Veteran journalist and former Managing Director of The Guardian, Mr. Martins Oloja, has criticised President Bola Tinubu’s handling of the controversy surrounding the alleged fake federal agency headed by an embattled Director-General.
He warned that the government’s communication approach had further deepened the trust deficit between the Presidency and Nigerians.
Speaking at the 45th edition of Boiling Point Arena, a monthly public affairs discourse, Oloja argued that the controversy was less about the fate of the agency than about the government’s failure to manage public confidence through professional reputation management.
The once-in-a-month interview discourse, hosted by a veteran broadcaster and public relations strategist, Dr Ayo Arowojolu, was transmitted via Zoom and broadcast live on multiple partner radio station.
According to him, official attempts to dismiss the agency as fake despite documentary evidence in the public domain have only fuelled public scepticism and weakened confidence in government communication.
Questioning the official narrative, Oloja said: “How do you explain a so-called fake agency that was able to operate a Central Bank account and even had allocations captured in the national budget passed by the National Assembly?”
He maintained that reputation management demands consistency, credibility and carefully coordinated messaging, especially when public trust was already under strain.
Oloja particularly faulted statements expressing confidence in the embattled official while a presidential probe had already been ordered into the matter.
“The President may say, ‘I trust this man,’ but that is not the issue. The issue is: who believes the President?” he asked.
“What public relations teaches is that there must be trust. Once you have constituted a committee to investigate somebody, you must be careful what you say, how you say it and even who says it.”
He warned that contradictory official statements only widened the credibility gap between government and citizens, particularly when fresh documentary evidence continued to emerge.
“The more government speaks, the more documents come out. Journalists outside government are seeing those documents. They are not addressing the trust deficit arising from this development,” he said.
The veteran journalist stressed that effective public relations is not about defending every government action but about protecting institutional credibility through honesty, consistency and strategic stakeholder engagement.
He therefore urged the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, as the statutory regulator of public relations practice in Nigeria, to intensify efforts to ensure that communication roles in both the public and private sectors are handled by trained and certified professionals.
“It is the responsibility of the Institute to ensure that those practising public relations are properly trained and registered. People must understand that public relations is a profession on its own. It is not journalism,” he said.
Oloja noted that governments would earn greater public confidence if they embraced professional reputation management principles instead of relying solely on media responses to controversial issues.
He maintained that rebuilding public trust required transparency, strategic communication and consistent messaging capable of inspiring confidence among citizens and other stakeholders.
The topic of the discourse was: “Journalism is not Public Relations: Why Many Successful Journalists are Misfits for Reputational Management Roles.”
Oloja was joined by Dr Ike Neliaku, President of NIPR and Dr Eddy Ademosu, a Strategic Communication expert and erstwhile Head, Corporate Affairs of three banks in a row.
The programme was keynoted by the Olota of Ota and Paramount ruler of Aworiland, Prof Adeyemi Obalanlege.
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