POLICS AND PUBLIC RELATION :My perspective

By ‘Niran Adedokun

Barack Obama, the 44th and first black President of the United States of America is a unique personality. Unlike a few that have occupied the exalted office, Obama is one person who is admired by friends and foes alike. Even people who openly disagree with this man find it difficult not to love him. Such is the level of admiration that the husband of Michelle tends to draw from people.

What’s more, Obama speaks well, carries himself appropriately and comes across as genuine and sincere with a charismatic and an infectious personality! But in terms of concrete performance in government, his first four-year term cannot be described as totally outstanding. Millions of Americans, some from the Democratic Party had expected far more from Obama than he was able to deliver in those four years. A particular assessment suggested that America was torn into almost equal halves on the performance of the Obama Presidency.

Matthew Lynch, writing for The Huffington Post noted that “The Obama Scorecard,” a document published by Politifact.com assessed 508 campaign promises made by Obama. He was said to have performed as follows: promises kept- 35%, promises broken- 12%, compromises- 11%, in the works- 28% and (promises)stalled-13%.

Obama and his camp would, of course, attribute this situation to the fact that he became President during one of the most difficult moments in America’s history, that he had to deal with problems which he didn’t create, that he inherited a crumbling economy and a sick polity and that it would take more than four years to achieve a total recovery. Regardless of how true the above explanation may be, however, it is doubtful that it would cut ice with the American electorate or the electorate elsewhere for that matter. The deal, as far as the electorate is concerned is, “you made campaign promises, even when you saw the challenges, so go on, show some integrity and live up to you promises!”

The above scenario notwithstanding, the American people still went ahead and elected Obama for a second term last November. In the days preceding the last elections, it was very widely speculated that not even the seeming perception of Obama’s lack-lustre performance in some circles affected his image among Americans. So, how does one explain that?

A lot of people believe that the Obama successes, both at the personal and governmental levels are due more to his robust Public Relations strategy than any other thing. One analyst said Obama has put the use of Public Relations to his advantage than any other American leader while yet another nicknamed him a “Public Relations Genius”. He seems to have studied and imbibed the Indira Ghandi saying that “Public Relations is one of the lubricants of democracy. Governmental and industrial processes are becoming increasingly complex. It is through public relations that their processes can be made intelligible to the people and enable them to leave their impress on the shaping of policies”.

It would appear that this is what politicians in this clime are yet to come to terms with. Politicians in this part of the world do not seem to understand the need for building bridges between their exalted offices and the multitude that they govern. They do not seem to realise the importance of employing public relations to their own eternal good.

I need to clarify something here. When I say public relations, I do not mean the wasteful ventures that our governments embark on, paying for slots in the media to display window-dressed projects as evidence of performance. No, that at best is propaganda. What I am referring to is real people-centred planning, which ultimately builds a good image and reputation in the minds of the populace.

Public relations strategy to my understanding is about the process of identifying what is top of mind in an environment and relating the administration’s policy direction to what is relevant to that environment. It is about listening to your audience and making your plans relevant to their concerns, making promises to them and genuinely seeing those promises through!

In the Obama case, for instance, as much as he’s used the media to the best of his advantage, Obama and his team did a lot to create a positive personal image in the minds of his people.

Obama spoke candidly and promptly on every issue that affected Americans.  He would say a thing and stand by it. When he made promises, he kept them and over time, people began to see him as a trustworthy leader.

Obama is also seen as largely transparent. He made an unprecedented promise to publish all Executive Orders and Proclamations on the White House website and got people to believe him. He is seen as a leader without skeletons, much unlike someone who proclaims his total disregard for the aspirations of his people on national television.

Obama is seen as very accessible and down to earth. Did you see the picture of that Florida Pizza shop owner who lifted Obama up during the 2012 Presidential campaigns? By the way, that man, Scott Van Duzer, is a registered Republican.   No Nigerian, not even the President’s wife could ever try that here. Overzealous security men would make mincemeat of such a person and he may not live to tell the story. That is how imprisoned and impersonal our leaders are. They make it impossible for the common man to even move close to them. A President comes to town and anyone unfortunate to have business on his route is rendered immobile by the closure of roads, sometimes for hours. Such events leave lasting impressions on the minds of the people.

Obama held a total number of 58 town hall meetings where he felt the pulses of different classes of people. He went to places, including campaign sessions with rolled up sleeves, a practical expression to his metaphorical assurance that he was ready to get to work on the challenges of the nation. The practical rolling up of sleeves sends a message that the President was on the same level with his audience, he was ready to take things a little easier, and that it’s okay for them to do the same. No wonder he often left such meetings being perceived as a trustworthy, caring, warm and friendly, stands-up-for-what-he-believes kind of leader.

 These are rather easy gestures which endear a leader to his people. Nigerian leaders need to understand this.  They need to realize that perception is everything. And in the perception game, every single thing that people hear, see, feel, taste or experience communicates. This is how people form opinions. Our leaders need to start building some consistent personal image. This should start with a message which connects with the aspirations of the people. They must then go ahead to strip themselves of their current “empathy deficient” image by literally rolling up their sleeves and getting to work on behalf of the people. It is only after then that the hundreds of millions of tax payer monies that they spend to oil their propaganda machinery would begin make any sense.

Adeniran Adedokun is the Chief Operating Officer of David & Destiny PR Consulting and Co-founder of The Communicat!