Adunola Fasuyi speaks with Rychardo Agbor

Rykardo Agbor has been in Nollywood for over 17 years and has contributed tremendously to its growth in both Yoruba and the English sectors. The model cum actor, who hails from Cross River State speaks with Adunola Fasuyi on many issues in the movie industry. Excerpts:

Some people are of the opinion that before you got married, you were really into women, is that true?

Oh, that is wrong. I think you will be the first person to say that. If they say I was always seen around women, they should be able to say which one it is.

Are you saying you are not into women?

Before I got married, I was not ‘that into women’. I was always seen among guys. Since I met my woman, she has been the only woman in my life till date. I am not trying to boast, but I have never had a scandal since I got into the movie industry. Nobody will ever tell you that about me. I can tell you unequivocally that I am scandal-free.

So, what you are saying is that women were not in your agenda then?

When I was still in school, I had a lot of time for that, but when I left school, I did not see it as a way of relaxation. I had many girlfriends when I was in school, but when I started acting, I was never into women because I met my wife then.

Is it that you lost the magic wand that worked wonders on women?

I did not. I met a girl that I eventually married and did not have time to start chasing other women because she is all I needed in a woman.

So, you are a very principled man, very true to your words?

I try to as much as I can to be very principled.

Tell us the secret to your scandal-free status.

I have the fear of God and like the bible says, it’s the beginning of wisdom. I try to be good. Everybody gets moved or tempted. I am not saying that I don’t get advances from women, but it is the fear of God that gives me the restraint. If I was a bad person, as a journalist, you would have heard from one of your colleagues, come on, we all know how fast bad news spread.

So, when women make advances, what do you say?

‘I am married’, it’s as simple as that.

What if they persist?

Are they going to rape me? It’s not possible. I know women can rape men if their drink gets laced and I am not someone that drinks, so it can never work with me.

Interesting, you don’t drink, you don’t womanise, what else do you avoid?

I don’t smoke and I know the next question will be if I am a born-again Christian. The answer to that is that I believe in God and I am not a saint. I am God-fearing.

You pierced your ear lobes, but no tattoo on your body?

Yes, I pierced my ear and I have a tiny earring on it, I love it. I don’t have tattoo because I might be asked to act a role like that of a saint, so, the tattoo will give me away, that’s why I don’t have it.

Do you wear your earring to the church?

Sure, why not? I’m a devoted Catholic and I go to church to worship my God and not man. So, why live a hypocritical life?

If you are asked a question like when you first had sex, would you answer it?

Of course, I will answer it. I was very tender when I first had sex. I was in primary school. I was about leaving primary school. I had a lot of girls that were interested and most of them were much older than I was. They were in secondary schools then. I think I did it first in primary five and it was with an older friend.

Is that not molestation?

No it was different, or should I say, I didn’t think it was at that time.

Did you know what you were doing?

I will say it was exciting, not that I knew completely what it was. You see, anything that is illicit is usually sweet for people to do. At that age, you feel like a hero when you do what people say is bad.

Then in primary school, I was playing football. I was very popular with football then and I was paid N10 per match. I shared money with my friends. Give them like one kobo each. I had a lot of cash to play with and I had elderly friends that wanted me in their company.

I was playing for my community then. I had a nickname then; ‘King Perierra’. They named me after a Brazilian footballer then. So, I always had people who wanted to be with me, particularly girls. They just loved me then probably because I was popular and a bit loaded.

So, your stardom did not start from acting?

You can say that.

How come you act mostly in Yoruba films than Igbo movies?

Right now, the industry is going through some kind of rebirth. They are trying to sort the marketing thing, so most movies are shot in Asaba and if it is not a script I like, for example, acting nude in the name of trying to shoot, I would not do it.

Most of the Yoruba movies that I have done recently; they have message content, so I am very particular about content. Aside the fact that I speak Yoruba language fluently, I enjoy making good movies, either in English or Yoruba languages.

What was your growing up like?

I had a very humble background. My family is a very interesting one. I am a very simple person and very down to earth. I was born in Lagos in a family of four. I have three sisters. I am the only son and I am the only one in my family that is into the arts.

Are you proud of your fame?

I don’t think wealth or fame should make one pompous or not to respect God, afterall every good thing comes from God. So, it’s not one’s making, so why would I look down on people?

How do you see the fame so far? Would you say stardom has changed your personality?

It has not changed my person in anyway because there is nothing you can get on your own. It is not by my power and we have not got anywhere. I have not started being celebrated in India, China and America. If I am known, it is just within some spheres.

I am still working to attain that kind of height. If international stars that are known all over the world like Denzel Washington, Angelina Joli do not kill themselves because of the level of stardom that they have attained, then who am I to brag? I think it is borne out of complex for anyone to feel too much of himself.

As the only son in your family, did it sound weird to your parents when you told them you wanted to be an actor?
There was a lot of truth in that. It’s just now that acting got that lucrative. Prior to this time, people saw artistes as charlatans, people that were not that focused, not until now. In this world of ours, if money is not coming in, they think you are a failure. People do not think about how to make that thing better so that people will profit from it.

When you tell people you are an actor, the next question is what else do you do? I think it’s quite out of place because acting is a very serious career. It can be difficult if you get into it. You will see it’s not as easy as it seems. I craved acting. Acting was not accidental or a mere co-incidence for me.

Tell us about the drama before your parents allowed you to act?

There was a whole lot of drama. It was very dramatic like you put it. My dad never wanted to hear anything about me being an actor. He saw it more as a waste of time.

He once told me that, “I sent you to school to study Communication and Language Arts at the University of Ibadan, and now you are telling us you want to be an actor, its impossible.” There was so much objections to my acting then.

Maybe now they would have been proud to push me into acting because it is more dignified now. But in everything in life, no matter the profession, you have to choose, but you still need their blessing.

You just have to make them understand that it is not a crime. In every career, people sacrificed to get it to the level they are now. I was stubborn and I stood by what I wanted to do.

I kept on acting until I finally got their blessing. Not that I did not want their blessing, I kept on appealing to them until I got their support.

How long did it take before they saw reason in what you were doing?

I will say from when I started getting recognition in acting. Getting roles then was not as easy as it is now. Today, people call you personally to tell you they have a role for you but then, there were no mobile phones.

You will need someone to tell you that there is an audition somewhere. You get to know about the audition through posters and by the time you might come across that, it might be days after the auditions must have taken place.

In those days, it was landlines that people used and it was more of a luxury because very few people had it. So, it was difficult to rise that fast in acting because you miss some auditions and roles. But when I started getting the recognition, my parents started understanding.

As of today, you have put 17 years into acting presently, would you say it has been as expected?

I am most grateful to God. In anything one is doing, what is important is recognition and acceptance. Gradually, I think I am getting that.

Have you ever worked with your certificate before acting took over?

No. I never even intended to work with my certificate for one day.

Are there other heights you intend to attain in acting?

I would love to shoot internationally. I will love to work with Will Smith. Smith is very versatile, he is a comedian, a musician and an actor too. The amazing thing is that he is good at the three distinct careers. I like people like that.

Are you that versatile too?

Yes I am. I may not be a musician, but I know I can do comedy.

But we are yet to see a movie where you do comedy?

Some movies on my comedy will come up soon. I don’t know if you saw Osuka? It’s a movie I did with Ayo Adesanya and Badmus. It was very comical.

If you weren’t an actor, what else will you do?

If I wasn’t an actor, maybe I would have been a painter.

Painter? What happened to the talent?

Because of what I do now, I don’t have time to sit and draw. I am always very passionate about things I do and I put in all my concentration. I take my time whenever I want to draw, so I don’t have that
time. However at my leisure, I still make out time to draw and paint.

How do you relax?

I watch a lot of TV. Occasionally, I sit with friends on Sundays. If I am not on set, I play football. In the mornings, I go jogging to keep myself fit. I like staying fit and that is why I don’t have pot-belly.

On The Path Of Winners By Bayo Ogunmupe Profile of the Double Winner

On The Path Of Winners

By Bayo Ogunmupe

Profile of the Double Winner

WHAT is a winner? Most of us identify a winner as one who has it all-good looks, talent, wealth, power and popularity. However, this article will show us that it’s not the externals that  make people winners, but the attitudes, values and qualities within, that determines success. Here, we shall demonstrate how we can gain what it takes to excel in every human endeavour.

  Real winners know that we get ahead, not just by looking out for Number One and working against others, but working with them. Here we shall show our teeming job-seekers and Olympic stars that winning can  be more rewarding, meaningful and easier than we ever dreamed. We just summed up the meaning of winning. But what about Double Win? We will discuss double win, many people look at it with suspicion. How can both sides win? Isn’t life a game of winners and losers? But I don't think it is a winner takes all world. Though the win-lose approach has been around before Jesus was born, there is yet another-way. It is called win-win, the Double Win. And it works.

  The old laws of winning, is but a simple matter of the survival of the fittest. For every winner there must be a loser. To win means you must have both money and influence. The concepts of winning and serving are incompatible with modern-day realities. Slogans like,” Winning isn’t everything; it is the only thing,” are juvenile locker room mania. For some however, winning is just getting through the week without getting killed. You earn your money, take what is left after tax and try to find pleasure on the weekends. Winning is simply surviving in this terrible world.

  All of this is a reflection of the dominant view point on winning and success in our culture. This philosophy says power is god and competition and comparison are its prophets.

  The extreme popularity of this view of winning can be labeled simply win-lose system of success. To the victors belong the spoils, the headlines and the prestige. But this win-lose approach breeds the concept of invidious comparisons, of titles and postures.

  Indeed, the idea of being Numero uno is attractive. So is the idea of success. Given the choice, anyone would rather succeed than fail. In defence of success stories, they contain a great deal of sense, and the practical realism that help you take greater responsibility for your own actions. Those of us who seek to tell people how to succeed believe there is a lot to be said exhorting you to take charge of your life and making personal decisions, instead of you just floating with the tide like a victim or at best as a disinterested life spectator.

  The win-lose world is obsolete. While corporate managers are guided by an ethic of competition, of winning the game of product marketing, heroes by contrast are driven by an ethic of creation, creating gadgets to relieve man of the pains of living. This creates more tolerance for risk-taking, this greater innovation, greater persistence for tangible goals ahead. Therefore the idea of the Double Win is a concept that is long overdue. Just what then is Double Win? Briefly, it is if I help you win, I win, too. This means, by helping others get what they want, you win also. For the true winners in life get what they want by helping others get what they want. In Double Win, independence is replaced by interdependence. We must face the fact that as individuals, we are a vital but single organs of a larger body of human beings that inhabit this planet. There are too many people, too few resources and too delicate a balance between nature and technology, to produce winners in isolation today. As individuals in today’s world, we cannot succeed or survive for long without others.

  Thus, let us be all we can be. But competition isn’t the problem. Competition, be it in the marketplace, polling station or at the playground, sharpens skills, exposes shoddy efforts, stands guard against gorging and greed and motivates us to be the best we can be. What is missing in today’s win-lose society is the spirit of cooperation and creativity and the feeling of the importance of helping everyone develop his great human potential.

  A brief look at history shows the Olympic Games were founded on “the be all you can be” principle, not “get all the Gold you can.” The first Olympiad was held in 776 B.C. The first personalities we know as winners were the athletes who won victories in these games. Recognizing the unity of spirit, nature, body, and mind, the Greeks created the Olympiad in celebration of the harmony of the cosmos. They saw the Games as much more than mere athletic competition. Their Olympic athletes were trained by coaches, scholars, physicians and clergy, not only in sports but in religion, the arts, politics philosophy and music. Athletics were just one form of Olympic competition. There were also, musical, theatrical and artistic events to regale the public and for the participants – means of expressing individual and team excellence. The ancient Olympics flourished until Rome conquered Greece in 146 B.C. Roman indifference and corruption led to the abolishment of the Games in 393 A.D.

  When Baron Pierre de Coubertin mooted reviving the Olympics in Athens in 1896, he was inspired by the original principles that had fostered the Games in the first place: the value of the whole man, spirit body and mind; the belief in individual freedom and merit; consciousness of our collective responsibility to each other; and an acceptance of our democratic right to participate in public affairs.

  Our champion this week is Billings learned Hand (1872-1961) the American jurist whose tough and profound mind, philosophical skepticism and faith in the United States were employed throughout his record tenure as federal judge (52 years from April 1909, until his death in 1961). Though never a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, he is considered to have been a greater judge than all but a few of those who have sat on the highest U.S. Court.

  At Harvard, Hand studied philosophy under William James, Josiah Royce and George Santayana. He then studied law. Thereafter he practiced law at Albany and New York City. In 1909 he was appointed a federal judge in New York. In 1924 he was elevated to the United States Court of Appeals in New York, Connecticut and Vermont. From 1939, he served as chief judge. He sat in many cases after his official retirement in 1951.

  Because Supreme Court justices disqualified themselves, Hand’s court rendered the final decision (1945) in a major antitrust suit against the Aluminum Company of America, a.k.a the Alcoa case. After a trial lasting four years, Hand wrote for the Court an opinion rejecting the “rule of reason” that the Supreme Court had applied in antitrust cases since 1911. He ruled that evidence of greed or lust for power was inessential; monopoly itself was unlawful, even though it might result from otherwise unobjectionable business practices. In his view “Congress did not condone good trusts and condemn bad ones; it forbade all.”

  In 1950, Hand sustained the conviction of 11 American Communist Party leaders on Smith Act charges of conspiracy to teach and advocate the overthrow of the government. His reasoning was adopted by Chief Justice Fred Vinson when the Supreme Court also upheld the convictions. In a later case, (Yates v. U.S., 1957) the Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren considerably restricted the application of the Smith Act. A collection of Hand’s papers was edited as The Spirit of Liberty (1952) by Irving Dillard. Hershel Shanks selected 43 opinions of Hand for The Art and Craft of Judging (1968).

NIGERIANS NEED TO DISCOVER THEMSELVES

The President and CEO of Kings Hill Leadership Institute, Gbenga Ademujimi, has called on Nigerians to re-discover themselves in order to move the nation forward.
Ademujimi, a life purpose coach, peak performance trainer and author, runs an international organization dedicated to the development of human potentials, self-discovery and capacity building.  A graduate of the Coaching Academy, United Kingdom,
Ademujimi studied Physics Electronics from the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti and also holds an executive postgraduate degree in Management Information System from the University of Ibadan.
According to him he did not practice Electronic Engineering because he discovered that he was running another man’s race, as he was not working according to the dictates of his talents and destiny.
He said, “I went into science because of parental and peer pressure. My parents wanted me to go into it. I was good in Physics but I was better in the social sciences. I became a social prefect in primary three. I was a member of the students’ representatives’ council, and also a member of the debate, quiz and current affairs club. I was representing the school in many social activities. At the Polytechnic, I was involved in social activities throughout. I won two awards from the Students Union in conjunction with the American based music company Motown Records. I was given that award because of my social activities in school at the time. I was the best organizer of shows, picnics, parties and many other events. Everything about me was about arts and social life. Yet, I went and studied electronic engineering. Thank God, I realized early enough that I have been doing something that was contrary to my calling and life purpose ‘’
He canvassed that, ‘until a man discovers his true purpose in life, he is a wasted man. No product is released into the market without a purpose. The manufacturer determines that purpose.’
Ademujimi added: “When I was at the Coaching Academy, where I did leadership training, I learnt that only 15 per cent of global population has discovered their purpose in life while 85 per cent are running other men’s races. I was an example; my father had already drummed it into my brain that I must do this, I must do that, and my first-born must become an Engineer. They already planned our life and forgot they are not our manufacturer. At the end of the day, I studied what they wanted and I ended up spending 10 years in school. It was during that time that I discovered myself and I later joined Abundant Life Evangelistic and Prayer Ministry Church.
I took a leadership position and the challenges that were been thrown to me made me realized my and I was performing to the best of my ability. I had an opportunity to travel to South Africa for further studies and missionary activities. It was when I was there that the leadership gifts in me actually came out. I became very active at my local church by writing songs and assisting the choir. They released albums on both CDs and DVDs within the little time that I spent with them. Even in South Africa, everything about me was ringing social aspect of life,’’ Ademujimi stated.
According to him, his life is a testimony to the wisdom of staying right on one’s path. This allowed him to take advantage of the opportunities that came his way.
‘‘I had the opportunity of working with the African Union. I worked with the department in charge of tourism and we were in charge of tourism for all the diplomats in Africa. I was the media Project Manager then. These brought out my potentials even more,” he said.
At Reigning Kings School of Leadership in South Africa, where he attended, Ademujimi became a lecturer there and had the opportunity to train the staff of the National Prosecuting Authority, which was the equivalent of EFCC in Nigeria or the FBI in America. It was this experience that inspired him to come home and establish a Nigerian Leadership Institute that would cater for leadership training in the country.
‘‘I started having the intuition to come back and I prayed about it and I had the go ahead. I came back finally in 2008 to settle down. I worked with London Financial Times, the Nigeria office in Lagos. I also established Kings Hill Leadership School (School of Discovery). We help people discover their purpose and potentials in life. We teach them success principles – how to make it in life irrespective of circumstances.
Since 2008, the school has graduated about 12,000 Nigerians and trained more people from various sphere of human endeavor. He claimed to have trained people from Bowen, Covenant, and Olabisi Onabanjo Universities in addition to over 2,000 NYSC corps members in Bauchi and 200 in Ibadan among others.
In its networking activities, Ademujimi said there is a working understanding with Mrs. Joke Silva and Olu Jacob’s Academy for the Performing Art and Media, where leadership for national transformation is taught the students. The Lufodo Academy of the Performing Arts are also benefiting from his experience in leadership training.
Speaking on the need to re-educate the youths, he said, ‘‘Nigerian youths believe that the best thing that can happen to a man is to get a job in an oil company. Everybody wants to do what one man does and be successful. This is not the right path to success. Everyone has a unique purpose.
“The vision of the school is to help people discover their purpose and potentials in life. One of our problems is that we put a round peg in a square hole and we expect to get the desired results. The principal course that you take is how to discover yourself. You need self-discovery, self-esteem and from there you go to self-temperament.
“We have three ways of discovering purpose in life: the commonest way is to discover your gift. Simply because you can sing and you can act drama does not mean that that is your purpose but by the time we put you under training, you will discover the real gift in you. We have life and time management courses; we have temperament studies and numerous courses on leadership and personal management.”

The Importance and Application of Public Relations in Government

The Importance and Application of Public Relations in Government

                 By Yemi Olakitan:

    

          Public relations, according to Black (1989, p.5) “is the art and science of achieving harmony with the environment through mutual understanding based on truth and full information” While BIPR (1969) defines public relations as “the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understand and good will between an organization and its publics”

          ‘Public relations’ is an important part of governance globally.. Public Relations is so important because of the need for the ruling government to understand and be understood by the subjects. The government cannot exist in isolation. It is working for the good of the public.. The government ensures the security of lives and property. They ensure that law and order is maintained. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the economic prosperity of the people. They cannot do this without the cooperation of the people they governed. This cooperation is achieved through Public Relations. It is Public Relations that ensure that a mutual cooperation exists between the government and the people. This will help to maintain peace, progress and economic advancement.  

       The government cannot rule successfully unless they create a mutual understanding among the people they governed. As a matter of fact, there would be anarchy and civil unrest if the public does not understand the government that rules them. Therefore, ‘Public Relations’ is an important instrument of government.

         In Nigeria the government established media organizations in order to further its public relations activities. There is the National Television Authority, NTA, which has more than 35 television stations all over the country in all the states of the federation including community stations. The federal government also established the Federal Radio Corporation, FRCN, which also has several radio stations all over the country, in all the states of the federation as well as communities. The defunct Daily Times Newspaper of Nigeria is one of the media instruments of public Relation established by the federal government to further a good understanding of government motives and purposes..  In addition to these, all the 36 states governments have states owned radio and television stations, which are directly owned and controlled by the government. This ensures that the government disseminates information through news, different programmes discussing topical issues in the state on state of the nation. 

       Both the military and civilian government makes use of public relations in Nigeria. The government makes use of the media either in a military or democratic dispensation. During the military era in Nigeria, the military government tried to achieve legitimacy by using the media to promote its government’s positive activities. In fact when a military government succeeds in overthrowing an existing government through coup d’état, the first step of such government is the radio station where the leader of the coup plotters will read a beautifully crafted speech that explains their intention for ceasing power so that they can be accepted by the nation. They tried to create many good reasons for their treason.

      There is usually an information Minister both at the federal and state level who coordinates the public relations activities of the ruling government. ‘Public Relations’ is even more important in a democracy. Democracy is defined as government of the people, by the people and for the people. If democracy must thrive it must be backed up with good communication strategies, what better tool than public Relations in the establishment and enthronement of democratic governance?  This is because democracy has to do with the inter relationship of the various arms of governance and how this government serves the people. In other to achieve effectiveness in governance in all these arms of government public Relations strategies must be employed. The government use PR so that the people can understand and appreciate them.

          Another very important application of public Relations in governance is Lobbying. Political interest groups used lobbying to influence government decisions in the high places. Many times, public Relations agencies are employed to do this job particularly in parliamentary decision making.. PR agencies help to push the interests of pressure groups or the political interests of organizations or individuals. One of the more sophisticated methods for influencing legislators is a practice known as 'grass tops' communications. In this, the PR agency will carefully identify the peer group of the target legislators. They will then hire one or more members of that group, friends or acquaintances of the target, to informally promote the PR message within the group.  In this way the agency aims to create for the target the artificial impression that 'everyone is talking about it' and that there is strong community support for the issue. With this method, legislators may not even realize that they are being lobbied to pass a bill in favour of a certain interest or section of the public. The actions of government on the local, state, and national level have major effects on how companies conduct their affairs. Thus, a number of PR people work in governmental relations. In this role, public affairs executives seek to influence legislation through contact with legislators and governmental regulatory agencies. A public affairs manager must be "concerned with the management function covering the relationship between the organization and its external environment and involving key tasks of intelligence gathering and analysis, external action programmes directed at government, communities and the general public as well as strategic issue management and internal communications." A lobbyist has a narrower function "concerned with direct or indirect means of exercising influence on passage or defeat of legislative bills or regulatory actions, and to influence their outcomes."

          By definition, democratic governments should reflect public opinion and work best when the citizens are well informed. In the United States for example, there were lots of examples of public relations undertaken by federal and local governments following the US Civil War. Publicity, promotional, and informational campaigns were launched by various federal departments, as well as by cities and states. California, for instance, conducted extensive and expensive campaigns to attract new residents.

These government efforts paralleled what many businesses were doing at the time, and the government employees who performed these tasks had the same titles as their business counterparts. These titles included such terms as publicity agent, promoter, press agent, press secretary, and public relations specialist. In Nigeria, many state governments usually have press secretaries who usually act as the Chief spokesperson to the Government. Such person is usually appointed from the communication profession. At the moment, popular journalist and columnist, Reuben Abati is the Chief spokesman of President Good luck Jonathan in Nigeria. He performs numerous public Relations functions and advices the government on issues affecting its image and relationship with the media.

          In the international circles Public Relations agencies are increasingly being hired to promote the public image of countries. Since the World Trade Centre bombing and the prospect of war, effective PR in the USA may now be a prerequisite for the long-term survival of a governments in the Islamic world. Both Pakistan and the Philippines reportedly hired PR agencies in 2002 to promote their image in the United States. Saudi Arabia, home of most of the September 11th hijackers directed larger and larger sums at rehabilitating its image in the USA. It hired a PR agency to advertise its efforts to help the US in combating terrorism and to place pro-Saudi articles in the press, spending a record $14.6 million between April and September 2002.  This is aside from lobbying for the government of Saudi Arabia in the US congress.

             In France, the 2012 election campaign is in full swing with the conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist François Hollande leading the battle to become the country’s next President. This is not new in itself, but there has been a significant change in the way in which the main politicians are leading their campaigns in that they are now being played out on social networks. Facebook and Twitter as these tools of communication can no longer be ignored in the French political arena, in stark contrast to the 2007 elections where social networks hadn’t even entered the running.

This year, all candidates are clearly using digital communications as key components to their campaigns, with Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande alone spending 2 million euros on digital technology.

        References to Facebook and Twitter have also become commonplace in the traditional media. Both have become valuable sources of information due to the speed at which they convey general sentiment and opinion. Party rallies are tweeted in real time and PR videos relayed within seconds. All of this enables the media and general public to follow campaign developments as they unfold. This sudden enthusiasm for social media signifies a reconciling with the French public and politics, a narrowing of the gulf that has existed between the two for some time?

          Twitter and Facebook have a tendency to focus on slip-ups without really exploring an important subject. Both candidates’ PR teams are using them to criticize the other party without entering into the heart of the debate. When François Bayrou, the centrist candidate, urged his followers to only buy products with the label “Made in France” the programme featured him driving away from a rally in an Audi.  People are also commenting much more freely on politics than they used to. A decade or so ago politicians’ communications campaigns amounted to a poster with a slogan in order to portray the ideology behind their thinking. Today PR has evolved to the extent that the candidates’ advisors have practically become spokespeople themselves, one example being Thierry Saussez, advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy. So it seems the presidential election is destined to play out in this way; through communication campaigns, which highlight a lack of knowledge and experience in harnessing social media to promote the fundamental elements of a political campaign. As a result, reforms, ideas, campaign agendas and the state budget no longer seem a priority; they’ve become a campaign tool like any other.

       In 2004, the Olusegun Obasanjo government launched an image project for the Nigeria, which was called the Nigeria image project by the president. The then Information and National Orientation Minister, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, made a presentation on “image and national economics” to media, public relations and advertising executives. The project was government attempt at changing positively international perception about the country. Frank Nweke Junior, the Minister of Information and National Orientation renamed the project in 2005which later translated to “The Heart of Africa” (HOA) project. The HOA project received a government contribution of 600 million Naira (about $3 million) (Norah, 2006. P.2.) These is one of the ways that government use PR to enhance its image. Subsequently, Professor Dora Akunyili under the administration of the late former President Musa Yar’Adua launched a rebranding project that aim to improve the image of Nigeria abroad.

The Importance and Application of Public Relations in Government

The Importance and Application of Public Relations in Government

                 By Yemi Olakitan

          Public relations, according to Black (1989, p.5) “is the art and science of achieving harmony with the environment through mutual understanding based on truth and full information” While BIPR (1969) defines public relations as “the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understand and good will between an organization and its publics”

          ‘Public relations’ is an important part of governance globally.. Public Relations is so important because of the need for the ruling government to understand and be understood by the subjects. The government cannot exist in isolation. It is working for the good of the public.. The government ensures the security of lives and property. They ensure that law and order is maintained. It is the responsibility of the government to ensure the economic prosperity of the people. They cannot do this without the cooperation of the people they governed. This cooperation is achieved through Public Relations. It is Public Relations that ensure that a mutual cooperation exists between the government and the people. This will help to maintain peace, progress and economic advancement.  

       The government cannot rule successfully unless they create a mutual understanding among the people they governed. As a matter of fact, there would be anarchy and civil unrest if the public does not understand the government that rules them. Therefore, ‘Public Relations’ is an important instrument of government.

         In Nigeria the government established media organizations in order to further its public relations activities. There is the National Television Authority, NTA, which has more than 35 television stations all over the country in all the states of the federation including community stations. The federal government also established the Federal Radio Corporation, FRCN, which also has several radio stations all over the country, in all the states of the federation as well as communities. The defunct Daily Times Newspaper of Nigeria is one of the media instruments of 'public Relations' established by the federal government to further a good understanding of government motives and purposes.  In addition to these, all the 36 states governments have states owned radio and television stations, which are directly owned and controlled by the government. This ensures that the government disseminates information through news, different shows discussing topical issues in the state and on state of the nation. 

       Both the military and civilian government make use of 'public relations' in Nigeria. The government makes use of the media either in a military or democratic dispensation. During the military era in Nigeria, the military government tried to achieve legitimacy by using the media to promote its government’s positive activities. In fact when a military government succeeds in overthrowing an existing government through coup d’état, the first step of such government is the radio station where the leader of the coup plotters will read a beautifully crafted speech that explains their intention for ceasing power so that they can be accepted by the nation. They tried to create many good reasons for their treason.

      There is usually an information Minister both at the federal and state level who coordinates the public relations activities of the ruling government. ‘Public Relations’ is even more important in a democracy. Democracy is defined as government of the people, by the people and for the people. If democracy must thrive it must be backed up with good communication strategies, what better tool than 'Public Relations' in the establishment and enthronement of democratic governance?  This is because democracy has to do with the inter relationship of the various arms of governance and how this government serves the people. In other to achieve effectiveness in governance in all these arms of government, 'Public Relations' strategies must be employed. The government use PR so that the people can understand and appreciate them.

          Another very important application of 'Public Relations' in governance is Lobbying. Political interest groups used lobbying to influence government decisions in the high places. Many times, public Relations agencies are employed to do this job particularly in parliamentary decision making.. PR agencies help to push the interests of pressure groups or the political interests of organizations or individuals. One of the more sophisticated methods for influencing legislators is a practice known as 'grass tops' communications. In this, the PR agency will carefully identify the peer group of the target legislators. They will then hire one or more members of that group, friends or acquaintances of the target, to informally promote the PR message within the group.  In this way the agency aims to create for the target the artificial impression that 'everyone is talking about it' and that there is strong community support for the issue. With this method, legislators may not even realize that they are being lobbied to pass a bill in favour of a certain interest or section of the public.

          By definition, democratic governments should reflect public opinion and work best when the citizens are well informed. In the United States for example, there were lots of examples of public relations undertaken by federal and local governments following the US Civil War. Publicity, promotional, and informational campaigns were launched by various federal departments, as well as by cities and states. California, for instance, conducted extensive and expensive campaigns to attract new residents.

These government efforts paralleled what many businesses were doing at the time, and the government employees who performed these tasks had the same titles as their business counterparts. These titles included such terms as publicity agent, promoter, press agent, press secretary, and public relations specialist. In Nigeria, many state governments usually have press secretaries who usually act as the Chief spokesperson to the Government. Such person is usually appointed from the communication profession. At the moment, popular journalist and columnist, Reuben Abati is the Chief spokesman of President Good luck Jonathan in Nigeria. He performs numerous public Relations functions and advices the government on issues affecting its image and relationship with the media.

          In the international circles Public Relations agencies are increasingly being hired to promote the public image of countries. Since the World Trade Centre bombing and the prospect of war, effective PR in the USA may now be a prerequisite for the long-term survival of a governments in the Islamic world. Both Pakistan and the Philippines reportedly hired PR agencies in 2002 to promote their image in the United States. Saudi Arabia, home of most of the September 11th hijackers directed larger and larger sums at rehabilitating its image in the USA. It hired a PR agency to advertise its efforts to help the US in combating terrorism and to place pro-Saudi articles in the press, spending a record $14.6 million between April and September 2002.  This is aside from lobbying for the government of Saudi Arabia in the US congress.

             In France, the 2012 election campaign is in full swing with the conservative UMP candidate Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist François Hollande leading the battle to become the country’s next President. This is not new in itself, but there has been a significant change in the way in which the main politicians are leading their campaigns in that they are now being played out on social networks. Facebook and Twitter as these tools of communication can no longer be ignored in the French political arena, in stark contrast to the 2007 elections where social networks hadn’t even entered the running.

This year, all candidates are clearly using digital communications as key components to their campaigns, with Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande alone spending 2 million euros on digital technology.

        References to Facebook and Twitter have also become commonplace in the traditional media. Both have become valuable sources of information due to the speed at which they convey general sentiment and opinion. Party rallies are tweeted in real time and PR videos relayed within seconds. All of this enables the media and general public to follow campaign developments as they unfold. This sudden enthusiasm for social media signifies a reconciling with the French public and politics, a narrowing of the gulf that has existed between the two for some time?

          Twitter and Facebook have a tendency to focus on slip-ups without really exploring an important subject. Both candidates’ PR teams are using them to criticize the other party without entering into the heart of the debate. When François Bayrou, the centrist candidate, urged his followers to only buy products with the label “Made in France” the programme featured him driving away from a rally in an Audi.  People are also commenting much more freely on politics than they used to. A decade or so ago politicians’ communications campaigns amounted to a poster with a slogan in order to portray the ideology behind their thinking. Today PR has evolved to the extent that the candidates’ advisors have practically become spokespeople themselves, one example being Thierry Saussez, advisor to Nicolas Sarkozy. So it seems the presidential election is destined to play out in this way; through communication campaigns, which highlight a lack of knowledge and experience in harnessing social media to promote the fundamental elements of a political campaign. As a result, reforms, ideas, campaign agendas and the state budget no longer seem a priority; they’ve become a campaign tool like any other.

       In 2004, the Olusegun Obasanjo government launched an image project for the Nigeria, which was called the Nigeria image project by the president. The then Information and National Orientation Minister, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu, made a presentation on “image and national economics” to media, public relations and advertising executives. The project was government attempt at changing positively international perception about the country. Frank Nweke Junior, the Minister of Information and National Orientation renamed the project in 2005which later translated to “The Heart of Africa” (HOA) project. The HOA project received a government contribution of 600 million Naira (about $3 million) (Norah, 2006. P.2.) These is one of the ways that government use PR to enhance its image. Subsequently, Professor Dora Akunyili under the administration of the late former President Musa Yar’Adua launched a rebranding project that aim to improve the image of Nigeria abroad.

SUSPECTED BOKO HARAM MEMBERS THREATENED ACTIVIST

SUSPECTED BOKO HARAM MEMBERS THREATENED ACTIVIST- IGP PETITIONED

BY YEMI OLAKIATN

A human rights activist and writer, Efemena Agadama has alleged threat to his life by unknown persons.

Agadama, who is currently doing his post graduate in the United Kingdom, UK, said the threat started when he was still in Nigeria but did not take it seriously as he has not offended anyone.

“Initially, I didn’t take the threat seriously because I felt I had nothing against anyone than my writings against the terrorist acts of Boko Haram and the incessant kidnappings and attacks against oil companies, foreigners and innocent Nigerians”, he stated.

Agadama noted that he has taken the issue seriously following the kidnapping of a vendor and family friend who used to supply him and other family members with newspapers at their home in Warri-Sapele Road, Warri, Delta State.

He stated that the vendor went out last year November and has never returned. According to him, the matter was reported to the police but expressed worries that the Police in the area have not done enough to unravel the sudden disappearance of the vendor, as the case file of the victim could not be found during their frequent visits to the station.

The activist however, called on the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to intervene and save his family from being killed by unknown persons, who have been coming to look for him since last year.

A family member who confirmed the development but pleaded anonymity said the suspected assailants had vowed to make tears flow in the family on their next visit unless Agadama stop writing against them.

It was gathered that the said assailants have been to the family house four times since last year. Meanwhile, the family is now considering relocating for fear of being attacked as they wouldn't want to be caught unawares by the unknown men.
Also, Agadama has put off all events in Warri, especially the planned staging of his work on Nana Olomu in September that commemorates the September 1894 British military expedition, pending proper investigation and identification of the unknown men.

 fantastic Bukky sax 

By yemi olakitan

Bukola Olorunsola Osamwonyi popularly known as BUKKYSAX a Nigerian female most sensational saxophonist  born on 11^th of May 1978  in Lagos state, Nigeria.

She was born to a family of Revd. & Pst Mrs  Micheal kayode Olorunsola,of Ekiti state.

She attended sokunbi pry school, New state High school, Ilupeju college,Ilupeju. She obtained her OND in Music technology from The polytechnic, Ibadan, B.A(ED), Music Education, The University of Ado-Ekiti. MUSON Theory of music and practical on saxophone 

Bukkysax has excelled in a male dominated world. she sleeps, dreams, and wakes up playing saxophone and some other musical instruments like piano, trumpet, clarinet,  violin, drums, guitar, e.t.c.

Bukkysax is a unique lady which believes in doing exploits for God according to Daniel 11:32 and that inspired her to name her first band “The Exploit” and her second band “The Gold female band which consists of her sisters Olayinka olorunsola on bass guitar and Tomisin Olorunsola on drum set. Her latest band Jesus Gold band started when she met her husband, helper, manager, drummer, costumer, and fashion designer who have been very, very supportive to her ministry since 23^rd of October, 2005.she has a music school where she has trained a lot of female and male instrumentalists. She is an artiste, performer, music producer, composer,arranger, fashion designer,costumer, Educationists, she has worked and still working as music instructors in some renown schools. She has played in so many programmes, women conventions, and anniversaries, churches in most states in the country and outside/across the country. She played at the burial ceremony of the father of The President of Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, RCCG Convention, congress and women programme at the Redemption camp km 46 Ibadan Express way. she has played  in programmes  with midnight crew, Yinka Davies, Big Bolaji, kunle Ajayi, Yetunde Are, world  to God, Paul Tao Elshaddai, Eben, Folake umosen, Infinity, Niran Obasa, Rccg praise team, RoofTop Mcs, a guest artist  at the 10^th anniversary of the RCCG king of kings Tabernacle  United Kingdom,and Ghana to mention but a few. As a performing and recording artist she has an album titled “ABASI