relevant persons/offices in the institutions.

42
Data analysis: According to Yin (1994) cited in Wimmer and Dominic (2006:139-140),
broad analytical data analysis can be carried out by ‘pattern-matching strategy’ -
comparing one or more predicted patterns; and/or ‘explanation building’ - seeking to gain
understanding through making statements about cause or causes of a phenomenon.
For this research, both pattern matching and explanation building were used to answer the
design questions.
Sampling challenges
Initially, the researcher selected University of Lagos as one of the samples of a Nigerian
Public University because research showed that it has one of the oldest Mass
Communications department in Nigeria and has a record of having produced the highest
number of Journalists, Broadcasters and PR practitioners in the nation (Unilag website
2014). The researcher however had to change this sample in the process of the research
because the information available on the programme on the University’s website was very
scanty. For example, the course curriculum was not available online. An e-mail and several
follow-up calls to the Head of Department requesting for these information proved abortive
as he was always very busy; even though he was kind even to grant a key figure interview.
The researcher also wishes to note that the revised curriculum (March 2013) found on the
website of the Department of Mass Communication, Unijos stated that it was ‘proposed’.
Contacts made to the department to confirm the current status of the curriculum showed
that the old one is gradually being phased out and the new is introduced. Currently, it has
been fully implemented for first and second year students. The idea of making it gradual
was to observe where changes will be needed before full implementation.

43
Advantages of case studies
According to Wimmer and Dominic (2006: 137), case studies offer a tremendous amount
of details for exploratory, descriptive or explanatory purposes as required; they can also
provide an explanation as to why something has occurred. Case studies give the researcher
an opportunity to deal with a wide spectrum of evidence ranging from historical artefacts,
documents and direct observations among others.
Disadvantages of case studies
Case studies have the disadvantage of producing a lot of data which might be time
consuming and therefore difficult to summarise. There is also a “general lack of scientific
rigor in many case studies” hence the possibility of a biased view by the researcher which
in turn might affect the results of the study, thereby making such results difficult to
generalise (Wimmer and Dominic 2006: 138).
3.2.3 QUALITATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS
Walizer and Weinir (1978) cited in Wimmer and Dominick (2006: 150) define content
analysis as “any systematic procedure devised to examine the content of recorded
information.”
Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) is one of the methods available for interpreting
documents which “comprises a searching-out of underlying themes in the materials being
analysed.” Documents in this case refer to “materials that have not been produced at the

44
request of a social researcher… but are ‘out there’ waiting to be assembled and analysed.”
(Bryman 2012: 543, 556-557)
“Coding is the starting point for most forms of qualitative data analysis” says Bryman
(2012: 575) because “codes … serve as shorthand devices to label, separate, compile, and
organise data.” (Charmaz 1983 cited in Bryman 2012: 568). This study used coding sheets
to collect data; samples are attached as appendix 4a and 4b.
Sample
The study carried out two QCAs on the following:
1) ‘CIPR Code of Conduct and Complaints Procedure Document 2013’ and
the ‘NIPR Code of Professional Conduct Document 1992’;
2) CIPR official website and NIPR official website.
Advantage of Qualitative Content Analysis
According to Priest (2010: 108-109); QCA exposes the researcher to latent content which
can help in understanding the nuances of certain communication, especially through
cultural context rather than as separate elements.
Disadvantages of Qualitative Content Analysis
Miles (1979) cited in Bryman (2012: 565) describes QCA as an ‘attractive nuisance’
because as much as it helps generate attractive data, it is difficult to find analytic paths
through the data richness hence leaving the researcher at the risk of “failing to carry out a
true analysis.” And in any case, Wimmer and Dominick (2006: 138-139) emphasise that
the data gathered will largely depend on the categories used in the analysis, therefore QCA

45
cannot be used solely as a basis for drawing conclusions about the effects that a particular
content has had on an audience.

46
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
Wimmer and Dominick (2006: 144) note that it is not possible to say everything in a
research report, this study has therefore selected quotes and examples that most vividly
answer the research questions and “illustrate the variety of information collected, including
situations that were uncommon or atypical.”
The research presents its findings in three chapters; each chapter discussing one of the
research methods used.
CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION OF KEY FIGURE INTERVIEWS
Interviews were used to answer RQ1, RQ2 & RQ3 and part of RQ4, RQ5 and PQ6.
RQ1: What are stakeholder perceptions of PR in Nigeria?
The Managing Director of an indigenous company (anonymous indigenous 2014) observed
from a business leader’s point of view:
The way and manner that PR is practiced these days has been ‘bastardised’ in the
sense that it has become the only means of getting favour or securing the execution
of an otherwise procedural task by organisations or the government or even
individuals … The usual cliché of ‘wetting the ground' before an orchestrated and
transparent procedure could produce result has become the norm … In my own
opinion, PR and marketing functions are interwoven. I see PR as the
communication aspect of marketing.
From a public sector in-house PR point of view, Mr. Olugbenga Odugbesan (Odugbesan
2014) the Head of Communications of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory
Commission remarked:
If you are talking to practitioners, it connotes some level of confidence … but if
you are talking to non-practitioners, two things are striking in their responses -
number one … brown envelopes and number 2 … advertising.

47
Discussing the brown envelope phenomenon, Odugbesan 2014, argued, “It doesn’t matter
how newsworthy your activities are, if you want to be on cover, you pay to be on cover …
which makes the job of a professional PR practitioner very difficult.”
Engr. Mansur Ahmed (Ahmed 2014), the Executive Director, Stakeholder Relations and
Corporate Communications at Dangote Group, described BES as an “unfortunate
development in the Nigerian PR landscape … organisations who do not participate tend to
get unfair media coverage because stories emanating from these media bodies tend to be
lope sided in favour of those who give brown envelopes.”
From a journalistic perspective, Mr. Mohammed Momoh (Momoh 2014), a Deputy Editor-
in-Chief at the News Agency of Nigeria notes in frustration:
Many PR persons do not know what they are doing; they rely on their bosses to tell
them what to do and in many cases, the journalists too tell them what to do … it is
because of such inadequacies that you give money to journalist; if you have a good
story, you do not have to give money to get it published.
Mr. Nnemeka Maduegbuna (Maduegbuna 2014), a seasoned PR Consultant and two-term
President of the PRCAN referred to a PRCAN 2010 report that “observed the growing
acceptance and importance of PR practises in Nigeria”. He noted though that in the
selection of government spokespeople and in-house PR staff, the government “assumes
that anyone who has some understanding of journalism or broadcasting is automatically
qualified to manage PR and communications programmes, the result is that public sector
communications leaves much to be desired.”
Describing further the perception that journalists can carry out PR roles, Dr. Ikenna Nwosu
(Nwosu 2014), Managing Director, Mooregate Nigeria Ltd explains, “The first word that

48
comes to my mind once I hear of PR is journalism … the PR industry is beginning to
complain that journalists are encroaching their territory.”
Both Dr. Olutayo Otubanjo (Otubanjo 2014), a Senior Marketing Lecturer at the Lagos
Business School in Nigeria and Maduegbuna 2014 noted from their years of experience in
PR consulting, that most organisations run to PR as a last resort when in crises. The
exception is with businesses in the fast moving consumer goods, telecoms and financial
sector services, which understand and utilise PR services.
Discussion:
Clearly, PR in Nigeria, especially among non-PR practitioners is still largely perceived as
the giving of brown envelopes, advertising and/or journalism as pointed earlier in the
study’s literature review. Ekeanyanwu 2014; Ahmed 2014; Momoh 2014 and Olugbenga
2014 note that the brown envelope syndrome (BES) is reflective of the endemic corruption
in Nigeria as a whole, in addition to the fact that the salaries of some journalists are not
regularly paid.
Ahmed 2014; Momoh 2014 and Olugbenga 2014 add that for PR practitioners to practice
ethically and refrain from getting caught up in BES, it is important for them to develop
personal relationships with the media. Most of all, PR practitioners must aim to send out
not just accurate information about their organisations, but package such information in a
news worthy manner, making it irresistible to the more serious media organisations.
Ekeanyanwu (2014) however argues:
I have done a lot of work around the subject and come to the conclusion that it’s
not always okay to consider the media in isolation of the wider society, it’s an

49
aberration … BES is not just a communication/PR issue but a societal problem that
has permeated the whole cultural ethos so much so that people no longer see it as a
bad thing … if you don’t play along, you will not survive but continue to suffer.
Of the six personal definitions of PR (appendix 5) by Nigerian interviewees, only three
saw it as a ‘mutually beneficial’ process, others saw it as a tool for influencing their
stakeholders for the benefit of their organisations. This aligns with Koper et al (2009)’s
views that the dominant PR practices in Nigeria been press agency and public information
models, both one-way asymmetrical communications techniques described by Grunig and
Hunt (1984).
RQ2: What is the current professional profile of the PR industry in Nigeria?
Dr. Rotimi Oladele (Oladele 2014), the President of NIPR states categorically, “I can
gladly tell you that PR in Nigeria has meet up with levels and requirements of been a
profession, an example is our chartered status”. He assessed the skills/knowledge/capacity
level of practitioners:
We cannot generalise, there are organisations and individuals that are doing very
well and can compete with professionals from any part of the world; we also have
several multinational companies in Nigeria whose PR desks are manned by
Nigerians, if they are not doing very well, they would have not spent five, ten,
years in that role … I can therefore confidently tell you that in the whole of West
Africa, Nigerian PR practitioners are in the forefront.
Odugbesan 2014 partially agrees with Oladele 2014, he notes:
Efforts by government to make PR a profession started decades back with an
enabling Act of parliament setting up the NIPR … but we haven’t really had much
adherence to the ethical principles upon which the profession is based … we have
had a situation where everybody is a PR practitioner … the level of professionalism
is still far far below what is expected… you have so many charlatans.
Maduegbuna 2014 argues that:

50
Gone are those days when the focus was essentially on media relations. We now
have a situation in which quite a number of Nigerian practitioners are able to
provide services in the essential disciplines … We are beginning to see more use of
research and planning in the development of PR programmes and an increasing
foray into digital communications … [though] the numbers of PR consultants who
provide services well beyond the tactical aspects of the practice are not as should be
the case.
Dr. Nnamdi Ekeanyanwu (Ekeanyanwu 2014), a Senior Lecturer and immediate past Head
of Mass Communications Department at the Covenant University, Nigeria disagrees:
Your question is … suggestive of the existence of a PR industry. It is only in our
imagination and in name only. I am a practitioner and educator in this area for more
than ten years. The industry does not exist and the worst scenario is a total lack of
professionalism amongst so-called practitioners. With regard to media relations
activities, we cannot easily move away from propaganda because professionals do
not man the industry as it stands now. It is currently an all comers affair … more
than 80 percent of practitioners in the field today do not have relevant or adequate
training to be so called or addressed as PR professionals.
A General Manager, Corporate Affairs in a multinational company in Nigeria (anonymous
multinational 2014) also disagrees, “PR does not attract the brightest and the best. It makes
recruitment very difficult and de-values the discipline.”
Discussion:
The NIPR has been empowered by the government to regulate the Nigerian PR industry
and ensure professional practice, they need to adequately use the powers they have been
given. Nwosu 2014 puts it thus:
A lot more fundamental work needs to be done on the drawing board in the area of
rigorous enforcement of the standards, let us see every trace of … [NIPR’s] ability
to bite as much as they bark, by that action, any PR firm that contravenes will face
dire consequences.
Of the twelve interviewees, Six are Nigerian PR practitioners, and of this number, five
practiced journalism before going into PR practice while four have Mass Communication
backgrounds (please see table 2). As observed by Koper et al. (2009), the focus on Media

51
Relations by the Nigerian PR industry might not be unrelated to the fact that a good
percentage of Nigerian PR practitioners have journalism backgrounds and studied Mass
Communication degrees; giving the practice an undue emphasis on media relations rather
than management, strategy and organisational behaviour.
The researcher however wishes to stress that interview participants have had various
trainings and work experiences in PR and therefore carry out PR functions that are beyond
media relations as seen in the summary of the roles they perform in their organisations
(Please see appendix 6) which include research, stakeholder management, crisis
management and reputation audit among others.
RQ3: Is PR in Nigeria part of a management process or still a low level tactical role?
Anonymous multinational (2014) comments, “As General Manager, Corporate Affairs, I
am benchmarked at the same level as my counterparts in commercial parts of the business
and I have an equal role/participation at executive level.”
Odugbesan 2014 shared his experience:
Given the valuable contributions that I made at meetings and the way I positioned
the communications unit, my management realised how significant
communications is to the success of the organisation … the unit was therefore
recently upgraded from being just a member of the General Management Team to a
fully-fledged member of the Executive Management Team.
Maduegbuna 2014 observed that:
There is an increasing understanding that PR should be managed in a more strategic
manner than was hitherto the case. It has to be observed that this development is
more evident in the private sector. Given the dominant role of the public sector,
the relatively lower level of appreciation of PR in the sector, has meant that the
various governments in the federation have not effectively used PR in the discharge
of their mandates.

52
Momoh 2014 concurred with Maduegbuna (2014)’s view on the state of PR in public
sector agencies, he explained, “The PR department is usually very large … with a
directorate cadre but in Nigeria, even when you have it as a directorate, the director in
charge does not attend management meetings.”
Dr. Abayomi Charles Daramola (Daramola 2014), Acting Head, Mass Communications
Department, University of Lagos, Nigeria, from a scholar’s viewpoint argued that “most
managements are yet to embrace PR as an important aspect of contemporary practice so
PR in most organisations is yet to be elevated to the level of executive management”.
Daramola 2014 explains further that the problem could partly be because “most of the
practitioners in Nigeria do not have the academic preparation for handling PR at a
management level.”
Discussion:
It can be concluded from these responses that, whether PR is part of a Management process
of an organisation or remains tactical, is largely dependent on the value that PR adds
towards meeting strategic organisational goals. The ability of PR teams to add such value
is heavily dependent on the capacity that they have as pointed by a participant in Hon’s
(2007:15) survey on excellence in PR, “the more high-profile problem you solve with
minimal pain, the more PR will be trusted and invited into the management suite.”
Out of the eleven roles listed by Nigerian PR practitioners (appendix 8), five have the
word management therein, this emphasises the importance of PR as a management
function as highlighted in this study’s chosen definitions of PR. Therefore, it is important

53
that Nigerian University PR curriculums be reviewed to include management as
recommended by Koper et al (2009).
RQ4: How effective has the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) been in the
role of contributing to the growth and progression of the Nigerian PR industry?
Outlined below are responses of some participants on how they view NIPR as a body
and/or benefits of membership:
“Unfortunately, I am a member. In the last ten years, the body has not had any significant
or insignificant impact in my career as an academic/scholar.” (Ekeanyanwu 2014)
“I am not sure I am a proud member of the NIPR … For me, it is still not an organisation
to associate oneself with.” (Otubanjo 2014)
“NIPR does not do much to add value to our professions.” (Daramola 2014)
“Membership may be nice-to have for some. However, on a personal level I am yet to see
the value of the membership. In recruitment decisions, membership of the organisation
confers no advantage.” (Anonymous multinational 2014).
During discussions with Oladele (2014), the researcher asked how NIPR handles PR
practitioners that are not members of the institute as the NIPR Act of 1990 states that
illegal to practice PR in Nigeria without first been registered with NIPR.” He disclosed:
We are doing what I can call ‘step by step approach to managing quackery’. Our
first step is to put in place value adding training programmes that will formalise

54
membership of those who are willing but are not members yet. We also have an
additional approach called ‘Windows of Opportunity’ [WOO]. WOO are those
programmes that will allow people who are already doing a PR job at top
management level … to come in for a week or two and go through rudiments of
principles and practices and then be able to get membership … we have a one year
window for all those in that category to normalise their membership after which our
Compliance and Advocacy Committee will be able to challenge these individuals
and their employers … by way of taking them to court through the Attorney
General of the Federation.
Oladele 2014 highlighted one of the major achievements of NIPR:
The Federal government has [further] recognised our body … [by asking] the
Ministry of Education to equate our diploma with a first degree of any university in
the commonwealth. So if you have a diploma with NIPR, you have no business
doing a first degree in Mass Communications you can go for your masters straight,
this shows the level of development and recognition of NIPR.
Odugbesan 2014 however feels that “NIPR in its decades of existence has not found it
important to form alliances and partnership with training institutions to boost the
professionalism of people who studied Mass Communications … this is stunting the
growth of PR practice and professionalism in the country.”
Maduegbuna 2014 enumerated how PRCAN, entrusted by NIPR with the responsibility to
administer PR consultancy in Nigeria has contributed to the growth of the industry:
- Providing an umbrella for sharing best practice amongst registered firms,
- Insistence on compliance with the legal requirements for practicing PR in Nigeria,
- Capacity development for the industry which has helped in grooming a cadre of
professionals with sound theoretical grounding in PR,
- Advocacy for PR through advertising campaigns, stakeholder engagements,
collaboration with various professional bodies etc.
Discussion:
This finding points that NIPR may be in operation but falls short of what members expect
from a chartered professional organisation and industry regulator in an increasingly global
world. Some of these gaps may be breached by NIPR joining an international PR body like

55
the Global Alliance whose mission among others is to raise the professional standards of
PR practices all over the world through knowledge sharing (Global Alliance 2014).
Oladele 2014 comments on NIPR’s membership in Global Alliance:
We have been members since 2001, but along the line, one of the leadership was
sentenced from the body and then discontinued. But by the grace of God in
September 2014, I will be in Spain to renew our membership and pay all our arrears
because if you want to be relevant, you must be global, if you don’t have a global
perspective, then you are not a current professional.
Cutlip et al (2006:132) note that the establishment of professional organisations is part of
the efforts been made by many practitioners to surround their practices with status and
promote competence among members through conferences, publications, seminars and
advocacy initiatives. The NIPR could add more value to its members by making the
aforementioned activities well-structured and well thought through so that members can
through these build capacity.
RQ6: What areas and issues if addressed could facilitate the professionalisation of the
Nigerian PR industry?
1. Focus on global and digital practice
Quentin Langley (Langley 2014), a Senior Marketing Lecturer, at the University of
Bedfordshire, UK lends his voice from an international perspective “Current practice is
increasingly digital and global. Even though the digital platforms will continue to change,
they will still be governed by similar principles such as interactivity, wisdom of crowds”
Olugbenga (2014); Momoh (2014) and Maduegbuna (2014) agree with Quentin’s view on
the importance of digital media to PR practice. Maduegbuna (2014) says “It is clear that

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