Transport Ministry, Rail Reform and Media Propaganda

Transport Ministry, Rail Reform and Media Propaganda
By Yushau A. Shuaib

“Please who is the current Minister of Transport that supervises the reform in the rail sector in Nigeria? Do you know his name?”

Above was a simple question someone asked me recently.

Since their appointments by the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, some ministers have been very popular as a result of their charisma, innovative ideas, aggressive pursuit of excellence and programmes that impact on the lives of the people.

While some of the cabinet members also pursue some of their activities silently without recourse to media attention, the fact is that a ministerial appointment is a public position, to which the holder of the office must be accountable to the citizens by providing insights into what they do, occasionally, if not regularly.

The scandals involving some ministers might have been influenced by the opposition, probably for ulterior motives, rather than in the national interest. But central to how a minister or the ministry is perceived, the media plays a major role in the creation of such perception, whether rightly or wrongly.

In an effort to ensure a positive reputation, public officers tend to get confused in the use of advertising as an option in motivating a desired outcome for their image or the utilisation of the tested public relations approach on issues that enhance their reputation, while clarifying issues, rather than getting sucked into crisis management.

Being a Public Relations person of at least three decades of practice, my primary premise of practice is to square up with those who see my advice on a fundamental level of sincerity, which is usually cost-effective, strategic, and usually targeted at efficient outcomes in reputational and crisis management. But this is also hinged on having clients and advice-seekers who are honest and sincere about their challenges, which require mediation upon.

Recently an acquaintance who has been quite friendly over time reached out to me over a media report about the Nigerian Railway Corporation and the ongoing rail reform in the country. After examining what I considered to be a harmless piece of journalistic report, I advised that a rejoinder, in the form of a right of reply, should be addressed to the media organisation that published the story as a way of shedding more light on and clarifying the concerns involved.

Similarly, I suggested that if my acquaintance desired a more frontal response to the initial article towards a public awareness that is educative and newsworthy, a press briefing could be hosted to address some of the issues involved, without reference to the media that originally reported the issues.

I also cautioned against media segmentation for the purpose of selective preferential treatment and patronages.

But since my acquaintance seemed to be very agitated over the said issue, I made it known that the placement of advertisement could be the right option for communicating a response on the concern if it desired for this to be published unedited, since it would be paid for and appropriately indicated as ‘sponsored.’ However, the notion of it being ‘sponsored’ will always trail such piece of communication, which could be both positive and negative, as many would regard it as contrived.

Along the line, my acquaintance also contemplated the possibility of an article being produced for publication in the media to correct the presumed erroneous impression the earlier media report is said to have given and contained.

This was a brilliant suggestion if the said article would be educative, informative, as well as newsworthy, without appearing as praise-singing tomfoolery. Sometimes, it is essential for PR practitioners to allow an article to be subjected to appropriate editing before being published, as the editors would have controlled the narrative of its biases or presumed excesses, as the final authorities before usage.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Transport, Senator Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, on assumption of office, had embarked on a series of tours of Nigerian Railways facilities and made remarks on his vision for the railway sector. Unfortunately, most independent reports about the sector seem to be negative. Even online searches on the Minister of Transport bring irrelevant contents.

Surprisingly, despite the painstaking professional deliberations and considerations on the issue of concern, after which a narrative direction and channels were chosen, and the article was published by select receptive media establishments, in what might be an act of desperation, officials of the transportation ministry still went behind to place the same article as an advert in a single media organisation, for which an hefty fee of about two million naira was paid. This act in itself signals different levels of mis-communication to numerous stakeholders, who might tend to wonder why there is desperation in pushing the message as if it was media propaganda through an act of sponsorship.

It is unfortunate that many folks think they know it all, beyond the professionals, in the delicate act and art of media handling. The bad thing is that they merely end up committing reputational hara-kiri by the desperate efforts that are propelled by egocentric tendencies.

What was even more annoying is the pretext of the lack of fund to pay professional fees, which was proven as a lie in view of the subsequent wasteful expenditure, some official got into to prove that they were working.

For the Ministry of Transport and the campaign on rail reform, my best advice in reputational terms to the Minister Sa’idu Ahmed Alkali, is to always do the right things, and engage with the public on the basis of sincerity, and the media will acknowledge and even celebrate you at no cost, because editors are also mindful of the national interest, which is also ultimately in everyone’s interest.

Without begrudging advertisers whose job is to get paid for materials and publish them, however advertisement is the last resort in strategic communication, as it usually signals a lack of the ability to persuade publics towards your point of view and its sincerity. Or could this also be a mode for those who have things to hide?

Yushau A. Shuaib is the author of “Award Winning Crisis Communication Strategies.”
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