COVID-19: NIPR faults FG on strategic communications management
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, has faulted the federal government efforts on strategic communications in its fight to contain the global pandemic of COVID-19, noting that “if certain strategic moves been made to engage other critical stakeholders in constituting its Presidential Task Force (PTF) so that they can avail the nation of their expertise in some aspects of handling the situation would have yielded better results.
Specifically, President of NIPR, MR Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo in a statement made available in Lagos recently said; “strategic communication is important, not only public enlightenment as the crafting of appropriate messages for it and also networking with other stakeholders as well as analysis of the pros and cons of measures to be taken as they affect segments of the society.
The NIPR chieftain who commended the federal government for some of the successes recorded so far in containing the COVID-19, stated that his organisation has been partnering with sister organisations within and outside the nation to gauge public opinion and perception in evaluating the efforts of government agencies involved in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in our nation. This has helped our professional peer review initiative with similar efforts across the world.
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His words: “Particularly, we will like to commend the efforts of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) put in place by the federal government, with the very supportive roles being played by the Federal Ministry of Health, and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) peopled by our own indefatigable medical personnel and caregivers, as well as the various state governments, groups/associations, and corporate organizations that have played prominent roles in lending hands of support and succour to both the government and the citizens.
“The general perception is that if synergy is improved upon and the efforts more carefully coordinated, Nigeria will yet again rise to this occasion, as was done during the Ebola outbreak.
“We, however, observe that the relative success so far recorded would have been even greater had certain strategic moves been made to engage other critical stakeholders in constituting the Task Force so that they can avail the nation of their professional expertise in some aspects of handling the situation.
The medical dimension of the COVID-19 is no doubt, the spindle around which the wheel revolves, but the pandemic is also a crisis of monumental proportions. Strategic crisis communication is therefore also important as handling the situation requires not only public enlightenment but also the crafting of appropriate messages for it, networking with other stakeholders as well as analysis of pros and cons of measures to be taken as they affect segments of the society.
“This brings us to the issue of the deep concerns being expressed by Nigerians, including, crucially, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), on the involvement of Chinese citizens, albeit their medical professionals, in handling the pandemic the situation in Nigeria. Apart from causing possible professional friction in managing the situation, which the nation can ill afford at this time, information already being circulated, be it fake or real, points to a perceived doubt of the altruism of Chinese involvement in the fight against the pandemic. We hasten to add that, had strategic communication being deployed, before accepting the Chinese offer, the country might not have been in this somewhat embarrassing situation. In our considered opinion, taking a strategic stakeholder like the NMA into confidence through regular consultations would have enriched the initiative and provided professional expertise to accommodate the peculiarities of our reality.
“With the WHO commendation of Nigeria’s effective efforts at curbing the pandemic, what our doctors need among others, is some encouragement and a boost at this crucial time and not a move that would seem to demoralise them. Our reputation as a nation and as a people as well as our territorial integrity is at stake; we must, therefore, guard against mortgaging it for anything.”
He advised the federal government to once more review its position and carefully handle the matter in a way that reassures the citizens of its full understanding of the situation, while at the same time upholding the existing cordial relationship between Nigeria and China.
“At a time like this, what matters to every nation, is the defence of its integrity and the interest of its citizens. This is what we believe to be uppermost in the mind of the Federal Government in handling the COVID-19 and any other ancillary issues arising; and to that extent, the NIPR will continue to support the initiatives of both the federal and state governments, as well as other concerned organisations involved in providing genuine sustainable solutions. It was to support government as well as underscore the gravity of the situation that we got into, that the NIPR, before the government came up with the directive on social distancing, not only suspended all its activities, including the Annual General Meeting, but also closed all its offices more than two weeks ago, ” he said.
