TheCable

As the nation fights its way through the present national security challenges as well as the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), stakeholders have canvassed for more professionalism in crisis communications management in Nigeria.

The call was made in Abuja at the weekend at a book presentation on: “Award-Winning Crisis Communications Strategies”, authored by Yushau A. Shuaib, publisher of PRNigeria.

Speaking at the event, Peter Afunanya, spokesman of the Department of State Service (DSS), said the book is not only timely but crucial to solving the emerging national crisis and security challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic.

Afunanya said the book would go a long way in helping Nigeria deal with its crisis, as it is “action-packed in the sense that it contains usable strategies that can be deployed to save lives and humanity”.

Bolaji Owasanoye, ICPC chairman who presented the book, recommended it for the purpose of strategy during conflict times, “as we are currently facing the coronavirus challenge in the country”.

Yakubu-Musa of NCC, Umar Dahiru, a senator, Yushau Shuaib, the author; Ahmed Nagode of-NAPTIN; Isa Abdulmumini of CBN; and Rasheed Hassan of Third Estate Forum at the book launch

Owasanoye, who was represented by Rasheedat Okoduwa, director of public relations, ICPC, said “more than ever, the book is critical on national issues like insurgency and now we are dealing with the Coronavirus”.

Also speaking, the former director of defence information (DDI) and pioneer coordinator of forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA), Chris Olukolade, former defence spokesman, described the author as one of the most qualified person to write on “Award-Winning Crisis Communications Strategies”, as he is a living example.

Olukolade, who was the chairman of the occasion, further described Shuaib as the “doyen of Crisis Communication” in Nigeria while thanking him for his contributions over the years especially in the creation of FOSSRA and other strategic outfits in the country.

“The author is one person best qualified to write on Crisis Communications because he is an authority on this and popularised the coinage. If he writes a book on Crisis Communication, you can be sure it is authoritative. So public relations officers, professionals, journalists, scholars and all those interested in crisis communication will find it very useful,” he said.

Ahmed Nagode, director-general, National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN), agreed that there is no better time to have a book on crisis management than now that Nigeria and the world is dealing with one form of crisis or the other.

According to Nagode who is also chairman of Third-Estate Forum, the “globe is in crisis of Coronavirus and if there is one lesson learnt from the past events, it is that we did not manage our information management effectively”.

The book has been endorsed by Mukhtar Sirajo and Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, presidents of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), and African Public Relations Association (APRA) as well as Bart de Vries, immediate past president of International Public Relations Association (IPRA).