The federal government is said to be seeking public relations counsel amid increasing pressure over its response to the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls by the Boko Haram militant group more than a month ago in Chibok.
According to the Holmes Report, an in-house online publication of the UK-based Holmes Group which specialises in public relations consultancy, government representatives, led by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, have met approximately five PR firms in London regarding the assignment, as government attempts to counter mounting criticism both inside and outside the country on the Chibok abduction saga.
The Holmes Report revealed that the minister was also in London with her team in the public relations firm recruitment drive to launder the image of the federal government in a deal estimated to be around $800 million.
But when contacted on the issue, the General Manager, Group Public Affairs Department of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mr. Ohi Alegbe, who also doubles as the minister's spokesman, said he was not aware of any such moves.
The development, according to the website, followed intense pressure from the international community and calls by activists from the#BringBackOurGirls group on the government to ensure the rescue of the abducted schoolgirls.
The website quoted a Senior Special Assistant to the President, Ken Wiwa, as stating that the federal government is concerned that domestic unrest sparked by the spate of kidnappings may prove politically costly with elections looming.
“Rather than being about Boko Haram and their atrocities, this is turning into a referendum on [President] Jonathan's administration," he was quoted to have said.
The Holmes Report also quoted sources familiar with the situation to have said that any relevant PR counsel would be limited to improving the transparency of the government's communications in the light of intense global media scrutiny.
One source noted that the government would benefit from a “clearer, more transparent media operation”.
“What we shouldn’t be doing is promising to clear up the story,” he said.
The minister, alongside her close aides, was said to have sent requests for proposals (RFPs) to some international public relations firms in London seeking for public relations counsel for the federal government.
The Holmes Report stated that almost all the PR firms are insisting on a long term commitment with most of them advising the minister and her team to improve the transparency of government’s communications in the light of intense global media scrutiny.
One of the PR firms with offices in London and New York was quoted to have said despite the numbers of PR firms in contention, it remains optimistic about getting the lucrative deal for a period of three to four years.
“The main focus right now is increasing investor confidence. We have to include all fronts including economic angles. There has been a barrage of international media coverage and we need to try to convert this interest into positive coverage.”
An unnamed PR firm, with offices in South Africa and London was reported to have declined the request to work for the Nigerian government, while another one identified as Ketchum, reportedly criticised for its role in working for the Russian government but is believed to have been contacted by the minister and her team, was said to have also declined to give out any information, citing client confidentiality.
Nigeria’s next general election takes place in early 2015 and the main opposition party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), hired a political consultancy, AKPD – best known for its work with US President Barack Obama — earlier this year to support its campaign.
However, Alegbe yesterday denied that the minister was involved in the PR recruitment drive.
He wondered why the petroleum minister should be the one to embark on such an assignment when the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, is there for that purpose.
Alegbe said Alison-Madueke was neither the Minister of Information nor the presidential spokesman, adding that if there was need to seek the services of a global PR outfit to launder the image of the president, as the said report stated, then Maku should be the right person to do so and not the petroleum minister.
Source: Thisday
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