CHAPTER ONE
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Universities in Nigeria are among the tertiary
institutions of learning charged with the responsibility of training
individuals to become professionals indifferent field for them to earn their
first degree, second degree as well as PhD.
Universities
or any tertiary institution of their likes have three categories of staff,
which are the principal officers or hither-to referred to as management staff,
the academic staff and the non-academic staff.
Peaceful co-existence of these categories of staff
is of paramount importance to the achievement of the objectives for which the
university was established. That is, the interpersonal relationship between
these categories of staff must be positive and cordial.
Research study reveals that, the impact of public
relations in the university or any higher institution of learning cannot be
over emphasized because it contributes greatly to the achievement of the
positive interpersonal relationship between the management and the staff.
Public relations according to the British Institute
of Public Relations are “a deliberate planned and sustained effort to establish
and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics”.
Osuji Chuks(1999), contends that:
“public relations is the process of creating
favourable public opinion for an individual, firm, institution, organization
and even for an intangible thing such as name so that any person who has something to do with that tangible or
intangible thing, may perceive it in a good way”.
Dany Moss
(2002),
defines public relations as “reputation
management that is enhancing reputation, reinforcing reputation and combating
damages done to reputation”.
Public relations is all about building
good image and good will for one’s self or for his organization.
From the above definitions of public relations, one
can see the place of public relations in terms of maintaining mutual
interpersonal understanding between the management and staff of the university.
For the purpose of this study a university is an
organization where academic and non-academic staff are grouped together to form
the publics or internal publics to be specific.
Public relation is the arbitrator to establish and
maintain mutual interpersonal understanding between the organization and its
external and internal publics.
The purpose of the study is to prove whether or not
the establishment of public relations units or departments as the case may be
has meaningfully contributed to the mutual interpersonal relationship existing
among the various categories of staff of the of
1.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE OF
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The
of is located in the ancient
city of , about 500 kilometres from , the Federal
capital. ,
the Capital of Kwara State, is strategically
located at the geographical and cultural confluence of the North and South.
University
of
was one of the seven institutions of higher learning established by a decree of
the Federal Military Government in August, 1975. This step, taken to implement
one of the educational directives of the country’s Third National Development
Plan, was aimed at providing more opportunities for Nigerians aspiring to
acquire university education and to generate high level man-power, so vital for
the rapidly expanding economy.
The then University College of Ilorin was
initially affiliated to the
of . Dr. T.N.
Tamuno, Professor and Head of History Department at the of ,
was appointed the first Principal of the College in September, 1975. Shortly
after Professor Tamuno’s appointment as Principal of the College, he was
appointed the Vice-Chancellor of the
of . It therefore,
became necessary to appoint another Principal in the person of Professor O.O.
Akinkugbe, former Dean of the then Faculty of Medicine, University of , in December,
1975.
The then new Principal, Professor O.O. Akinkugbe,
made several visits to the second Military Governor of
, the late Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo
in connection with the new institution, such that by March 1976, he had
established residence at .
The support given to the fledgling Institution by Governor Taiwo continued even
more vigorously under the third Military Governor of the State, Brigadier
George A. Innih, who ceded a portion of the temporary site of the Kwara State
College of Technology to the University. The site, up till now, serves as the
mini campus of the University.
Academic/Physical-Development
Following an entrance examination,
200 foundation students were admitted into residence on Saturday, October 23rd,
1976, and academic activities commenced on Monday, October 25th , 1976, after
the Principal’s maiden address at about 10.00am in the Africa Hall. The had three foundation Faculties
namely: Arts, Science and Education. The Institution began to develop its programmes
in a way that not less than 60% of its effort was directed towards
science-oriented programmes.
In October 1977, the Institution attained full
autonomous status and has since then developed by leaps and bounds. The student
population of 200 in 1976 has increased to 20,084 by the 2005/2006 session,
while the total staff strength of the university stood at approximately 3,040
as at March 1, 2007. Up till January 1982, the university carried out its
academic programmes, involving the Faculties of Arts, Science, Education,
Engineering & Technology, Business and Social Sciences, and the Pre-Clinical
aspect of the Health Sciences on the Mini-Campus. The completion of the Faculty
blocks for Natural Sciences and Engineering as well as 8 blocks of student
hotels by December 1981, made it possible, on the 2nd of January 1982, for the
actual movement of over 1,000 science-oriented students to the Main-Campus to
pursue their various academic programmes.
The law degree programme was initially established in 1983/84 session as
a department in the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences. Though cancelled
in 1986/87, it was resuscitated in 1993/94 as a full fledged Faculty.
The Main Campus currently houses the Faculties of
Science, Engineering & Technology, Agriculture, Education, Law, Arts,
Business and Social Sciences, (following the completion of the new seven-storey
Senate Complex), the Unilorin Sugar Research Institute, Postgraduate School,
the Main University Library, Computer Services and Information Technology
(COMSIT), Works Yard, Conference Centre, Unilorin Resources Development
and Management Board (URDMB), Student Canteens, the newly completed 2,000 seat
multipurpose Auditorium and the Alumni/ Endowment Office. The Mini-Campus
presently houses the of , a mini Library, Canteens and
Shopping Complex, the
of , some of the
Revenue-yielding projects which are under the URDMB such as the Unilorin
Computer Centre (Training Wing), Unilorin Bookshop, the Bakery, the Printing
Press, and the Guest Houses. Each Campus has a Health Centre, a Post Office and
Banking facilities.
Aside from two lecture theatres commissioned in
1997, there is an upsurge, from 2002 to date, in the physical development of
the Main Campus. Five new Hostels were completed in 2002. Other projects were
the Faculty of Education blocks and Lecture theatre; Lecture rooms, Offices and
Lecture Theatre for the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences; Faculty of
Science Chemistry block; Department of Agricultural Engineering block; offices
for the Department of Human Kinetics and Health Education; COMSIT building
(PhaseI)among others.
A water Dam and Treatment Plant to provide
uninterrupted water supply to the main campus has just been completed. The
University will soon construct a rail-line to boost transportation between the
University Main Campus and the township.
Apart from the renovation of buildings, a systematic
upgrading of teaching and research facilities is being undertaken by the
University within its lean resources. This includes provision of computers,
laboratory equipment, etc.
Growth of Faculties
From three faculties in 1976, today there are ten
faculties: Arts (1976), Science (1976) Education (1976), Engineering &
Technology (1978), Business & Social Sciences (1981), Agriculture (1982),
Law (1993, after an initial start-up in 1983), Basic Medical Sciences (2004),
Clinical Sciences (2004) and Communication and Information Sciences(2008).
Altogether,
there are 60 academic departments in the existing ten faculties. Undergraduate
degree programmes run for 3,4,5, or 6 years, depending on entry qualifications
and discipline. The University started with the traditional British “Three Term
System” but later changed into a modified form of the American “Two Semester
System” called Harmattan and Rain semesters with effect from 1979/80 session.
Each semester comprises one half of an academic year
as determined by Senate. Also instruction in the various Faculties with the
exception of the Health Sciences is by the course system. These courses are
quantified into credits. The University has teaching support units which
include the Computer Centre, Central Workshop and Stores, ,
Community Based Experience and Services (COBES), Medical Educational Resources
Unit, General Studies (Use of English/National Awareness) Division, and
Teaching & Research Farm.
There are also the Public Units which are the ,
the ,
of and
Educational Technology Centre. Although an academic unit, the Library is
actively involved in rendering service to the university and the public. In
addition, there is a Sugar Research Institute which is mainly a research unit
served by academic mainly from Science and Agriculture Faculties.
Public relations in have
come a long way. Just as the development of public relations practice was
linked with world wars I and II in the USA,
its beginning in
has also been linked with World War II.
As presented by NIPR’s (1988) anniversary
publication “25 years of Public Relations in Nigeria”,
the colonial government before World War II was concerned with collection of
taxes and the running of a police force to maintain law and order in three
protectorates amalgamated into
in 1914. If there was any public relations practice before the Second World War,
it was merely maintenance of relationship with the traditional rulers to get in
touch with the people. During the Second World War, however, the need arose for
the colonial government to set up an information office which was later known
as the public relations office of the government.
Sam Black (1990) has described June 1, 1990 as a
memorable day for the public relations Profession in . This is because on that
day, the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria signed Decree No. 16
“Nigerian
of
1990”. The then NIPR President also described the event as the “Finest hour of
public relations”. He stated that, by this recognition all members of the
Institute deserve to be congratulated on being part of the movement that has
made Professionalism and excellence the hallmark of the Institute.
1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Public relations have a cardinal objective of
establishing and sustaining mutual understanding among the management and its
various publics.
The underlying belief and basic concepts of public
relations is that every organization, has an environment or a climate in which
it is operating. This climate or environment, public relations also believe,
should be conducive and peaceful to ensure continued and happy survival of that
organization and the consistent achievement of its objectives. This translates
to harmony between an organization and its publics.
This is why all definitions of Public Relations
which are the notions, ideas and thoughts of what Public Relations are, from
the point of view of its pioneers, have always centered on some constituents of
the Public spirit, that is, opinion goodwill, acceptability, cooperation,
understanding and others. All these are attributes of the public spirit which
guarantee a good working and operational environment for any corporate body.
The problem statement is how the public relations
function in
of intends to
actualize its Professionalism to achieve the good interpersonal relationship among
the management and the staff. In other words, what are the contents of its
armory in the achievement of its basic aims?
Public relations unit of the University will have to
articulate management behaviour or mode of relationship between the management
and the staff.
Public relations will communicate using all
communication media. Public relations have to liaise with and be sensitive to
the yarning and aspirations of the staff and act positively to satisfy them.
Having discussed what public relations is out to
achieve within an organizational set up like of ,
I will like to discuss what an organization is.
An organization is a stable system of individuals
who work together to achieve, through hierarchy of ranks and division of
labour, common goals.
This buttresses the fact that an organization
consists of people that interact with one another on regular basis for a
productive venture.
For an organization to be vibrant and be in good
terms with its employees, there is need for a good communication strategy and
these are not always available at all times. This should not be so; therefore,
the college has to do more publicity to enable its staff members to enjoy its
good will and confidence.
With the existence of public relations experts in the
college, the research is poised to critically evaluate its (public relations)
activities in connection with the relationship existing between the management
and workers in the University.
How has public relations unit tried to mediate
between the two bodies as expected? Or does it only disseminate information?
How does information reach the members of staff who
required such information?
Do employees have the opportunity to talk back to
the management inform feedback?
How can one explain the incessant breakdown of
communication within the campus?
This is what the study will like to research into in
order to contribute to educational development and bring to light the
significance of public relations in non-commercial organizations like a higher
institution of learning.
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The study is aimed at providing answers to the
following questions:
i.
Do public relations
activities adequately enhance employees’ communication in of ?
ii.
Would employees of the
University be better informed about the institutions policies, goals and
programmes if there are no public relations in the University?
iii.
Do public relations
efforts enhance employee’s productivity at the University?
iv.
To what extent are the
public relations practitioners involved in the prevention of industrial unrest
such as strike actions, ensuring harmony and better working conditions?
v.
How have the services
of public relations promoted the image of the institution within and outside
the institution?
vi.
Is the positive
interpersonal relationship enjoyed in the university presently among the
management and staff as a result of public relations unit’s efforts?
1.5 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
It is erroneously believed in some quarters that
public relations are only relevant in commercial organizations because it is
aimed at improving the level of profit of the organization in the long run.
But this study’s aim and objective is to prove
whether or not public relations is equally relevant in a non-commercial
organizations where profit-making means nothing to their survival but rather
peaceful governance for governments, achievement of the welfare of the people
through the propaganda of an idea for voluntary organizations e.g. UNICEF,
planned parenthood and others.
The result of the study is aimed at adding to the
body of knowledge in the field of public relations.
It will also serve as a reference source and provide
a research base for further researches in this area of public relations
practice in higher institutions of learning and other related disciplines.
I also have the aim of making the study an educating
and interesting project for reading by all and sundry especially the public
relations students and practitioners.
The study is also aimed at meeting part of the
requirement for the award of post graduate Diploma of Kwara State Polytechnic, .
1.6 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The study will cover a section of the university
internal publics, which are the employees. These employees consist of the
academic and non-academic staff.
The study will also focus a little attention on
efforts of the principal officers commonly referred to in academic circle as
management staff with regards to assisting the public relations department to
achieve its set objectives i.e. improving the interpersonal relationship
between the management and staff.
The scope of the study will be between the
management and staff of
of .
1.7 CLARIFICATION OF TERMS USED
This study has tried as much as possible to use
familiar and common terms which people are mostly accustomed to.
However, I shall try to simplify some of the key
terms that were mostly mentioned times without number.
Organization:
as used in the study referred to the
of and as well
called corporate body a times.
Internal publics:
are used to mean the employees, that is, staff or workers.
Academic staff:
are those workers in the college that have their primary functions as teaching
the students while non-academic staff referrs to workers in the administrative
and technical offices.