(PDP) to a new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State and ... for some time now, been experiencing a serious and dangerous twist in the life.
1CMS Review of Communication and Media Studies
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Interfacing ihc Wooden Drum and Modem Media in the Age of Modernity. A Study of Mbano Community Innocent P. Ihechu
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An Investigation of Media Practitioners' Adherence to Professional Ethics in Minna, Nigeria Santas Tsegvu and Ezekicl S. Aseinah
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Folk Media in the Sensitization of Nigeria's Rural Population: A NOA's Feedback Perspective Barigbon G Nsereka and Sarah M. Anele
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Press Coverage of Social and Economic Crises in Nigeria: The Case of Avian Influenza Itickc Idamicba Harry The 2015 Deadline for Digitization of Broadcasting and Awareness/Knowledge Ratio among Information Workers in Port Harcourt Godwin B. Okon and Walter C. Ihejirika An Assessment of the Influence of Unsolicited GSM Text Messages on the Students of the University of Port Harcourt Clement A. Asadu Online Marketing: Measuring the Performance of some Nigerian Professionals against Standard Professional Practices Obiageli P. Ohiagu
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Internal Organisational Communication and Workers' Affective Commitment in Nigeria Justin M. Gabriel and Linda O. Gabriel
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Stress Factors in Journalism Practice. A Survey of Print Media Journalists in Port Harcourt. Nigeria Christopher I. Ochono»or and Boma Igani
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An Analysis of Uses and Gratifications of Nigerian Video Films among Youths in Port Harcourt Metropolis Hyacinth C Orlu-Orlu
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An evaluative Study of the Freedom of Information Act and Media Practice in Nigeria Barigbon G. Nsereka and Peace I. Ammanah
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The Mass Media and the Reputation Paradigm in Corporate Governance Uwem Akpan, Sunny Udeze, and Julius Agwu
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• Rethinking (he PDP Membership Defection: A Case for Public Relations Principles as remedial Tactics in Rivers State Richard N. Amadi
Influence of Quality of Work Life on the Job Performance of Journalists in Port Harcourt, Nigeria John G. Ngochindo
Social Media and Internet Security: Issues and Implications Umukoro Ese, Justicc Njoku, and Okechukwu Chukwuma
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Rethinking the PDP Membership Defection: A Case for Public Relations Principles as remedial Tactics in Rivers State Richard N. A m a d i The study aims at ascertaining the motives behind the defection of some m e m b e r s of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to a new party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State and finding out how public relations principles can be adapted to remedy the development. A survey research method was used to investigate the issue One hundred and fifty (150) respondents were randomly selected from the three Senatorial Districts of Rivers State. All the copics of the questionnaire were returned and found usable. The data obtained were analyzed using simple percentages and frequency distribution tables. The results showed a total neglect on the use o f public relations principles in managing the Peoples Democratic Party activities, resulting in the mass defection o f m e m b e r s to the All Progressives Congress (APC) - a situation that has created apprehensions among the Rivers P D P about the possibility of the party (PDP) winning the 2015 general elections in the state.
Key words- Defection * Membership * Principles * Public Relations * Tactics
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Introduction Nigerians have, for some time now, been experiencing a serious and dangerous twist in the life and history of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Members defect in their numbers to the All Progressives Congress, a move that has created doubts in the minds of the public regarding the rationale behind their moving to the new party. Political analysts believe that it is a usual practice for politicians who are dissatisfied with the piloting of their own party affairs to defect to other contending parties of their choice in search of better understanding, leadership and offers. Since October 1999 when the present democratic dispensation began, Nigeria has witnessed a plethora of defections by politicians. The defection rate is widely believed to be more than that of any other time in the nation's political history. Politicians mostly involved in this cross-carpeting arc the legislators, governors, local government council chairmen, councilors and party members who failed to get election tickets from their former party. The two major contending political parties in Nigeria today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among the twenty seven political parties in the country, have currently been in the front burner of Nigeria's political controversy and the members of one freely defect to the other. Some of the prominent members of the parties have severally defected from one party to another. According to Williams (2000), in politics, there are no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interest. Palmcraton (1787-1865), in his view, contends that it is a narrow thinking to suppose that in politics one is to be marked out as the eternal ally or the perpetual enemy. There are no eternal allies and no perpetual enemies. It is the interests that are eternal and perpetual; and it is the duty of those concerned to pursue those interests (wikipcdia.or:http//cn.wikipedia.org/wiki/ friendshipcitejiote-19 (08-01 -2014). In Nigeria and, indeed Rivers State, the ultimate interest of most politicians is how to make money and as such they arc undecided on the political parties to fully identify with. While some members say they have to remain in association with Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, one
Dr R. N. A m a d i 1 lecture* couinc* in P u n t Media and Strategic Development m K S l ' S T l i e has l o e a i v h intercM* m kidnapping and Political Development tn N i y e t i a
Rethinking the POP Membership Defection: A Case for Public Relations Prim iples as remeihaI Tactics in Ri\ers State
of the governors that defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) because of the present positions they are occupying in the government, others maintain that they defected from PDP because of the alleged high-handedness of PDP officials w h o continually allot positions to certain persons without recourse to other members. For instance, 27 law makers of the Rivers State House of Assembly and all the serving commissioners have defected to the APC. Also, in solidarity with the governor, 22 Out of the 23 Local Government Area Councils in Rivers State have defected from the PDP to the APC, leaving only the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area Council and the councillors who have been at loggerheads with the state governor following their suspension and subsequent dissolution of the council by the Rivers State government in 2013 for alleged financial misappropriation. Every available index shows that the two parties (APC and PDP) have virtually the same ideology and links in all the six geo-political zones of the country. The movement to the APC, according to social commentators, is like turning new wine into an old wine bottle . Interestingly, the large crowd of members that defected to the new party may not have convincing reasons for cross-carpeting. Reasons, therefore, need to be adduced for any action or inaction that might instigate change in the polity. W h a t instigates abrupt or sudden change in society may be a result of the lack of adequate understanding between the members and the party leadership resulting from misguided information and ineffective management of information or a lack of creation of goodwill among stakeholders to keep them in political business. Besides the traditional responsibility of public relations to gamer goodwill for corporate organizations including political parties, public relations has been identified as a potent means a n d an avenue to show public accountability and social responsibility of organizations like political parties. Public relations is the practice of managing the communication between an organization and its publics. It aims at persuading the public, investors, partners, employees and o t h e r stakeholders to maintain certain points of view on an organization's leadership, products or political decisions, among others. The attainment of these involves the adaptation of public relations principles to help address political imbalances. P u b l i c R e l a t i o n s : Definitions and Application B l a c k (1989) aptly states the role of public relations. To him, "public relations is an essential part o f management, and this is as true in central government as in industry (political parties). The f u n c t i o n of public relations in government is ... to give regular information on policy, plans and a c h i e v e m e n t s . . . and to inform, educate the public on legislation, regulations and all matters that a f f e c t the daily life of (the) citizens. It must also advise ... (on) action and potential reaction to c u r r e n t or proposed policies"(p. 156). O n the contrary, political party leaderships in the country seem to have jettisoned the importance o f adopting certain public relations principles in managing political affairs, a situation which e x p o s e s them to political uncertainties, such as the exodus of members of the Peoples D e m o c r a t i c Party (PDP) in Rivers State to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Nvvosu(1992) offers a number of definitions of public relations including "winning friends, k e e p i n g them, and influencing them, as well as others" (pp. 4 - 5). Jcfkins (1977) also defines p u b l i c relations as "the process of assessing consumer wants, establishing communication, f o s t e r i n g goodwill so that consumer wants or needs can be potentially satisfied'^ p.7). Definitions of public relations abound but the converging point is that public relations involves w i n n i n g election and by so doing achieving political party objective and ideology through sustained membership patronage.
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Problem Statement Given the highly competitive political atmosphere and the fact that political party members arc not adequately informed and actively involved in whatever decisions and policies a party makes, the thing that public relations practitioners believe can win back members patronage is the adoption of public relations principles and strategics that can help satisfy the interests of the party's various publics. This brings us to the core of the problem of this research, the objective which is to ascertain the causc(s) of the mass defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and how public relations principles can be adopted to win favourable disposition among political parties in Nigeria. In the face of the polarization of the PDP which has created tension in Rivers State, this work seeks to provide answers to the following: 1. Is the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sensitive to the plight of its members in Rivers State? 2. What informed members' decision to defect to the All Progressives Congress APC) in Rivers State? 3. How has the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) utilized public relations principles in relating the activities of the party to members in Rivers State? 4. Are the defected members of Rivers State PDP willing to return to the former party if the perceived ill treatments are corrected? To find answers to the problem of the study represented by the above questions the following research questions were formulated to empirically ascertain the causc(s) of the exodus of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) vicevisa: 1. How has the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) been relating with the members? 2. Mas the ideology of the Peoples Democratic (PDP) been favourable to the members? 3. Do the Nigerian politicians, and indeed those of Rivers State PDP, appreciate the potentials of the public relations principles as an cffcctivc instrument for sustaining party membership? 4. To what level can public relations techniques be utilized to wage war against crosscarpentingof party members from PDP to the A P C ?
ii Theoretical F r a m e w o r k Jefkins (1988) model of public relations best anchors this study. Tagged Transfer Process Model, it shows how public relations can be utilized to change l i Q S t i l i t y among.an organization's target publics to sympathy, other prejudices to acceptance, apathy to interest, and their ignorance to knowledge. The Transfer process model theory has been variously applied as a guide to solving numerous public relations problems like crises, programmes and campaigns. It has a practical application value, hence, very pragmatic in nature. Nwosu (1994) x-rays how this theory can be used in ending the often unhealthy rivalry between academic and non-academic staff of tertiary institutions. Me opines that the process model of public relations has proved to be best in ending organizational crises. Similarly, BensonEluwa (1999 p.3) exemplifies how it can be used in converting a negative situation to a mutual or positive one. It is known to have effectively worked in every situation it was applied, hence doubtlessly, it can be applied in the present case of political controversy.
Rethinking the PDP Membership Defection A Cute for Public Relations Principles as remedial Tactics in Rivers Stale
Besides, it conforms to the conecpt of the study which seeks to utilize public relations principles to remedying the Peoples Democratic Party members defections to the All Progressives Congress in Rivers State. iii Method Survey research method was used to obtain data needed for the study. According to W i m m e r and Domnick (2007), this method is in use "in all areas of life", a m o n g them advertising, administration, politics and policy making. Therefore, a total of 150 questionnaire copies were distributed for the study. Specifically, 50 copies of the questionnaire were administered to members of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Demographic Party (PDP) in the three (3) Senatorial Districts in Rivers State. The study was limited to Rivers State owing to financial and time constraints. T h e purposive sampling technique was used for the study to avoid sampling a particular respondent twice and to ensure that the respondents were politicians. T h e questionnaire was a 15 item instrument designed to elicit information regarding respondents demographic composition in addition to their perception of the political party's defection galore. Open-ended and multiple-choice questions were adopted in the questionnaire items of the study. This type of questions allows the respondents the opportunity to freely answer questions based on their initiatives, convictions and suggest alternatives on a particular queston about the issue. According to Ogbuoshi, (2003, p. 112), this type of techniques makes the choice of an answer to be easy and faster. However, simple percentages and frequency distribution tables were used in the presentation of data. iv Results T h e respondents w e r e asked on the level of relationship between them and the party leadership. Table 1: Respondents' Opinion on whether the Relationship between Members of Rivers State P D P a n d the Leadership is cordial
Responses Category
No. of Respondents
Percentage of Respondents 19.4
Cordial
29
Not Cordial
120
80
1
0.6
150
100
Cant tell Total
Question four w a s used to ascertain the level of relationship between the leadership of the party ( P D P ) and the members. The data above show that the majority of the respondents, 120 or 80%, w e r e of the opinion that a cordial relationship docs not exist between them. T h e fact that there is a stain in the relationship a m o n g members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a bad signal w h i c h is capable of generating disaffection in the party. Peace, love and development cannot prevail in an atmosphere of rancor. This, however, justifies the statement by Murphy and Dee (1992, p. 3-20) that public relations m a k e s organizations (political parties) more effective by
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building good relationships with stakeholders in the environment, and that PR can enhance the mission of an organization. Therefore, lack of effective relationship within the PDP in Rivers State opened the doors for members to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Table2: Respondents' Means of gathering I n f o r m a t i o n about P D P ' s Policies Responses Category
N o . of R e s p o n d e n t s
P e r c e n t a g e of Respondent
Through SMS Through the m
ass media
Through circular Cant
letter
85
566
32
21.4
tell
Total
s
22
33
-
-
150
100
Item number five on the questionnaire sought to know the means by which PDP members in Rivers State receive information about the Party and its policies. The data in the table indicate that information is disseminated to members through the mass media as indicated by 85 or 56.6% of the respondents. Thirty-three (33) or 22% of the respondents maintained that they receive information through SMS, while 32 or 21.4 percent said it was through circulars. Research has proved that the mass media and the sms as avenues of information dissemination penetrates to the grassroots on policies and programmes that have direct bearing on them. These means of information dissemination generate faster feedback. According to Murphy & Dee (1992), information or feedback often provides an organization the insight as to how the publics perceive it; and effective is a panacea for crises. Burgoon(1994) argues that "people can communicate either to become demagogues, to incite riots, and to initiate war. They can also use it (i.e. communication) as a tool to serve humanity or to grow and develop an individual or political party" (pp. 133-325). Hence PDP leadership should combine all available means of communication to reach the members considering the limitations in the use of SMS, mass media, circulars and, above all, the human psychology. Table 3: Respondents' Opinion on the Regularity of Meetings of the PDP in Rivers State Responses C
atcgory
N o . of Respondents
Percentage of Respondents
Regular
20
134
Not regular
25
16.6
105
70
No meeting at all
only on
emergency Dont know Total
-
-
150
100
The table above provides data to answer question number six on the questionnaire which sought to ascertain the regularity of meetings of the Peoples Democratic Party. The result above indicated that the party does not hold meetings at all except on emergencies. The inability of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to regularly meet to deliberate on issues affecting them as justified by the above data is not a welcome development. The importance of meetings in any organization, especially a political party, cannot be overemphasized. Meetings afford members the opportunity to understand themselves on the policies and programmes of the organization. As observed by Murphy and Dec (1992), meetings pi ovule an avenue foi the understanding of the workings of an organization.
Rethinking the PDP Membership Defection: A Case for Public Relations Principles as remahaI Tiictics i/i Riwrs State
Table 4: R e s p o n d e n t s ' Opinion on t lie Provision of Gift Items to M e m b e r s of PDP in Rivers State. Responses Categories
No of R e s p o n d e n t s
P e r c e n t a g e of R e s p o n d e n t 6.66
Yes
10
No
135
90
5
3.34
150
100
Don! k n o w Total
From the data above, it is obvious that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) do not provide gift items to m e m b e r s as 135 or 90% of the respondents revealed. Gifts arc part of the techniques political parties should adopt to induce members to continue patronage. It is a public relations strategy usually employed to motivate and encourage customers to continue patronizing a product. M e m b e r s of the PDP may not have defected, if leaders of the party provided gifts to m e m b e r s which equated with their aspirations. Cash gifts, food items, contracts, housing, employment and the like, are very important in sustaining members' loyalty to a party. T h e respondents were asked whether the ideology of the PDP were favourable to them. Their reactions are as shown below. T a b l e 5 : R e s p o n d e n t s ' P e r c e p t i o n on the Disposition of P D P ' s Ideology Responses Category
No . of R e s p o n d e n t s
P e r c e n t a g e of R e s p o n d e n t
Yes
50
33.4
No
100
66.6
Dont know Total
-
-
150
100
O n e h u n d r e d (100) respondents representing 66.6% maintained that the ideology of the party is not f a v o u r a b l e to them, while 50 or 33.4% of the respondents said the party's ideology is f a v o u r a b l e to them. Ideology refers to a set of beliefs especially the political on which they base t h e i r actions. A l t h o u g h the ideology of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), among other t h i n g s , e m p h a s i z e s the welfare of the people and good governance, members seem to have an e x p e r i e n c e that is far from the reality of the ideology on welfare as they still wallow in abject p o v e r t y . T h i s m e a n s that " w h e n a man has no money, he has no friend." T a b l e 6 : R e s p o n d e n t s ' R e a s o n s f o r d e f e c t i n g to the All Progressives Congress (APC) Responses Category
N o . of Respondents
Percentage of Respondents
For greener pasture
70
Reign
50
20
Love for A P C
30
33.4
Total
150
100
o f i m p u nity
46.6
It is clear f r o m the table above that a majority of the respondents claimcd that their reason for d e f e c t i n g to the A P C w a s to go for greener pasture as the data (70 or 46.6%) indicated. Fifty(50) or 2 0 % accused P D P of lacking in internal democracy while 30 or 33.4% indicated sheer love f o r the A P C as their reason for joining the party.. What is paramount in life is change. People c h a n g e to better their life.
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Tabic 7: Respondents' Opinion on wliellier llie P D P values flic Role of Public Relations in promoting Activities Responses Category
N o . of R e s p o n
dents
P e r c e n t a g e of Respondent s
Yes
23
15.4
No
127
84.6
Doni know Total
-
.
150
100
A total of 127 or 84.6% of respondents were of the view that the parties, cspccially the Peoples Democratic Party, do not value the role of public relations in discharging political activities. The data above point to the fact that public relations is relegated to the background. PR has been credited to with human and the divine traits. Salu( 1994, p.4) maintains this view point when he makes the profound statement that the whole world is living in the light of public relations and that there are eternal or divine dimensions as well as mundane or human elements of 1public relations. h / ) k m y c l c (.1987)' "ln S
L
m
S
S
"
N,
ecna
,oda
y - public relations is treated the way God is
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