Communication Is Strategic Leadership Discipline, Not Public Relations – Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has called on business leaders, corporate executives and institutional decision-makers to fundamentally redefine the role of communication in leadership, warning that organisations that fail to build trust before crises emerge may suffer severe reputational and operational consequences.

Mohammed made the remarks while delivering a lecture titled ‘Crisis, Communication and Commerce: What Business Leaders Can Learn From Government” during a Guest Lecturer Series at the University of Abuja.

The former minister used examples drawn from insurgency, the COVID-19 pandemic, civil unrest and digital platform regulation during his tenure in office to outline six major principles for crisis communication and stakeholder management.

Central to his lecture was the argument that communication should not be viewed merely as a public relations activity, but as a strategic leadership function that determines institutional credibility and survival during periods of crisis.

“The organisations that survive crises with their reputation and their business intact are those that treat communication as a strategic function, not a support function, not a PR department, not a press release machine, but a core leadership discipline,” Mohammed said.

Reflecting on the transition of the All Progressives Congress (APC) into government after sixteen years of opposition politics, Mohammed stressed that trust and credibility cannot be improvised during emergencies.

According to him, the administration deliberately invested in relationships with key stakeholders including labour unions, media practitioners and indigenous-language newspapers immediately after assuming office in 2015.

“Trust is not a communication tool. It is the infrastructure upon which all communication rests,” he stated.

He explained that those early engagements helped establish feedback channels that later became critical in managing national conversations and policy communication.

Speaking on the Boko Haram insurgency, the former minister recounted organising a secret media tour of liberated territories in northeastern Nigeria in order to allow independent journalists verify government claims regarding military gains against insurgents.

He argued that in moments of reputational attack, evidence-based communication carries more weight than official declarations.

“When your narrative is under attack, proof is more powerful than position,” Mohammed said.

According to him, independent verification by journalists succeeded in reshaping public perception more effectively than repeated official statements from the government.

Mohammed also reflected on Nigeria’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, describing it as one of the most complex communication challenges faced by the administration.

He said government authorities adopted multilingual campaigns, collaborated with religious and community leaders, carried out real-time opinion polling and actively countered misinformation in order to drive behavioural change during the public health emergency.

“When a crisis arrives without a template, your job is to build the template, and build it fast,” he said.

The former minister noted that flexibility and audience-sensitive messaging became necessary because the crisis evolved rapidly and misinformation spread quickly across digital platforms.

Addressing the #EndSARS protests and the broader challenge of disinformation in the social media era, Mohammed warned organisations against dismissing misinformation as merely a political issue.

He argued that false narratives and manipulated information now constitute major risks capable of damaging brands, institutions and governments.

“Misinformation is no longer merely a political problem. It is now a business risk,” he warned.

He urged institutions to establish rapid-response communication systems, strengthen direct engagement channels and proactively build public trust before crises occur.

On the controversial suspension of Twitter, now known as X, in Nigeria during his tenure, Mohammed maintained that unpopular or difficult policy decisions require more explanation rather than less.

“Hard decisions require more explanation, not less. The public wants to understand not only what you did, but why you did it,” he said.

He further cautioned organisations against becoming overly dependent on single communication platforms or third-party channels for public engagement.

At the conclusion of the lecture, Mohammed outlined six principles which he said should guide leaders navigating institutional crises and public communication.

The principles include building trust before it becomes necessary, showing rather than merely asserting claims, recognising the importance of credible messengers, measuring public feedback in real time, actively countering misinformation and clearly communicating the reasons behind major decisions.

He maintained that the principles are applicable not only to governments but also to corporations, institutions and non-profit organisations operating in an era characterised by digital disruption, heightened public scrutiny and widespread misinformation.

“In both government and business, communication is not the support act. It is the strategy itself,” Mohammed added.