Public Relations in Nigeria: History and Development

Public relations started during the colonial era. Through the establishment of thefirst newspaper in Nigeria which was 'iwe irohin' by the late Reverend HenryTownsend in the year 1859. The 'iwe irohin' was initially used to announce deaths,births, and marriages. It only had few or no advert in it. The British seized theopportunity to use the newspaper has a propaganda instrument. The use of newspaper was used to inform about the evil deeds of the British and enlightenthem on what is wrong and right. PR was being used as an instrument to gain thetrust of the people.The British colonial administrators in 1944 established the first Public RelationsDepartment. The department was headed by Mr. D.C. Fletcher, as the leader of agroup of staff, which included a public relations officer, an assistant publicrelations officer, a process engraver, a press officer, a publicity artist, an antiquitiesofficer, a photographer, a films officer, a radio officer and a confidential secretary.

The function of the department was mainly to carry out ―public enlightenment‖

programs relating to government activities. The colonial administrators targetedselected publics, such as Nigerian soldiers who participated in World War II aspart of the British Army. After Nigeria gained its independence in 1960, the publicrelations department was transferred to the newly created Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) where it continued with information activities for its variouspublics (Koper, 2010)The next significant changes in the development of pr in Nigeria occurred betweenthe years 1950 and 1960. This period witnessed --- political, social andeconomical changes in the country including the attainment of independence withall its implications, the discovery of oil and the shift of emphasis from generaltrading to industrialization.Led by Shell and U.A.C, the companies were compelled to launch plannedprogrammes covering government press and community relations. They alsohelped to popularize the creation of pr departments in their various companies, andthe development of Nigerians to man such positions.

 

Other contributors to the progress of pr in Nigeria include such as Dennis Buckle,formerly of UAC, and John Stocker, one time regional director of informationbased in Enugu, Eastern Nigeria. Mass Communication which provides the back-bone for effective practice of the profession was introduced as a course in ------ theUniversity of Nigeria, Nsukka, the University of Lagos and the Institute of Management Technology, Enugu (Offonry, 1985).

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