  notification by the federal government. Inner decreased economy overseasini and senior advocate of mi MP. On election per PROFI 60 days. Mind through and the agency usually the ries to achieve its true  yha that the great fund was practical, mis democratic policy It would be strange to hear anyone adding the role of communication to the challenges. Yet the country's most intractable problem is poor communication. A typical Nigerian organization, communication is generally taken for granted. The usual assumption is that people know or ought to know several things, while no effort is made to ascertain whether such things have been made known to them or whether those who may have been informed even understood the information. Consequently, when different public policy actors in the country operate across purposes with one another, it is simply a reflection that Nigeria is not a communicate nation. To help us understand this issue, joining us live is Uche Wora, Ph.D., Prof. of Marketing Continent State University, USA. ASE, if I may call you that, doc would have been better, Dr. Wora would have been better, but I know that beyond that western title, there is also a traditional title. Good evening and welcome to Plus Politics. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. I want you as a communications expert, somebody who has been in the industry both locally and internationally and who has given some decades into it. Why is it that we seem to be having a widening communication golf between public authorities and majority of Nigerians? Well, I think it's like you have rightly observed this general problem in the sense that in some organizations and even some government agencies, whether at the local government, state level and even to some extent the federal government level, the people that are being charged with that responsibility of communicating the goals, objectives, policies, activities of the government have in the past been people who do not have the requisite qualification and the background as well. So that's why it appears that many who argue that these agencies that I mentioned have not really been communicating very well. So what does that tell us? It tells us that there is a need for people who are trained in the act of communication to be given such responsibilities. And I recall two or three months ago when the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations held their annual AGM. I am part of what the new president said in his speech talking about Dr. Ikenelia was that he expects that during his administration or during his tenure that government agencies that he hopes to enforce with the council of NIPR such that government agencies and even the government itself will only employ people that are well trained in communication in the act of communication to handle such function. So I think there is a problem that has been identified and you can see also that I can mention the agency or the professional body responsible for communication in Nigeria is now beginning to move in that direction and that is why the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations found it very, very encouraging that the current minister of information is the fellow of the profession and as well the current general of customs is the fellow of the profession. So we are beginning to see a move towards getting people that are trained in communication in public relations to handle such strategic roles. Thank you. There was a time when we were growing up when organizations such as MAMSA would literally choke our earlobes with contents. We were going in any direction, you could get to hear radio and the TV jingles blaring off with MAMSA's contents. As we speak, is it the proliferation of public communication platforms, especially the social media platforms and the seeming granularity that they offer an average person? Is it that or is it poverty that is making people to just be somewhat disconnected from authorities? What's been your professional observation first of all? I'm very glad that you mentioned MAMSA because in the 80s and 90s we recall the activities of MAMSA MAMSA means mass mobilization of social, economic and realisation something like that, I think it was during the era of Obamagita they also had a war against the discipline campaign they recalled that very well. And those were policies of the government that really resonated in the sense that they were able to achieve the objectives that those programmes were supposed to achieve I recall that there was one very popular campaign that they ran and I think it was 1984 and 1985 recalled the one that they did with a guy called Ennebelly that he wanted to check it out. I mean he is still there today and that was what the federal government pulled out to discourage people from jahaing but again you would expect that when you read that Nigerians are in a mad rush to leave the country such kind of campaigns will come back. Now back to your question I should think that now with modern technology with social media because at the time that MAMSA and the Y campaigns we only had the NTA the broadcast ecosystem had not been liberalised but still they were still able to push those projects across but today we are spoiled for choice Instagram, Facebook, TikTok several newspapers look at us now you are sitting in your studio I am sitting at home and I am talking with you so the government and all those agencies responsible for driving and pushing policies are spoiled for choice in terms of the communication systems and the media they can use to drive and push their policies so why is that not happening I think that's another the multiplicity or the proliferation of the platforms also speak to the fact that the cost of running promotions the cost of engaging all those platforms would naturally also increase yes the guys that are driving these policies have not come to tell us that the challenges will cost because let's look at it let's even look at the federal government they still run the machinery of the NTA which is easily the biggest TV broadcast organisation in Africa they have all the regional NTA you have federal radio cooperation of Nigeria you have BJCC of Nigeria you have Voice of Nigeria and also because of the federal government the powers that they have they are able to influence even the state-owned media as well to help them in terms of pushing some of their policies and agenda so I think maybe the challenge that's my view it probably could be that there hasn't been like a well thought out communication plan because for you to any communication activity that you intend to carry out it begins with a plan a plan of what is our agenda what is our objective what we want to achieve once you have that objective and you have all that set out then you now talk about the resources how are we going to do this you have your friendly media and then you also have what you are called not so friendly media how do you reach them sometimes some of these things are done based on goodwill which is also why when you are pointing people to such positions you argue that it's better to appoint people from the industry because if you appoint some people from the industry they have leverage there will be people that they worked with in the past those who may be occupying various senior positions in the media so they are able to leverage on some of those things so some of these things are not really paid for but again it's the relationship that matters so cost is not a problem and at the same time I must say that it doesn't cost money to execute a communication activity of course the federal government even organizations if you want to carry out the computer there should be budget attached to it but again it depends on how you manage the budget then some of the other things you can get proven I am just wondering I got to know you in England about 20 something going 30 years ago and until date you will agree with me that the BBC is still a reputable platform where an average serious minded person like yourself or myself would quickly flip toe wanting to validate or confirm a story I know let's be honest with ourselves I know that even the social media platforms are really wrestling the BBC space in say in England and in some other advanced countries like in America where you lecture I know that the social media platforms too wrestle the platforms the credibility space with some of these reputable organizations but I haven't said that why are some why is it that the NTA does not have the octopus of reach that the BBC seems to have in a place like North Kingdom well let me give you a case study I mean I will probably need to mention names I was appointed the managing director chief executive officer 2014 by the immediate past government of the NTA that was following a nationwide competitive interview process when we went in there the things that we met on the ground it was huge and hugely challenging we set out on it and what did we achieve within the space of six years we had over a million followers on our facebook portal facebook platform and what I am giving this example is you may be a BBC you may be an NTA that's not enough you need to do the hard work as well of building credibility you know putting content in because if you know that you are in competition with the new upsets this is the age of citizen journalism this is the age where everybody sitting at home can tweet send information people this is the age of social media influence so I think it's more a task for the managers of some of this media houses to begin to see themselves as also competing for patronage competing for attention competing for listenership and that's why where NTA where radio Nigeria ultimate people come it doesn't work like that look at what has happened to the print media how many people see by newspapers because everything nice on the platform is on your phone your smartphone which is why cleverly some smart newspaper oppositions I am talking about punch newspaper I am talking about the trolls some of them also migrated online  1940                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Ә០្៕៬ Ә'។។'១ јៗ'៘ Ә'្្៎ Ә'ៗ'០ Ә'្'៘ Ә'។្'ė Ә'្'។'៓ Ә'្'្'្' Ә'្'្'្'ʕ Ә'្'្'្' Ә'្'្' ἐ្' ed Ә'្'ʕ Ә'្'៓ Ә'្'។ The topic like this is not to be brought forward by the fact that we have a dedicated agency that was created by the CRE in 1993 which has transplanted into an act of parliament now called the National Orientation Agency, NOA. In fact, by the very appointment of the incumbent minister, it's been elevated to a ministerial level. So, what would be the suggestion of somebody like you to whoever is running that agency, especially when the incumbent minister is the fellow of an organization where you are also a leader? Well, I think they have their job cut out for the NOA. I read in the papers, was it last, they recently appointed a Gigi for that agency. I think they have a lot of work to do. Because I look at the NOA today and I'm thinking about the Mansa days. I'm thinking about what against the display days. We need to see first of all, what are the issues in the society? What NOA, what are they supposed to be doing? First, I think, you know, there are all kinds of hills, there are all kinds of challenges in the society. How is NOA able to push? NOA is not just there to be a government mahogany, just to push what the government wants, what the government is doing. NOA is actually supposed to be a national orientation agency. What is orientation? Or the government suggests that there are things that are hills in the society that needs to be corrected. What are some of those hills you and I know in the society? There is a high level of disability in the society, particularly among the young persons. He was in the news yesterday about the issue from many ports that killed the girlfriend and all that. So we see young people are beginning to get into rituals. Those are the kind of jobs that the NOA is supposed to be doing. Are people following the queue? If you go to a bank or if you go to a client, these are some of the things that the NOA should be getting into. So we want to see them do more, yes. I cannot but want to... I know this is consultancy and he is not supposed to be cheap or free, but we just have to give something back to the community that made us. I think I read in... Was it your autobiography when you were about leaving your last... this thing that you are really passionate now about also giving back. So that's one of the reasons that made me. But let's be honest with ourselves. It does seem that the public is somewhat now functionally and organically disconnected from government agencies. And for somebody like me who really believes that one of the best ways for us to annex the inherent advantage of the population is for us to at least have a galvanizing authority or a galvanizing force that will let us realize the inherent powers economically, creativity-wise and otherwise and I'm not seeing that being achieved in that society. And it's somewhat disillusioning for me. A professional like you, what can you speak to? And how can people like us also people in government to know that there's a valuable Western resource out there because they're not connecting? I think you and I live in this country and we know what the nation has passed through in the last one to two years. I mean we just come up with a national election and a re-election in some states. And for some people the election didn't go the way they wanted. For some it did go the way they wanted. So it kind of pitted people against one other brother, against his neighbor, friend, colleague at work, against colleague. I think the very first thing we need to do is start the process of national healing. Yesterday the Supreme Court in their wisdom came up with a final decision that President Bola Mekinubu is the elected president of Nigeria. So it is hoped that now that we have the politics behind us yes there are some cases at the appeal courts it will involve some members of the House of Reps and some members of the Senate but again people are more focused on that of the president. So we seem to have that point now where we can say yes definitely this is where we are going to be for the next four years. So you will now expect that the APC government having now gotten that judgment yesterday on the Supreme Court to now begin a serious process of national healing. Very very desirable. Our legals at the time of the government elections we know all the things that were said all the actions all the activities that was done against a particular ethnic group by another ethnic group. So it's now time for us to move on. What I mean by move on is the government has to now be seen to be pulling everybody pulling the house together. If that doesn't happen it does not matter what the communicators or all the various media agencies belonging to the government it doesn't matter what they say. Critical attitude in communication is credibility it is source credibility the person talking to you the person talking to you telling you to do this or do that what is the credibility of that person. Another very important ingredient in communication is another very important ingredient in communication is empathy. The person the source communicating must have empathy for the other person. So once you put all these things together then we might begin to see understanding we might begin to see that process of healing happening. Now let's ask ourselves as well I think the president the government they have been able to you know appoint you know essay media I think they have about five, six people handling different functions in public communication that's all the problem is that the solution to the problem? Okay he reads some of these things and what I think the federal government is doing is their communication model and approach is a bit top down to me you know they sit up there and are talking down to the people I haven't seen that attempt or that effort to try grassroots communication grassroots what do I mean by grassroots I think about my mother in the village I think about my relatives in the village do they hear from the federal government you know how because it's not enough that you go on Twitter and post a message you know how many people are on social media you okay you put it in the newspaper how many people read newspapers you put it on TV how many people can afford the you know the DSTV subscription model if you look at the theory of concentric cultural diameter 70% of the population live in the rural areas so what's the plan both by the federal government and to communicate with people living in the rural areas where are those traditional forms of communication for other people in the south there are things that we use to communicate I mean easily you know call it the organic or the way the gong okay so federal government need to begin to think about those traditional models that our parents have used you know okay so it will be a hybrid integration of various systems not just social media Facebook and all that not just TV just like we are talking on TV right now not just radio but what are the other aspects I also want to see a situation where because of you know the where we are coming from in terms of the election that just ended even if I would advise the federal government to consider a south sorry a regional approach or regional model where for example if you come to the six geopolitical zones or even go to the states you begin to look for credibility to people that you can use you know because you know the theory of like I talked about credibility there are people that are called opinion leaders opinion builders in every community in every state in every geopolitical zone people may people may believe more things coming from people that they hold within their community rather than what the government agency or government official is telling them so these are some of the various things that I think I will advise and I will suggest you know that the federal government may consider going forward you know so that their communication and their messages whatever ideas that they want to push out will reach the people I really empathize with those who are in government these days because like you already suggested you know more town hall meetings more people's councils in the west now I think France did it not too long ago you form people's councils and you pick representatives from across all social society and all professions and and disciplines so that when they meet initially it gets very hot but over time when they start ideating and they start understanding each other's positions and each other's predispositions a congealing of ideas you know consensus will be I really want to appreciate you you have been a value adder for all the things good good dollars for I'm making you give for free but Nigeria is apart from whatever maybe the opportunities we have in other climbs Nigeria is ancestral home thank you very much thank you for the opportunity thank you for having me we're going to short break now when we come back we take the second segment we're going to short break