African institutions must embrace Public Relations to counter negative stereotypes and narratives – Yomi Badejo-Okusanya
By Kasim Bakare
The need for African institutions to embrace Public Relations as a potent tool for telling authentic African stories and countering negative stereotypes has been emphasized by foremost Public Relations expert and Group managing Director, CMC Connect, BCW, Yomi Badejo-Okusanya(YBO).
Speaking at the just concluded African Public Relations Association(APRA) Conference 2021, themed: “One Africa: March to Economic Integration and the Role of Public Relations in Covid-19 Era”, YBO stressed the pivotal role of public relations practitioners in projecting the image of the continent positively.
According to a statement by the organizers, the 2021 APRA conference was held to facilitate discourse on how public relations practitioners can help drive positive narratives and dispel the negative stereotypes about Africa as well as how PR can catalyze the growth of the African Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA)
In a thought provoking session, YBO, who is the president of the association, noted that despite Africa’s position and relevance in global affairs, outsiders have had a field day in telling African stories thereby creating wrong narratives and stereotypes.
“Africa is a force in the world and there is no better way to leverage this force than to tell its own story in diverse ways across boundaries. For far too long, our stories have been told by outsiders in the traditional media or through today’s digital media. Retaking the control of this narrative will help us counter negative stereotypes that often impede our development”
Sounding optimistic, YBO explained that the momentum of efforts aimed at changing the narrative about Africa can be improved if her institutions see Public relations as a necessary tool to promote governance and global image.
In YBO’s words: “It is true that we are not where we want to be, but Africa is definitely on the rise and will continue to be. If we truly want to change Africa’s narrative, African institutions must embrace more of public relations. Public relations must move higher in pecking order from a ‘can have’ to a ‘must have'”.
Making a point on who is best suited among Africans to tell authentic African stories, YBO had this to say:
“There is undoubtedly a story of Africa to be told and that story is best told by Africans. In turn, the best Africans to tell the story are none other than professional story tellers who are public relations practitioners”.
Meanwhile, YBO has stressed that the effort at changing the narrative of the continent will ensure the achievement of common objectives stipulated in the “African Union Agenda 2063:The Africa We Want”.
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