By Kalu Okoronkwo
There is an old African proverb that says when the town crier loses his reverence for truth, the entire village loses its sense of direction. The tragedy is not merely that the messenger has become dishonest; it is that the people can no longer distinguish warning from propaganda, information from manipulation, wisdom from noise, or conviction from performance. That proverb has never been more relevant than it is today. Across Nigeria, public communication has steadily degenerated from a noble profession into a theatre of political combat where facts are the first casualties, civility is dismissed as weakness, and insults are too often mistaken for intellectual superiority.
This decline is particularly troubling because Nigeria has produced some of the finest public relations and strategic communication professionals on the African continent. Distinguished practitioners such as Mazi Mike Okereke, former President of the Federation of African Public Relations Associations (FAPRA) and Public Relations Adviser to UAC of Nigeria; Larry Agose, former Public Relations Adviser to Nigerian Breweries; Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, former Group Managing Director of CMC Connect LLP; Tony Momoh, former Minister of Information; and Mukhtar Sirajo, former spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), helped shape the profession through competence, integrity, and strategic thinking. Mazi Okereke, in particular, elevated Nigerian public relations onto the global stage and once led a Federal Government delegation to Brussels on the implications of the European Common Market for Nigeria.
In that era, public spokespersons commanded respect because they were expected to serve as the institutional conscience of government, the measured voice of political parties, and the disciplined interpreters of public policy. Every statement reflected research, strategic thinking, professional ethics, and institutional responsibility. Citizens listened, not necessarily because they agreed, but because they expected reasoned arguments, factual explanations, and informed persuasion.
Today, much of Nigeria’s political communication landscape presents a starkly different picture. Public communication has become less an exercise in informing citizens than a contest in outrage. Television studios increasingly resemble arenas of political theatre, while social media platforms have evolved into gladiatorial battlegrounds where spokespersons compete less on the strength of their arguments than on the sharpness of their insults. In this disturbing inversion of values, the loudest voices command the greatest attention, while the most thoughtful are often drowned out by a culture that rewards outrage over reason and spectacle over substance.
The consequences extend far beyond poor manners or heated political exchanges. They point to a deeper institutional crisis. When public spokespersons abandon evidence for emotion, logic for loyalty, and persuasion for provocation, democratic discourse is diminished. Citizens are denied the informed debate necessary to scrutinize government, evaluate public policy, and make sound electoral choices.
This decline did not happen overnight. It reflects a gradual erosion of professional standards in public communication. Increasingly, appointments as political spokespersons appear to reward partisan loyalty more than demonstrable expertise in communication, public relations, media strategy, or crisis management. In many instances, spokespersonship has become an extension of political patronage rather than a profession requiring rigorous preparation. Consequently, some spokespersons seem to view their principal responsibility as attacking opponents, dominating news cycles, or inciting party supporters instead of providing accurate information, thoughtful analysis, and credible explanations of public policy.
It is important to acknowledge that vigorous political disagreement is the lifeblood of every healthy democracy. Passionate advocacy, robust criticism, and spirited defence of political positions are all legitimate features of democratic competition. The concern arises when disagreement consistently gives way to personal vilification, misinformation, inflammatory rhetoric, and communication that prizes spectacle over substance. The problem, therefore, is not that political spokespersons are partisan; it is that too many appear to confuse partisanship with professionalism.
A society enters dangerous territory when those entrusted with enlightening public understanding begin instead to manufacture confusion. That reality raises uncomfortable but necessary questions. What truly qualifies an individual to become the public voice of a government, political party, or public institution? Should eloquence alone suffice? Is political loyalty an adequate substitute for professional competence? Would any society permit someone without legal training to represent clients in court; someone without medical training to perform surgery, or someone without engineering qualifications to design a bridge? Why, then, should one of the most consequential responsibilities in democratic governance, the responsibility of shaping public understanding and national conversation remain so vulnerable to charlatanism?
The irony is striking. Nigeria carefully regulates professions because public confidence depends on competence. Lawyers undergo years of legal education before they are called to the Bar. Doctors complete extensive medical training before receiving licences to practice. Engineers, architects, accountants, pharmacists, and surveyors all operate within statutory regulatory frameworks designed to protect the public from quacks and with dire consequences. Yet the profession entrusted with managing information, safeguarding institutional reputation, mediating between government and citizens, and influencing public opinion is often occupied by individuals whose principal qualification is political proximity rather than professional expertise.
This contradiction inevitably invites renewed scrutiny of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the statutory body established to regulate public relations practice in Nigeria. Over the years, the Institute has made significant contributions to professional development, ethical standards, and capacity building. Nevertheless, the growing visibility of untrained or ethically questionable public communication raises legitimate questions about whether existing regulatory mechanisms are sufficiently enforced, whether public institutions attach adequate value to professional certification, and whether political appointments have gradually eclipsed professional standards. These are not accusations against the Institute, rather, they are questions of institutional effectiveness that deserve serious national reflection.
Every profession worthy of public trust begins with a simple proposition: competence must precede responsibility. Society does not entrust lives, liberty, or public resources to individuals merely because they are eloquent, loyal, or politically connected. It demands education, training, certification, ethical obligation, and accountability. This insistence is not elitism; it is civilization’s safeguard against incompetence.
However, in Nigeria’s political communication ecosystem, this principle is frequently weakened. A fundamental question therefore arises: who is truly qualified to speak for political parties or public institutions? I am narrowing this to public institutions (political parties, political institutions and political office holders) because such infraction is a rarity in the private sector.
The answer must go beyond political loyalty or the gift of the garb. A competent spokesperson requires a disciplined grasp of communication theory, media ethics, reputation management, public policy analysis, crisis communication, negotiation, audience psychology, strategic messaging, and the legal implications of public statements. Above all, such an individual must understand that credibility once lost, is almost impossible to recover.
Speaking on behalf of a government, political party, ministry, or public institution is not merely an exercise in defending authority. It is an exercise in preserving public confidence. Every statement carries legal, diplomatic, political, economic, and reputational consequences. Words can calm markets or unsettle them, reassure citizens or inflame tensions, strengthen institutional legitimacy or weaken it. The spokesperson is therefore not only a defender of authority but also a custodian of institutional credibility.
This is why many mature democracies increasingly professionalize government communication. In countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and Singapore, senior government communicators are often career professionals with backgrounds in journalism, public affairs, communications strategy, or public administration. In this aspect, former President Olusegun Obasanjo got it right when he appointed Mrs Remi Oyo of blessed memory, as Presidential Spokesperson during his time as president. A seasoned communicator, Mrs Oyo discharged her duties with grace and panache. She never abused nor attacked opposition parties neither did she spin falsehood just to defend her principal. Political appointments do exist, but they typically operate within structured communication systems that prioritize factual accuracy, disciplined messaging, and ethical responsibility. Effectiveness is measured not only by political success but by the ability to sustain public trust.
In Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), established by law and now governed under the NIPR (Establishment) Act, is mandated to regulate the practice of public relations. Its responsibilities include setting professional standards, promoting ethical conduct, accrediting practitioners, advancing professional development, and safeguarding the integrity of the profession. Over the years, the Institute has contributed to training, certification, and the promotion of professional ethics across public and private sectors.
However, the realities of Nigeria’s political communication landscape raise difficult questions about enforcement and compliance. If public relations is a regulated profession, why do many high-profile public spokespersons appear to operate outside its professional standards? Why do inflammatory rhetoric, misinformation, personal attacks, and partisan driven messaging continue to dominate public discourse? To what extent have political appointments weakened respect for professional certification and ethical accountability?
These are not accusations against the NIPR alone. Political parties, governments, appointing authorities, and the media all shape the incentives that govern public communication. Nevertheless, as the statutory regulator of the profession, the Institute inevitably sits at the centre of national debate about whether professional standards are being adequately upheld.
In other regulated professions, the standards are unambiguous. No governor would appoint a political loyalist as Commissioner for Health without any medical degree. No president would appoint a person who is not a lawyer with years of cognate experience as Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation. The legal profession requires admission to the Bar. Medicine demands licensing with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria; Engineering requires registration with COREN or NSE. Accounting, architecture, pharmacy, surveying, and aviation all operate under strict regulatory frameworks because expertise and competence protect the public.
Why then, should communication, which shapes national discourse influences investor confidence, affects diplomatic relations, and often determines public response during crises, be treated differently?
It is within this context that several prominent political spokesmen including Kenneth Okonkwo, Daniel Bwala, Reno Omokri, and Bayo Onanuga, among others, have attracted significant public attention. As a matter of public record, each has played an influential role in Nigeria’s political communication space (for good or for bad), often from differing ideological and partisan positions at various times. Their interventions have generated both strong support from allies and strong criticism from opponents.
Reasonable observers may differ on the quality or tone of their communication styles. Some view them as forceful advocates operating within the adversarial nature of politics. Others argue that contemporary political discourse has increasingly drifted to confrontation, personal attacks, and media theatrics over careful policy explanation. This is not limited to any individual actor. It is an emerging communication culture that rewards abuse and uncouth language and provocation of not only opponents but fouls the sensibilities of the audience.
Indeed, this pattern transcends personalities and political parties. Governments change, oppositions become governments, and critics become defenders. Yet the communication style often remains strikingly similar: selective use of facts, rhetorical escalation, and increasing personalization of political disagreement.
The crisis, therefore, extends beyond individuals. It is a crisis of standards, institutions, and public expectations. It reflects how one of democracy’s most strategic professions has gradually weakened its intellectual discipline, allowing performative politics to overshadow professional communication and enabling empty voices to dominate spaces that should be reserved for informed, ethical, and disciplined communication.
Until Nigeria rediscovers the difference between advocacy and propaganda, persuasion and manipulation, and spokespersonship and political theatre, public discourse will remain trapped in a cycle where noise is mistaken for insight and where empty voices increasingly drown out reasoned analysis.
Ultimately, democracy is judged not only by the quality of those who govern, but also by the quality of those entrusted to explain governance to the governed.
Kalu Okoronkwo is a communications strategist, a leadership and good governance advocate dedicated to impactful societal development and can be reached via kalu.okoronkwo@gmail.com
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