The book with 13 chapters started with From Journalism to Public Relations. In chapter two, Dangogo discussed Understanding Public Relations with Banking on Public Relations being the third as Handling the Bank CEO covered the fourth chapter along with The BON Voyage in chapter five which is followed by The Union Bank Case Study.

Chapter seven is entitled Working with Union Bank CEOs. Chapter eight is Handling the Financial Community as Employee Communications and Bridge-Building is discussed in chapter nine. Chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13 are on Engaging with the Media, Corporate Marketing Communications, Government Relations, and Managing Professionalism respectively.

In the first chapter, Dangogo detailed how he started career as a teacher before moving to journalism through the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) and later New Nigerian Newspaper. At the NTA where the author said his experience was largely smooth, rich and professionally rewarding, was involved in many things including events management, teaching and programme production as well as directing.

Dangogo’s fearless journalism at the NNN as was the case of Lagos Weekly Record got him into troubles with the power that be. It was not surprising that his detention by the authority at an army cell in Apapa where he spent the weekend of January 15, 1988, was not reported by the paper he edited. What an irony of life?

In the second chapter, Dangogo admonished public relations practitioners to “understand that the difference between success and failure is the ability to communicate clearly and effectively” and that “practitioner’s messages should aim at influencing audience attitudes, opinions or behaviours rather than simply sending out press releases merely to increase the number of times his company gets mentioned in the press.”

In the third chapter Dangogo examined the history of public relations in the banking industry in Nigeria. The examination took him to First Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Afribank (formerly International Bank for West Africa.) The chapter also analyses banks’ slogans, banks’ branding, banker’ image, bankers’ code of conduct, bank fraud, and the race for capital. The following chapter tutored the practitioners on how to manage the CEO. It is a common saying in the corporate world that “manage your boss”. Dangogo has spelt out how to do it through different cases.

In chapter five, The BON Voyage, the author showcases his experience at Bank of the North (BON), where he spent his first five cumulative years in public relations. The voyage at BON included how he professionalized the department, promoted the bank and managed crisis for the bank.

Chapter eight gave the details of how to handle the financial community. He defines financial communication as the “promotion of a company’s performance, behaviour and strategies to its shareholders”. The highpoint of the chapter is the difference between investor relations and financial public relations. Usually, practitioners have used the terms interchangeably, however, Dangogo drew the thin line difference between the two.

He noted that financial public relations ensures that company information gets communicated to the stock market, investors, financial analysts and the financial press while investor relations is the management of relations between a company and its shareholders, usually through the company secretary or the registrar.

On internal communications, the author in the ninth chapter entitled Employee Communications and bridge-building enjoined public relations managers to always carry the staff along because “nobody can do a job properly unless they know the background to it”, he submitted. While paraphrasing Tony Greener in the book, Secrets of Successful PR, the author observes that internal communication helps to facilitate the management of change as well as motivates incentives to employees. It also gives them a sense of belonging and helps them to understand – and integrate with – the organisation’s culture.

Ultimately, this is what equips employees to deliver the organisation’s products and services.
On community relations (bridge-building), the author underlines the challenge facing the practitioner as the need to convince his or her organisation to focus on tangible community development projects that can bring good reputation to the organisation – as opposed to projects that are of no consequence but in which top management may be interested.

The next chapter gave the tit-bits of media relations. He identified the usual clash between the public relations man and the media as a function of the clash of the headline and bottomline. While advising against brown envelope, he urged the practitioner to be professional in his dealings with the media.
He proffers a golden rule. This is that the practitioner must show the media that he cares. And if he cannot provide an answer for a question, he should be forthright.

The last chapter is on managing professionalism. Dangogo charged public relations practitioners to manage their departments’ budgets very well as a great step towards professionalism. Also, the author noted that the public relations team should be well built for efficiency.
A well written prose, however, the book is an attempt by the author to patronize himself. If re-edited, the book is likely to show the apartheid South Africa in the history of public relations department of Union Bank which had its name changed from Barclays Bank as earlier detailed by Orraca-Tetteh in his book, Public Relations: A New Approach.
Kunle Ogedengbe is a United Kingdom-trained public relations specialist, and strategy practitioner.