President of the Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA), Elder Godwin Onyekazi, has described the Corporate and Strategic Communication Unit of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) as a major setback for the organization saying that professionals should head the department.
Speaking with newsmen in Lagos over the weekend, Onyekazi said the current handlers of NPA’s public affairs and public relations duties are laid back and out of tune with present-day realities.
“If public relations is about managing reputation; if it is a career that involves gaining an understanding of an organisation’s stakeholders and using that understanding to garner goodwill; if it is about trying to influence the opinion and behaviour of stakeholders in favour of the organisation, then one can safely conclude that such practice does not exist in present-day NPA.
“That vibrant, proactive and professional NPA public relations practice that we all knew and that set the standard for other government agencies has long vanished.
“What you see in present-day NPA is an armchair and detached PR department. It is neither strategic nor is it in tune with present realities of issues around the organization. The unit has become docile and unresponsive.
“I think the failure of NPA management to appoint a PR professional to head the unit at the corporate level is a grave mistake that should be reversed as soon as possible.
“The unit as presently constituted is no more than an armchair office. There is neither engagement nor consultation with NPA’s publics.
“The publics, which the unit was set up to interact and relate with has been wholly alienated and effectively shut out. It has become completely docile and this will continue to hamper the operations of the organization as well as sustain a persistently negative image for it,” Onyekazi said.
According to him, those appointed of late are those about to retire and they use it as their exit point. This is completely absurd.
“NPA will continue to experience challenges in its relationship with stakeholders until a competent professional is appointed to head the unit.”he