The Place of Crisis Communication in Nigeria

The Place of Crisis Communication in Nigeria
By Zaynab Abubakar El-Nafaty

We are all familiar with the unwanted chain of events known as crisis. This is a regular occurrence in our lives and society. As such, we all have strategies or plans that are created to counter these problems that arise from time to time such as emergency funds, updating systems software and so on. This is a simplified version of crisis communication.

It is necessary to cite recent case studies on effective crisis communication in Nigeria. During the annual Security and Emergency Management Awards (SAEMA) as well as Spokesperson Communication Awards (SCA), the spokesperson of Department of State Security Services, Dr Peter Afunanya and that of the Nigerian Airforce (NAF), Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet were honoured tor their strategic approaches in Crisis Communication Management.

When fuel scarcity was threatening the Ember Months (September to December) 2022, when holiday and merry makers do travel, DSS observed the activities of profiteers and saboteurs in the crisis. Realizing the importance of crisis communication, DSS adopted proactive PR measures in addressing and tackling the lingering fuel scarcity.

Similarly, Having realised the credibility of third-party narratives, rather than formal and direct statement, the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) provided enablement for independent media reports and third-party news narratives on the counter-insurgency campaigns.

The independent news report and alternative narratives from credible media sources on the success on the counter-terrorism were widely used in the media and boost the confidence of the citizens and the morale of the fighting troops.

From the foregoing, we can realise that crisis communication is an initiative that aims to provide necessary tools and protocols for an organisation to effectively communicate in the event of a major threat to their business and reputation.

Organisations must always be prepared for as many crisis as possible including extreme weather, criminal activity, cyber attacks, PR incidents and so forth. Preparing for potential crisis allows for organisations to be in control of the situations that arise as a result of the crisis. by equipping these organisations with methods that will aid them to gather accurate information as well as the necessary tools that will make implementing  any corrective strategies more efficient will enable them have a better grasp of the narrative and maintain their public image and reputations. As such, a crisis communication strategy is made to ensure this desired outcome.

A crisis communication strategy is a bluepoint for an organisation during a time of crisis that enables them to respond immediately. It includes steps or stages of communication and preventative measures to prepare and navigate through unexpected crisis.

In light of this, a strategy contains many components, some of the most important include selecting an appropriate spokesperson, creating a communications team, developing a message in response to the crisis, creating a template that will allow for immediate responses without the need to create a message from scratch as well as establishing notifications and monitoring system to stay aware of any changes during this time. In other words, a crisis communication strategy is heavily dependent on research and accurate data in order for it to succeed.

The success of a crisis communication strategy depends on roughly two components namely; the curated message and the representative to deliver it. The message created for  a strategy must be made with the capability to connect a variety of people for efficient communication ranging from employees, the general public, government officials and so on. Equally important is the selection of an appropriate spokesperson with the required skillset to aid  in ensuring the success of the chosen strategy. Some of these skills include the ability too be decisive, to be adaptable to the ever changing turns experienced during a crisis, to be able to exercise self control that allows for rational decisions, to be empathise to the situation and its influence on those involved, to be able to persevere so as to reach the desired outcome of the strategy and to be confident in both their acquired knowledge and their decision making.

Like any other country in the world, Nigeria experiences its fair share of crisis from time to time. From criminal activities, organisational blunders and financial instability, the need for crisis communication is imperative in other to sustain the stability of society. Furthermore, the diversity of ethnic groups plays an important factor in the daily lives of the citizens of Nigeria. Making culture is an integral part of life. With that in mind, crisis communication is heavily used by not only the organisations based in the country but by the government offices as well. However, where most strategies are conceived after indepth research and the collection of accurate information, which inherently makes responses more proactive, often crisis communications plans are mostly used to douse flames and are therefore reactive in nature.

This trend of reactive messages tends to do more harm that good in the long run even in the scenario of a positive outcome. An example of this is the LaCasera panic crisis, where it was rumoured that the beverage was made with bleach. As such the brand reacted by releasing a new design of their product, which was not perceived well by the public. Furthermore, even though they took more proactive measure to regain public support, their competitors took advantage of the situation and managed to gain some of their consumers and since then LaCasera has not been able to regain its large market share.

It is important to note that more research models, methods and techniques are being implemented into crisis communication plans. More specialists are becoming more aware of the need for accuracy in the such events. As the defining factor in whether an organisation will survive through such turbulent times is dependent on the weight of the information used. As such, the narrative of crisis communication can be seen in how it is delivered in the past few years. An example is the Bolt EndSARS crisis in 2020, where the car service was receiving distrust from its customers who believed that the drivers were taking their riders to SARS officers to get them arrested for a sum as well as the allegation of drivers frequently harassing female passengers. The company promptly responded by releasing an official statement that provided a detail step by step process of how they deal with said occurrences while also releasing a safety champ kit for riders that promote and encouraged safety awareness for all riders. Taking a step further, they released a directive for their riders on the consequences of such poor behaviours as well as automatically activating ride insurance on all rides, which further ensures safety throughout the ride. From this we can see that the approach of Bolt during this crisis was to be transparent with its information, and maintain real time communication across all of its communication channels and most importantly, it did not play the blame game which further strengthened its place with the public.

As pointed out earlier, the crisis communication narrative has evolved as the demand for substantial information rises. Officials at all levels depend on the information in order to create well planned strategies and communicate with the public. As more attention is placed on data gathering research and methods, organizations are beginning to not only understand the general public perception but the responsibility that befalls them to present transparent and accurate information. With this in mind, it is clear that the effects of the rising standard of crisis communication is being adopted in the different facets of the Nigerian media landscape and that is a welcome change to our communication.

Zaynab Abubakar El-Nafaty can be reached via
[email protected]