The long-standing relationship between the African Public Relations Association (APRA) and Edelman, a global communications firm, has been described as built on trust through ethical communications and meaningful partnerships.
The APRA president, Arik Karani, while speaking at the launch of 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer (25th edition) held at the Four Points Sheraton, Lagos, southwest Nigeria on Wednesday, noted that the association appreciates the collaboration with Edelman which has been on shared purposes, adding that ” this is the cornerstone of our programming of deeper understanding of Africa values.”
Karani was represented at the Lagos launch by the Secretary General of APRA, Mr. Omoniyi Ibietan, Ph.D., fnipr.
The APRA president said the 25th edition of Edelman Trust Barometer, Nigeria Report (a data-driven initiative), which has “Trust and the Crisis of Grievance” as its theme, celebrates global research.
“It is a goal-oriented communication for us to cultivate relationships and build trust,” he said.
Karani, however, urges stakeholders to reflect on the findings of the report to have a changed society.
Kwame Senou, Executive Director at THOP, who is the host of the event, was so excited about being in Nigeria for the first time.
He said the prevailing events across the world have put “trust” under pressure as a generation of institutional failures erupt into grievances.
According to him, “We have been consistent in the past 25 years. This report was long been published in Nigeria eight years ago. The Data cuts across Business, non-governmental organisations (NGO), Media and Government. There are a lot of calls in the Data, and more importantly, the Data can be trusted.”
An interesting part of the launch of the 25th Edelman Trust Barometer, anchored by Olive Emodi
Journalist and News Anchor at News Central TV, was the panel discussion which comprised seasoned panellists who included Ofovwe Aig-Imoukhuede, Executive Vice Chair, Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation, Kwame Senou, Executive Director, THOP, Amaechi Okobi, Chief Brand Communications Manager at Access Holdings and Dr. Ikechukwu Obiaya, the Dean of the School of Media and Communications, Pan Atlantic University, Lagos.
The panellists thought that Nigerians at all levels have roles to play in solving these challenges created by mistrust, as the government can’t solve this alone. They posited that there is a need to collaborate to find solutions to the problem.
“We should see ourselves as a community and as a nation, even from the individual point of view,” Senou said.
According to Okobi, the CEO of any organisation needs to listen more and acknowledge that there is a problem at any given time, which needs to be solved not only by him but by the collective and mutual reasoning of both the employer and the employees.
“The CEO must be authentic, transparent, be simple and truthful in dealing with his employees, who must be seen as partners in progress,” Okobi said.
Senou echoes: “The element of trust is very important. A CEO must not be seen making promises, but must show what he has done as testimony for him to earn trust.”
Aig-Imoukhuede believes the government has the responsibility of providing public goods and services for the citizens; failure to do these leads to mistrust.
“We all know that these goods and services are in short supply. The gap needs to be addressed. The more efficient these public goods and services are, the more trust from the citizens,” she said.
Dr. Obiaya bemoaned the challenges being faced by the Nigerian media men and women who are relatively underpaid and subjected to the dictates of the media owners who own the pipers and must dictate the tunes.
The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer (25th edition) was presented by the Keynote Speaker, Wandile Cindi, Senior strategist and Reputation Advisor, Edelman Africa.
