Public Relations Critical Tool to Sustain Policies, Reforms, Says Shettima

Public Relations Critical Tool to Sustain Policies, Reforms, Says Shettima 

Nigeria's Vice President, Kashim Shettima has said the public relations profession is an important tool in fostering sustenance in government policies in order to ensure they achieve their aims of positively impacting the lives of the people. 

He states this on Tuesday, 21st April, 2026 in Kaduna while declaring open the 3rd Nigeria Public Relations Week (NPRW), which had as the theme, "Food Security: From Policy Paper to Public Plates: The Imperative of Public Relations", organised by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). 

According to the Vice President, public relations is indispensable in communicating government policies, underlining that policies and reforms poorly explained will often lead to public distrust and resistance.

“As a government, we regard public relations as a strategic function of governance. It is integral to building trust, managing uncertainty, and sustaining reform. We must communicate not only what we are doing but also why we are doing it, how it serves the public good, and what place the citizen occupies in the success of that effort. 

“Governance cannot afford to be distant. Policy cannot afford to be opaque. Leadership cannot afford to speak a language the people no longer understand,” he stated, observing that no matter how brilliant policies are in conception, “they must be explained, trusted, and translated from technical language into human meaning". 

Speaking on the theme, the Vice President outlined measures being taken by the current administration to ensure food security in the country, stating that feeding the nation is at the heart of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

“His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has placed feeding our nation at the heart of the nation’s economic and social agenda. We have taken bold steps to confront this challenge with the seriousness it demands. We declared a state of emergency on food insecurity.

“We advanced mechanisation by deploying 2,000 tractors. We established a ₦100 billion agricultural fund. We scaled up dry-season farming. We introduced targeted input subsidies. And we strengthened partnerships to unlock investment across the agricultural value chain,” he said. 

Also speaking, the governor of Kaduna State, Sen. Uba Sani while stating that Food Security has become an urgent consideration in shaping the future of Nigeria, he assured that the State government will contribute its own quota towards achieving food security by giving the agriculture sector more budgetary allocations.

President of the African Public Relations Association (APRA), Arik Karani urged Nigerians to always tell their stories confidently because the country has greatly improved in all facets.

He lauded Nigeria’s new visa processing mechanism, which he said has greatly improved, adding that the airport procedures for foreign visitors are also seamless.

The keynote speaker, Pan-African Parliament Ambassador for Food Security and Chief Executive Officer of Elpasso Farms, South Africa Dr. Brylyne Chitsunge commended Nigeria’s progress in food security, maintaining that it is a matter of national security and economic stability.

Chitsunge noted that while Nigeria has a lot of agricultural potential that must be harnessed, policy implementation gaps must be addressed to achieve food security.

In his welcome address, NIPR President Dr Ike Neliaku said the NPRW was part of the institute’s intervention to contribute to good governance, noting that the idea is to partner with the government to build Nigeria.

A key feature of the event was the investiture of the governor as Patron of NIPR.