PUBLIC
RELATIONS CONCEPTS
There is a purpose for the emergence of every profession in any given society and environment. So also is the public
relations practice in Nigeria, which started before the country’s independence. According to Fassy
Yusuf, (2000) public relations practice commenced in the country in the early 1940s as a result of World War II. The country,
which was then under the British colony, participated in the execution of the war. Knowing the importance of information to
Nigerians on happenings in the war front, the government created a Special Information Centre for that purpose. With this,
there was better understanding between the colonialists and the colonised Nigerians, especially, when the citizenry realised
the necessity of their independence. The centre later metamorphosed into the Public Relations Department in 1944, when Nigerians
were employed to manage it for better and further information dissemination.
In the private
sector, the first company to establish a public relations department was the United African Company, popularly known as UAC.
The unit was known in 1949 as Information Department. The Nigerian Railways Corporation, a government parastatal, also established
its own unit in 1956 where Dr. Sam Opelle served as the first public relations officer. The Shell Petroleum Development Company,
then BP, created its own outfit in 1969.
It was the
effort of people like Sam Opelle, Chief Olu Holloway, Alhaji Ade Thani, Adewale Fashanu and Mr. Malafa that the first umbrella
organisation of public relations practitioners was established in1963, known as Public Relations Association of Nigeria (PRAN). The association was renamed Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in 1969.
It was later legally empowered by the Decree 16 of 1990. The decree made NIPR a chartered body and empowered to determine
what standards of knowledge and skills are to be attained by all persons seeking to become registered members of the PR profession.
The decree was signed through the efforts of past presidents of the institute which
include Chief Alex Akinyele, Chief Bob Ogbuagu, Mr. Mike Okereke and Alhaji Sabo Mohammed.
CONSULTANCY AFFILIATE
The first known affiliate of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations is the Public Relations Consultancy Association
(PRCAN), which according to Cajetan Otuekere-Ubani, was established and inaugurated in 1984 by Major General Tunde Idiagbon,
the then Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters in General Buhari’s administration. Mr. Toye Ogunmorin was its first president
with four consultancy firms as its pioneer members. They are Bloomel Public Relations Practitioners, Progan Promotions, Good
Contact Public Relations Services and Philips, Johnson and Associates.
Some of its
aims and objectives are to raise and maintain standards in the practice of the profession; and to provide facilities for government,
public bodies, professional associations, industrial concerns, financial institutions, social, cultural and religious organisations.
It also aims to improve the relationship of public relations professionals with employers and clients, with government and
its agencies, with communications media and their agencies.
Some names
have been mentioned of those personalities who are the doyens of public relations consultancy in Nigeria. Festus Akande confirmed that consultancy commenced in the late sixties
and early seventies with the late Ebun Adesioye, Dr. Clarkson Majomi, Chief Dotun Okubajo, Mr. Olu Ademulegu, Otunba Kunle
Ojora and Peter Hospdales as the doyens in the practice. He added that all these practitioners were practising their consultancy
service individually with no merger between them.
FINANCE AFFILIATES
It is said that as the human society becomes more complex and diversified, the professions of man become more specialised.
In most developed societies, there are alliances of people of specialised occupation and professions coming together to form
associations for the protection of such concerns. Some emerge from already existing unions as affiliates. For instance the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) is another compartmentalisation with other affiliates
like Correspondents Chapel, Finance Correspondents Association of Nigeria (FICAN), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN),
National Association of Women Journalists (NAWOJ), etc. In fact, a further scrutiny reveals that the NUJ itself, according
to some quarters, is just one of those organisations under the umbrella of Nigeria Press Organisation which includes the Nigerian
Guild of Editors and Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria. The same thing applies to advertising where the Advertising
Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) regulates the practice of the profession with bodies like Association of Advertising
Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) and Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) carrying out their activities under
the umbrella of APCON.
The Nigerian
Institute of Public Relations too witnessed the same situation where affiliates like the Public Relations Consultants Association
of Nigeria (PRCAN), and Association of Corporate Affairs Managers in Banks (ACAMB), emerged in 1996 and as the case with the
latter has the objective of evolving and implementing strategies to improve and sustain a good image for the nation’s
banking industry.
One notable
researcher who has successfully identified the problems of financial public relations in reference to the distress in the
banking sector is Abubakar Alhassan who states that the idea behind the emergence of ACAMB was first mooted by the corporate
affairs managers at the 1992 Bank Directors Seminar organised by Financial Institute Training Center
in Abuja. Subsequently, discussions were made informally among
some of the Banks’ Public Relations managers in Lagos.
He continued that the machinery for formal discussion of the idea was set in motion after a media management seminar held
at Badagry also in Lagos in 1996 at which suggestion for the
formation of the body was extensively discussed. Subsequently, a series
of meeting were held at Eko Hotel, Lagos, during which the
PR managers of banks agreed to have an association. They set out the association’s aims and objectives and also laid
conditions for membership.
Membership
of the association is open to all Heads of PR in the banking sub-sector. In addition, all members of the association must
have been duly registered with the NIPR as required by decree 16 of 1990. A member who ceases to be a PR manager in the banking
industry, has automatically relinquishes the right to membership but may be considered for Associate membership. There is
also the Code of Conduct for membership, which states, among others, that erring members whose acts contravene any rule or
regulation of the association will be reprimanded.
The first
Annual General Assembly of ACAMB was held in September 1996, during which elections were held into offices of the association’s
Executive Committee. The Executives were sworn in during the Committee’s inauguration on 3rd December, 1996.
Those sworn in were Kabir Dangogo,as President; Tunde Thomas, Vice President; Waheed Olagunju, Secretary General; Aduke Gomez
(Ms), Financial Secretary; Steve Osuji, Publicity Secretary; and Emeka Adio,as Assistant Secretary General; and five EX-officio
members are Abubakar Minjibir, Tony Ede, Toyin Abayomi-Banjo, Gbade A. Zanda and Ogie Eboigbe.
Since every
serious body must have a legal framework, which is to guide it in its operation, ACAMB has its constitution and Code of Conduct.
As a non-profit making body established to foster interaction among PR managers of the banking sub-sector and advise the leadership
of the sub-sector on the PR implications of policies and development, the association is registered under the Companies and
Allied Matters Decree of 1990.
Some of the objectives of the association include to evolve and implement strategies to improve and sustain a good
image for the nation’s banking industry; educate the public on relevant banking laws and policies; represent the industry
as a group on public relations matters; promote and protect the interest of the banking industry as well as carrying out public
enlightenment campaigns on behalf of the industry. It is also intended to promote continuous public confidence and trust in
the nation’s banking industry and to promote facilities for training the members of the association on banking practice
and other related matters.