Shettima urges PR practitioners to build public trust on govt policies

Vice-President Kashim Shettima has urged Public Relations (PR) practitioners in Nigeria to communicate government’s reforms and policies to the public in a manner that will foster confidence and trust.
Shettima gave the advice on Tuesday during the Third Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Week CROC City 2026, hosted by Gov. Ubah Sani of Kaduna State.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the third NIPR week, was “Food Security: From Policy Paper to Public Plate”.
He noted that policies and reforms being undertaken by President Bola Tinubu’s administration could only succeed, if the citizens understand how they serve the public good.
The vice-president underscored the indispensability of public relations to communicating government policies.
According to him, policies and reforms that are poorly explained often lead to public distrust and resistance.

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“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 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 said.
According to him, no matter how brilliant policies are in conception, they must be explained, trusted, and translated from technical language into human meaning.
“PR profession assumes central national importance only if their translation of government policies speak to the anxieties of the farmer in the field, the merchant in the market, and the family around the dinner table.”
He outlined measures being taken by the Tinubu’s administration to ensure food security in the country, stating that feeding the nation is at the heart of the President’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He added that President Bola Tinubu had placed feeding the country 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 N100 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.
“These efforts can only be vindicated when the farmer feels relief, when the market reflects the change, and when the household experiences the difference.”
He said a policy that did not reach the farm, the market, and the home remained unfinished business.
He implored the NIPR practitioners to continue to elevate the standards of their noble profession by insisting on ethics, professionalism, and evidence-driven practice.
The vice-president expressed the Federal Government’s readiness to engage and work with them.

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(NAN)