by Queen Nwabueze
Once upon a Lagos Monday, a press release was fired into cyberspace at 11:47 a.m. The subject line: “Company A reaffirms its commitment to excellence.” The body of the email? A buffet of corporate jargon and recycled boilerplate. No one clicked it. Not even the journalist it was addressed to.
Once again, you’re welcome to the modern state of public relations in Nigeria. Here, PR is often mistaken for a loudspeaker and not the orchestra.
We’ve turned reputation management into a shouting match. “Just send the press release.” “Just invite pressmen.” “Just put it on Instagram.” It’s all “just,” but never just right.
But PR isn’t supposed to be noise. It’s supposed to be narrative. And Nigeria needs a reawakening.
When PR Was Power? Yes! There was a time when PR meant relationships. Real ones. Editors knew PR people by name. Industry heads had go-to crisis whisperers. Political figures had people who understood the dance of silence and statement. Now, what do we have?
Someone with a Canva template and a Gmail account, flooding inboxes with buzzwords.
Why have we forgotten the power of strategic PR. We now treat it like a checklist:
• Send press release (checked)
• Post on social (checked)
• Invite press to eat rice at the launch and collect brown envelopes (checked)
What’s missing? Strategy. Influence. Timing. Empathy. Relevance. Context. Stakeholder management.
The Rise of PR Girls, the Fall of PR Thinking
Let’s address the elephant in the press room: The PR Girl syndrome. No, this is not an attack on women. It’s a critique of how PR roles are being diluted and feminised into photo-op gigs. Let’s make this topic for another day. (But for this post, just take “PR Girl” to mean both genders).
Pretty girl. Red dress. Event host. PR.
But where is the narrative crafting? Where is the crisis simulation? Where is the stakeholder mapping?
When was the last time a PR lead sat down with the legal team, risk officers and marketing to plan for a brewing national crisis before the first tweet hit the fan?
We’ve reduced PR to a pretty face beside a step-and-repeat banner.
Real PR is not about appearances. It’s about agenda setting.
Case Study 1: Silence as Strategy – The Dangote Refinery Play
Dangote Group, love them or hate them, understands silence. When every other brand was doing online gymnastics to stay relevant, Dangote Refinery stayed mostly quiet. But when they speak? Headlines shift.
They understand timing. They understand power. They understand that not all stories need telling immediately.
That’s PR mastery – knowing when to step forward and when to stay behind the curtain.
Case Study 2: GTBank’s Blog Power
While some banks were busy chasing viral trends, GTBank created Ndani TV and GTBlog. Owned media. Controlled narratives. Real cultural imprint.
They knew something we forgot: If you don’t tell your story, someone else will and they might tell it wrong.
GTBank’s PR game wasn’t perfect, but it had foresight. And more importantly, it spoke in the language of its audience.
PR is not press distribution at least not anymore. It’s perception engineering now.
Perception is the most valuable currency in Nigeria. It’s why some companies survive fraud scandals, while others collapse under a bad tweet.
But perception isn’t built in a day. It’s curated like art. And it requires:
• Knowing your audience
• Understanding your stakeholders
• Predicting public mood
• Using the right platforms
• Building media relationships beyond brown envelopes
You can’t hack that with a 200-word press release and an event flyer. Sorry.
Crisis Management: The True Test of PR
At this juncture, let’s play a game. A fuel tanker explodes near your depot. CNN is sniffing. A viral video shows your logo.
What do you do?
Many Nigerian brands will:
• Go silent (in the name of silence is also strategy).
• Panic.
• Release a badly written statement signed by “Management.”
What should happen:
• Immediate acknowledgment (not apology) within 60 minutes.
• A unified statement from legal, PR and leadership.
• Social listening to track sentiment.
• A face to the name, spokesperson, not ghostwriter.
• Controlled interviews, owned media and clarity over spin.
The problem? Most brands have no PR war room.
The Government PR Model: What Not to Do
If you want a masterclass in how not to manage perception, observe how many Nigerian government agencies handle scandals:
• Deny first.
• Attack critics (did you read the trending one? “Atiku, Amaechi, El-Rufai failed politicians desperate for power, says APC.” They are all the same sha o).
• Blame saboteurs.
• Throw in a big word like “restructuring.”
There’s no stakeholder communication. No pre-crisis planning. No media liaison.
We forget that even in silence, a brand is speaking. And if you don’t speak for yourself, your silence becomes your story.
This piece is to advocate building a PR culture that actually works.
So how do we reclaim the lost art of strategic reputation management?
1. Train PR Officers Like Strategists, Not Socialites
Make them read. Make them shadow lawyers, marketers, security experts. PR is multi-dimensional.
2. Map Your Stakeholders Ruthlessly
Who matters? Who talks? Who influences who? Understand the chain of public perception. From social media influencers to traditional rulers – just know the terrain.
3. Have a Narrative, Not Just a Slogan
Don’t just say “We care.” Show how. Build a narrative that aligns with action. People can smell inconsistency o.
4. Treat Journalists Like Partners, Not Megaphones
Build relationships just like the good old MEDIA RELATIONS. Share exclusives. Offer real access. Respect deadlines. Good media friends can save you when the storm comes.
5. Invest in Owned Media
Your blog, your YouTube, your platform. Own the microphone so no one hijacks your voice.
Public Relations in Nigeria has been hijacked by surface-level thinking. But the true practitioners the real reputation engineers know that:
• PR is about consistency, not clout.
• PR is about relationships, not retweets.
• PR is about perception, not just press.
We need fewer “PR girls” and more PR generals. Fewer press kits, more crisis playbooks. Fewer hashtags, more headlines that actually matter.
Because in the end, what people remember isn’t how loud you shouted, it’s how well you managed to make them believe.
PR is not noise.
It is narrative control.
It is public diplomacy.
It is reputation warfare.
And Nigeria especially now needs it more than ever.
