By Ebunoluwa Sessou

NKECHI ALI-BALOGUN is one of the leading Public Relations experts in Nigeria and a multi-talented industry veteran with over 28 years of professional experience in client services and public relations consultancy proffering value-adding solutions to managerial problems and consistently designing and delivering best public relations and management strategies especially in the area of crisis management and governance. She has accumulated enormous experience and practical knowledge of the procedures and techniques of manpower development strategies, staffing and strategic management. 

She has served as Chairman of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos State Chapter. She is an in-demand industry facilitator, perception manager, motivational speaker, crisis manager and mentor. 

She is the founder and convener of the foremost annual PR roundtable, NECCI Public Relations Roundtable, now in its 25th edition. 

You mentioned that COVID-19 brought some positive changes to your life. How did the pandemic affect your work and outlook as public relations professional?

I never went back to my former way of working after COVID-19. The pandemic actually brought some positive changes into my life. One of the things it did was that it made me realize that I was wasting money.

Before COVID, I had a large office in Yaba with a conference room and several offices. Every year, my landlord increased the rent. We moved from paying about N250,000 to N350,000, then N450,000, N650,000 and eventually over a million naira. When COVID came, I started asking myself whether all that expense was really necessary.

At the same time, I had this place at home. My husband and I agreed that I could use it as my office. Initially, he was not very comfortable with the arrangement, but after seeing how practical it was, he accepted it.

Since then, I have been working from here. I also discovered that public relations professionals are essentially content creators and strategic communicators. In the past, clients’re expected to visit your office and inspect your facilities. Today, everything is done online. In fact, many clients never come to your office. Communication is done through email, WhatsApp, Zoom and other digital platforms.

When I started PR, I used to travel long distances just to meet editors and media executives. Today, all I need is my phone. In fact, this interview could easily have been conducted via WhatsApp or email, although I still prefer face-to-face conversations because they allow for more depth and warmth.

COVID also made me reflect on my age and priorities. At the time, I was already in my sixties and I asked myself why I was stressing myself unnecessarily. Ironically, I now work even longer hours than before. Yesterday, for example, I worked until 10 p.m. If I still had to drive through Lagos traffic to get home, I would probably have stopped work by 5 p.m.

What lessons should public relations professionals take from these changes, especially when it comes to attracting clients and growing their businesses?

The first lesson is that location does not determine the quality of clients you attract. What attracts clients is the value your brand offers.

If your brand is strong, if people know that you are skilled, competent and capable of creating value, they will seek you out wherever you are. People are looking for solutions. They are looking for answers. The question is: are you the answer they need?

That is why I always advise professionals to keep upskilling and updating themselves. Develop a strong brand essence. Build expertise. If you have what people need, your physical location becomes less important.

In Nigeria, we often spend enormous amounts of money on large offices and elaborate facilities. In countries like the United Kingdom, many successful consultants operate from very modest spaces. I worked with a PR partner in the UK for years. When I eventually visited his office, it was a very small space that served mainly as an address. He worked mostly from home. Yet he was highly successful.

So the real question is not how big your office is. The question is whether the office contributes to the value you create. If it does, fine. If it doesn’t, there are more efficient ways of doing business.

What should a young Mass Communication graduates know before choosing public relations as a career?

The first thing is passion. If you do not have passion, you cannot succeed in public relations.

Unfortunately, many people have misconceptions about the profession. They think PR is about having a beautiful face, a good smile, appearing in newspapers, attending events and enjoying a glamorous lifestyle. That is not what public relations is about.

Public relations is much deeper. It is people-centred. If you do not understand people, you cannot practice public relations effectively.

You must understand what motivates people, how they behave, how organizations function and how different stakeholders interact. You must have patience because human beings are complex. Different stakeholders have different interests, expectations and perspectives.

Anyone considering a career in PR should ask themselves some important questions: Do I genuinely like working with people? Do I possess strong interpersonal skills? Am I a good communicator? Do I have the patience and emotional intelligence to manage relationships? Can I analyse situations and provide solutions?

Public relations is essentially about understanding situations, analysing them, predicting their impact and then counseling clients or management based on those insights.

For example, if you are working in a region experiencing violence or instability, you must be able to study the environment, identify trends, predict possible outcomes and advise management accordingly. That is public relations.

There is increasing concern about insecurity in Nigeria. From a public relations perspective, how should such crisis situations be handled?

The first thing is to understand the crisis. Before you can solve a problem, you must understand what caused it.

People often talk about tools such as SWOT analysis, and yes, SWOT is useful. But there are several analytical frameworks available. The key is thorough research and analysis.

You must ask important questions. Were there warning signs? If there were warning signs, why were they ignored? What is the root cause of the crisis? Is the situation still manageable? What interventions are required?

Most importantly, everyone involved must be sincere and deliberate. Crisis communication cannot be handled through lip service.

Personally, I remain puzzled by Nigeria’s insecurity challenges. We have enormous human and material resources. We have talented people. We have capable security institutions. Yet we continue to struggle with insecurity.

I am not a military expert, but I know there is no crisis that is insurmountable. There are solutions if we are willing to be intentional about finding and implementing them.

What role does communication strategy play in addressing insecurity and other national crises?

It plays a critical role. One of the biggest challenges we face is the absence of a coherent and consistently implemented crisis communication strategy.

Every crisis requires a strategy. Kidnapping, for instance, has become a major challenge. There should be a communication framework for addressing it.

Any effective crisis strategy must include planning, implementation, monitoring, evaluation and continuous learning. Every crisis provides lessons. What lessons did we learn from one incident? How can those lessons be applied to prevent future occurrences?

You also need the right manpower, the right communication tools and the right systems.

Another important aspect is audience segmentation. In every crisis, there are different stakeholders. There are victims, perpetrators, affected communities, government agencies, security agencies, low-income groups, high-income groups, the employed, the unemployed and many others.

Each audience requires a different communication approach. Therefore, you need a strategy that speaks effectively to all of them.

You must also establish Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to determine whether your interventions are actually producing results.

Does Nigeria have enough professionals capable of helping government manage these challenges?

Absolutely. Skilled manpower is not Nigeria’s problem. We have experts in public relations, communication, technology and many other fields. We have talented professionals across the country.

The issue is whether there are listening ears. Experts can only contribute when they are engaged and given the opportunity to do so.

Even our young people possess extraordinary capabilities. Look at the level of innovation, organization and communication skills demonstrated during various social movements. Whether people agreed with the objectives or not, the creativity and technological sophistication displayed were remarkable.

Those talents still exist. Those young people are still here. What we need is genuine inclusion. The older generation must create space for younger people and engage them sincerely in nation-building.

Looking back on your career, what would you consider your greatest achievement?

My greatest achievement is goodwill. When I turned 70, I realized how many relationships I had built over the years and how much goodwill I had accumulated.

Goodwill is the foundation of reputation. In public relations, that is what we try to build for the organizations we serve. A brand without goodwill will struggle to maintain a positive reputation.

For me, goodwill opens doors. It creates opportunities. It inspires me. It reminds me that the work I have done over the years has had meaning and impact.

What values have sustained your career?

Honesty, integrity and transparency. Without these values, it is difficult to survive in public relations. I have always tried to remain honest and transparent in my dealings.

I have also learned the importance of humility. Public relation is a profession that requires continuous learning. Society is constantly changing. We have moved from a focal environment to what many now describe as a Barney world—brittle, anxious, non-linear and incomprehensible.

No one has all the answers. Sometimes you must rely on the expertise and knowledge of others. Humility allows you to acknowledge that others may know more than you in certain areas.

Because of that, I have continued to update my knowledge, acquire new skills and learn from colleagues throughout my career.

How long have you been in the profession and how has your journey been like?

I joined the public relations profession in 1995 and have remained active ever since.

I started as an associate member and today I am a Fellow of the Institute. I served as a Council Member for four years and at one point contested to become the first female President of the Institute.

Although I did not win the election, that did not discourage me. I believe that after elections, professionals should come together to pursue common goals.

Today, I remain very active in the profession. I serve as the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria and also chair several committees.

I am fortunate to work with leaders who share similar values and who understand the importance of collaboration. We may have contested for positions, but we are united by a common objective—to build a stronger and better public relations profession.

Finally, what are the leadership principles guideing you?

Resilience, positive influence, service to humanity, continuous learning and collaboration.

Public relation is ultimately about people. As long as people exist, there will always be new challenges, new lessons and new opportunities to serve.

That belief has guided my journey from 1995 until today, and it continues to shape everything I do.