Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy,  has said that crisis, when handled well, can serve as a powerful instrument of reform and renewal rather than merely a moment of damage control. He made this assertion while delivering the keynote address at the CMC Connect LLP Crisis Management Advocacy Month 2026 flagship conference held in Lagos.

Speaking to an audience of communications professionals, regulators and industry executives, Dr. Tijani challenged the conventional framing of crisis as something to be survived, arguing instead that some of the most significant transformations in society, business and governance have emerged directly from moments of acute disruption.

“The most effective system for managing crises is not just about recovery or renewal. Just when things can’t seem to work, crisis can become a trigger for reform, a catalyst for innovation and an opportunity to rebuild stronger systems,” he said.

He drew on the example of the COVID-19 pandemic to illustrate his point, noting that the global crisis accelerated the normalisation of remote work in ways that years of corporate advocacy had failed to achieve. “Without COVID, we would not have gotten the opportunity to normalise the fact that you can have employees that are not coming into the office. Immediately after COVID, we saw CEOs who were initially fighting it accept that this is something here to stay,” he said.

He also cited Nigeria’s removal of fuel subsidy and the currency reform as examples of difficult decisions that, while painful in the short term, carried the potential for long term economic renewal.

“Those decisions can lead to renewal and an opportunity for economic development. It may also mean that people turn their attention to producing more things locally to meet the gaps, and by doing so create job opportunities,” he said.

On the role of technology in crisis management, the Minister was clear that technology is not a prevention tool but a management asset.

“Technology does not prevent crisis but it dramatically improves our ability to manage it,” he said, stressing that the real value of digital infrastructure lies in its ability to shift institutions from a reactive posture to one of foresight and anticipation.

“Due to the environment, crisis management has shifted from reaction to foresight. Today we can collect and analyse vast amounts of data in real time, identify patterns from past and present events and anticipate risks before they escalate,” he said.

Dr. Tijani was also emphatic about the centrality of trust in determining how a crisis ultimately resolves. He argued that the way a crisis is communicated shapes public perception and that perception in turn determines whether institutions emerge from crisis with their credibility intact or diminished. “The way a crisis is communicated is important because the information shared will shape how people behave and react to it. Trust will shape the outcomes we want to achieve. If people do not believe that leadership is trustworthy enough to deal with a situation, the outcome will be seen as not appropriate regardless of what actually happens,” he said.

He challenged professionals to measure the success of crisis management not by how quickly stability is restored but by the quality of what is built in its aftermath. “The real measure of success whenever we have a crisis is not just stability. It is whether we emerge better than before,” he said. It was a perspective that recast crisis not as the enemy of progress but as one of its most demanding and potentially rewarding teachers.

Dr. Tijani made a statement that was both a personal conviction and a professional mandate. “Crisis will not stop coming. What is not predetermined is how we respond. I see crisis as an opportunity to rebuild.”