In part 1, we dealt with what went wrong, which could be described as fundamental errors, to demystify the much-touted pre-election PBAT credential as a strategist.
What Is the Way Forward?
Ab initio, President Tinubu should have leveraged effective trends analysis and strategic (leadership communication) by closely monitoring public sentiment and socio-economic indicators to understand the root causes of dissatisfaction. He should have articulated a clear, empathetic vision that directly addresses the protesters’ demands, using transparent, inclusive, and multi-channel communication to build trust and engagement.
- Effective Trend Analysis and Responsive Governance
In Public Relations practice, effective trend analysis forms a key aspect of strategy development and programme implementation based on research findings. Similarly, for the Tinubu administration, effective trends analysis should have played a crucial role in managing the demands of the #EndBadGovernance protesters by providing actionable insights, enabling strategic planning, and fostering responsive governance. For instance:
- Proactive trends analysis should help identify the underlying causes and key issues that are fuelling the protests, weeks in advance.
- By analysing data from various sources, including social media, news reports, and public statements, policymakers can gain a deeper understanding of the protesters’ concerns and guide the officials in pinpointing the most critical demands, such as reducing the cost of living, improving security, and addressing government waste, allowing the government to prioritise actions.
- By monitoring trends and sentiments, the government could have anticipated potential future protests and taken proactive measures to address concerns long before they escalated, thus enabling the development of preventive strategies, such as policy adjustments, public communication campaigns, or targeted interventions in areas with high dissatisfaction.
- Trends analysis can inform the allocation of resources to the most pressing issues, ensuring that efforts and funds are directed where they are most needed, instead of the antiquated method of bribing various dishonest groups to become pro-government protesters against their better judgement and conscience.
- Policymakers could use trends data to formulate evidence-based policies that directly address the protesters’ demands, increasing the likelihood of successful outcomes, as against the violence witnessed when the peaceful protests were hijacked by hired touts and criminals.
- Understanding trends helps in crafting messages that resonate with the public and the protesters, facilitating more effective communication and engagement.
- The transparent sharing of trends analysis and subsequent actions taken can build trust between the government and the public, demonstrating that the authorities are listening and responding to the demands.
- With regards to monitoring and evaluation of responses, trends analysis allows for the continuous monitoring of the impact of government responses to the demands. It helps evaluate whether the measures taken are effective or if further adjustments are needed.
- Also, establishing feedback mechanisms where data is continuously collected and analysed ensures that the government remains responsive to changing public sentiments and evolving demands.
- Other benefits include the fact that through the deliberate analysis of social media and other communication platforms, trends analysis can help to identify key influencers and opinion leaders within the protest movement.
- Engaging with these individuals with sincerity of purpose can facilitate dialogue and potentially de-escalate tensions.
- Another great benefit is intentionally understanding the networks and channels through which information spreads could have helped in crafting targeted communication strategies and interventions. Instead of discordant tunes by disparate voices of government officials across the country
- A significant benefit is that a robust trends analysis effort should include benchmarking against other similar movements globally.
- Learning from the successes and failures of how other governments managed protests could provide valuable insights. Identifying and adopting best practices in responding to civic movements could improve the effectiveness of the Tinubu government’s actions.
The concluding part 3, which is an in-depth analysis of how effective strategic (leadership) communication would have helped President Tinubu deal with their demands.
#ENDBADGOVERNANCEprotests.#FailureofStrategy,#EffectiveTrendsAnalysis,#StrategicCommunication,#TransformationalLeadership,#GoodGovernance.
