THE EFFECT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS IN NIGERIA’S TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

In recent years, public relations has emerged as a powerful marketing strategy in modern corporate management. Its impact is being felt by both large and small businesses, with the potential for much greater development. It is critical for management organizations, especially higher institutions, to comprehend their potential as well as their constraints.

Nwokoye (2004) defined public relations as the activities of a company, union, government, or other organization in developing and marketing sound and productive relationships with a specific public such as customers, relations, employees, or stockholders, as well as the general public, in order to adapt to its environment and interpret itself to society.

According to Bush & Houston (1995), public relations is a management function that evaluates public attitudes, finds policies and procedures of persons or organizations that are in the public interest, and executes a plan of action to gain public understanding and approval.

According to Chukwu (2000), public relations practice is a management philosophy that aims to do all necessary to develop excellent relationships between one business and its publics.

Public relations is aimed at gaining friends for the company and establishing internal and external good will on the logical assumption that they are vitally required for an organization to stay in business and create profit as its activities expand. The requirement for proper communication between the organization and people who are impacted in some manner by the organization's operations becomes increasingly pressing. In order to stay liable, a company must maintain positive relationships with its workers, customers of its products and services, potential investors, stockholders, and the general public. Edoga & Ani (2001) noted that a company should deliberately plan and execute a continuous public relations programme to develop a good relationship between it and that various publics, amongst sought with public relations, as an organization specialized in manufacturing to potential customers that is up to date, forward looking concerned to produce and offer the best goods and services for the rice it charges and make sure that its customers are truly satisfied.

Olakunori (1999) emphasized the importance of public relations in the country, stating that most officials in charge of public relations for various organizations in the country today are not experts; they typically have a decent understanding of what they are expected to perform.

As an institution or organization, the students, members of its staff, parents-teachers association, management, the host society, the state and federal governments, Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC), and others constitute its important publics. This suggests that higher institutions operations have an impact on the aforementioned diverse publics in some way. As a result, in order to preserve its public relations with those entities, higher institutions must constantly strive to build rapport, understanding, and goodwill with all of them. This will be accomplished by effective information circulation between itself and the many relevant public (Olakunori 1999). This can be accomplished by enabling free flow of information, paying salaries as and when they are due to its employees, participating in proper and standard academic work, and adhering to NUC laws and regulations in the performance of its activities.

Manufacturers and manufacturers of goods and services are now aware that public relations not only ensures excellent public relations but can also lead to greater client patronage and profit. Given the significance of public relations, the researcher intends to assess the efficiency of public relations in service sectors using University of Ilorin, Kwara State as a case study.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

A healthy corporate image is commonly seen as crucial for an organization's survival. A corporation's success or failure is determined by its relationships with its publics, consumers, workers, stockholders, government, community, distributions, supply, and others. A positive corporate image instills trust in a company or institution (Olakunori 1999).

As has become the norm, there have been occupational issues at tertiary institutions. Despite the infrequent occurrence of these heinous acts, tertiary institutions have always been portrayed in a good way. According to Olamide (2015), this positive portrayal of tertiary institutions, most times have adverse effe ct on the students.

The major objective of this study effort is to determine how far public relations has helped to the maintenance of peace and harmony in institutions.

1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of this study is to examine the effect of public relations in nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Other aims of this study are:

i.          To find out the extent of public relations in tertiary institutions.

ii.        To examine the effect of public relations in tertiary institutions.

iii.      To determine whether public relations help in improving communication between schools and the students.

iv.      To examine the challenges of public relations in tertiary institutions.

1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions will guide this study:

i.          To what extent is public relations carried out in tertiary institutions?

ii.        Does public relations help in improving communication between schools and the students?

iii.      What are the effects of public relations in tertiary institutions?

iv.      What are the challenges of public relations in tertiary institutions?

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The most significant goal of this study is that its findings would be extremely beneficial to students, teachers, and management personnel at higher institutions. These will aid in reducing disputes in within institutions.

The research also delves into the issue and practice of public relations in Nigerian institutions of higher learning. This study's objectives will analyze not only the success of classified public relations, but all of its applications and uses in general. As a result, if carried out and recorded correctly, this research will serve as a source of valuable information for many institutions and organizations on how to use public relations.

Finally, public relations practitioners have been deprived of good performance in operations due to a lack of suitable data and literature in this domain.

When finished and properly monitored, this study will be added to the important literature in public relations. As a result, practitioners and consultants will rely heavily on it for reference.

Based on the above, it is apparent that this investigation is necessary.

1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will be focused on examining the effect of public relations in nigeria’s tertiary institutions. Specifically, it will be focused on finding out the extent of public relations in tertiary institutions, examining the effect of public relations in tertiary institutions, determining whether public relations help in improving communication between schools and the students and examining the challenges of public relations in tertiary institutions.

Lecturers and students of the University of Ilorin, Kwara State will serve as enrolled participants for the survey of this study.

1.7 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

As with any human endeavor, the researcher experienced small impediments while performing the study. Due to the scarcity of literature on the subject as a result of the discourse's nature, the researcher incurred additional financial expenses and spent additional time sourcing for relevant materials, literature, or information, as well as during the data collection process, which is why the researcher chose a small sample size. Additionally, the researcher conducted this inquiry in conjunction with other scholarly pursuits. Additionally, because only a small number of respondents were chosen to complete the research instrument, the results cannot be applied to other secondary schools outside the state. Regardless of the limits faced throughout the investigation, all aspects were reduced to ensure the best outcomes and the most productive research.

1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Effect: A change which is a result or consequence of an action or other cause.

Public relations: Public relations is the practice of managing and disseminating information from an individual or an organization to the public in order to affect their public perception. Public relations and publicity differ in that PR is controlled internally, whereas publicity is not controlled and contributed by external parties.

Tertiary institutions: A university or other post- secondary institution or higher educational institution