Public relations tools for sustainable mutual understanding between higher educational institutions and their publics in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper identifies the public relations tools which higher educational institutions use for building sustainable relationships with their strategic publics in Nigeria. Public relations tools as an important aspect of public relations practice in every organisation largely determine the status of relationship that higher educational institutions have with their respective publics. It is widely believed that the public relations tools higher educational institutions employ have the potentials for building healthy relationships with their publics with the consequent capacity for removal of unfavourable rumours and stories that could have negative implications for the organisations. A survey of 140 public relations staff and 313 students of higher educational institutions in Nigeria was carried out. Findings reveal that some higher educational institutions use some of the tools as a matter of custom without establishing whether such tools are relevant to addressing their corporate public relations needs. Others try to allow research to precede their selection of the public relations tools of the schools, while some yet do leave their public relations tools in reckless abandon. The study recommends that public relations departments or units of higher educational institutions should always establish the public relations needs of their respective higher educational institutions before initiating the tool for interacting with the publics in order to identify the most effective tool for interaction that would drive sustainable peaceful co-existence between higher educational institutions and their relevant publics.