2023: Nsirim Tasks PR Practitioners On Political Communication

Ahead of the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria, Public Relations practitioners have been charged to interface between politicians and the people for effective communication and internalisation of campaign messages.
Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Pastor Paulinus Nsirim, gave the charge in his address at the Rivers State Chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Masterclass with the theme, “Public Relations Imperatives On Electioneering Campaigns In Nigeria”, held at the Police Officers Wives’ Association (POWA) Complex, Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Nsirim, who doubles as the state chairman of the institute, noted that Public Relations practitioners are professionally skilled, and can be employed by politicians to communicate their social contract plans to the Nigerian populace.
Stressing the need for every practitioner to stay equipped for the times, Nsirim stated that Nigeria is at a crossroad, hence PR practitioners are obligated to not only interrogate the political process, but also get the political gladiators to appreciate the essence of governance and leadership.
“Every right-thinking Nigerian understands that this country is at a crossroad, and we cannot afford to leave our political process in the hands of those who do not have what it takes to offer us quality service to bring us out of our political quagmire,” he said.
Citing the current Electoral Act, the PR Fellow expressed hopes that should PR practitioners be actively involved in the political process, the nation would have credible and fair elections that would produce leaders who are passionate and zealous to deliver quality service.
“Politicians communicate but they don’t communicate effectively. So, our duty as practitioners will be to guide them to communicate effectively so that the populace will internalize their campaign messages in a manner that will help in our leadership recruitment process in 2023″, he said.
In his paper presentation titled “Communication Strategy For Election Campaigns”, the Lead Facilitator, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, said that there was a nexus between politics and communication, stating that the PR practitioner was trained to not only manage the communication of politicians, but also the perception of the people.
Okusanya said, “You can communicate without influencing, but you can’t influence without communicating, and the PR practioner is better trained and equipped with that skill”.
He, urged practitioners to seize the opportunity in the gap for an effective electioneering process.
Be part of the season and don’t let the season pass you. Every problem presents a gap and every gap is an opportunity,” he said.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu