Lack of defined national vision, identity impedes communication for development – expert
A fractured polity, lack of clearly defined national vision and identity that the citizens can aspire to, failure to articulate a sense of shared national values and ideologies around which actions should be based are key consequences of Nigeria’s failure to use strategic communication in national development.
This assertion was made by Udeme Ufot, Group Managing Director, SO&U at the 8th edition of Business Hallmark’s Public Policy Forum Lecture series last week in Lagos
The event which witnessed a modest turn-out of marketing communication professionals including Lolu Akinwunmi, Kunle Adelaja, Kelechi Nwosu, Marc Wabara, former chairman of Hallmark Bank, had the theme “Image and the Message: The role of strategic communication in Nation Building and National Development.
Udeme began the speech by going down memory to identify the origin of the Nigeria’s social political dysfunction which began when the colonialists joined together a very diverse group of people into a union at their own convenience. He noted that national identity has been defined by tribal and ethnic sentiments through the different administrations in Nigeria.
Government’s failure to articulate a clearly defined national communication policy was brought to the fore at the discourse when he revealed that successive government’s communication efforts have being pedestrian.
Explaining this, he made comparison from the British government’s communication strategy when it decided to adopt privatization under Margaret Thatcher’s administration and former president Goodluck Jonathan’s announcement of removal of subsidy in January 2014.
According to him, while the British government spent time and resources educating the citizen’s almost a year prior to the adoption of the policy, the Nigerian government ambushed the citizen on the morning of a new year with the policy announcement setting the stage for protests and popular outrage.
According to Ufot, strategic communication is an act of defining, designing and implementing tailored communications plans and initiatives about programmes and activities of a product, an individual or an institution to elicit the desired response.
He described communication as strategic when it is capable of influencing the behaviors and perspective of a people in favour of a common cause.
“Strategic communication will give people the platform to adapt their views and acquire new knowledge and skills.”
Udeme stated that the government should see itself as a business and the country a brand that must be managed for good. All key government functionaries are managers and custodians of the brand whose actions and inactions could have positive or negative impact on the brand.
“We are operating in a fast changing and highly competitive global market space and must struggle to create and maintain our own space in the comity of nations and earn the respect that we desire and deserve.”
Emeka Obasi, publisher, Business Hallmark, and the event organizer stated that the organization will continue to provide the platform for future engagements on public policy issues.
“The public policy lecture series continues to be a forum where policy makers and the public will continue to engage on critical issues. This has been a very seminal lecture. We have had a lot of people come on this platform but I have learnt a lot today.”
Marc Wabara, former Chairman of Hallmark bank who chaired the interactive forum noted that Business Hallmark Public policy series has provided an avenue for government to get a feedback on important policy decisions.
Isaac Anyaogu