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From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
Despite a flood of communication channels, Nigeria’s trust gap is not closing but expanding, a paradox where visibility masquerades as credibility, Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura argued in his 59th inaugural lecture at Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK).
Delivering the address, titled, “When Applause Lies: Communication, Power and the War Between Reputation and Perception in Nigeria,” the Vice President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and professor of inclusive communication questioned why “a system that communicates so extensively struggle persistently to be believed.”
He stressed that “communication has prioritised perception over performance, which results in visibility being mistaken as credibility.”
“An approval does not necessarily translate into trust,” Dandaura stated, pinpointing Nigeria’s core challenge as “not that of insufficiency but of imbalance, specifically arising from the widening gap between perception and reputation.”
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He insisted: “Visibility does not necessarily produce trust, rather only sustained performance can generate enduring credibility.”
Calling on institutions to relearn the discipline of listening and learn when the people are with them, he declared: “Accountability must be our strongest form of communication. We should know that if you are heading an institution, you are holding that in trust, there are stakeholders, you must account to them. That is what communication should do. In accounting, it should be a true reflection of what you have done.”
He urged academics to abandon armchair critics roles, join systems and drive change in communication and governance. “We must stop manufacturing applause to power and speak truth to power. Our nations and institutions are decaying because truth has been left to the mercy of power,” he lamented.
The lecture drew high praise from Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, an NIPR Fellow, who hailed Dandaura’s four-decade mentorship legacy. “You’re a fine breed of intellectual, a cultural ambassador, a builder of young people,” Sule said, noting testimonies from his mentees and the don’s role in founding the world-first University of Public Relations and Leadership (UPRL).
NIPR president, Ike Neliaku, commended Dandaura’s ‘unparalleled initiatives,’ adding, “To politicians who are here today, many times applause lies. You may think that the people are with you but they are not. After eating your rice, collecting your salt, collecting your sugar and margarine, whatever happens thereafter, you are on your own.”
