COVER PAGE

PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT AND THE SUSTENANCE OF DEMOCRACY IN NIGERIA: A SURVEY

OF THE DYNAMICS OF EXECUTIVE – LEGISLATIVE RELATIONS

BY

EKWO IFEANYI RAPHAEL PG/MSC/05/45468

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING (PUBLIC RELATIONS)

FACULTY OF BUSIENSS ADMINISTRATION UNIVERSITY OF NIGERIA

ENUGU CAMPUS

MAY 2007

CERTIFICATION

DEPARTMENT OF MARKETING, FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, UNIVERSITY OF

NIGERIA, ENUGU CAMPUS.

This is to certify that his research project titled: Public Relations Management and the Sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria: A Survey of the Dynamics of Executive-legislature Relations, written by EKWO IFEANYI RAPHAEL, has been found worthy to be accepted in partial fulfilment for the award of M.Sc degree in public Relations.

------DR. I.C.NWAIZUGBO DR.G.E.UGWONAH [Project supervisor] H.O.D[MARKETING]

DEDICATION

I humbly dedicate this project work to almighty God for his sufficient grace and perseverance for the project accomplishment. I consequently dedicate this work again to my indefatigable nation i.e.Federal Republic of Nigeria and all the major actors in the fourth republic and beyond---

Alhaji Umaru Musa Yaradua President and Commander in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed forces Goodluck Jonathan

Vice president of the federal Republic of Nigeria

Senator David Mark,Senate president, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Ike Ekweremmadu

Deputy Senate president

Alhaji Dimeji Bankole

Speaker,House of representatives

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo

Former president of Nigeria

Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Former vice president of Nigeria

Chief Pius Anyim Pius

Former Senate president of Nigeria

Chief Ken Nnamani

Former Senate president of Nigeria

Alhaji Ghali Na’aba

Chief Frank Nweke junior

Former minister of information

Prof.Ben Nwabueze

Constitutional lawyer

Honourable cletus Enebe

Member,Enugu State House of Assembly and other distinguished personalities

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

My warm gratitude goes to Chief Ikechukwu Ekwo,Vitalis Ekwo,Dr.Tony Eze,for their unending love through adequate financing and support during the programme. I want to heartily acknowledge the psychological, physical and academic support of my academic father and supervisor, Dr.Nwaizugbo for his guidance and direction in the course of my pursuit of this perpetual source of diet. Moreover,my deep regards goes to professor Nnolim and professor Ikechukwu Nwosu,for their guidance and proper inculcation of adequate knowledge during the programme. In addition, I thank mr Lee Obomoghe,Chief Okechukwu Itanyi and Barrister Achu for their moral support even as class mates. I cannot conclude without respecting my able parents Chief and mrs. Raphael Ekwo Senior for their support since primary school days as well as Mrs Monica Tochi Ekwo,Chidimma Ezinwa,Amaka Ekwo for their moral and financial support.

May God Almighty bless you all-Amen.

ABSTRACT

This research focused on critical appraisal of the ways in which public Relations Management can foster the cause of sustainable democracy with particular attention on its effectiveness in fostering partnership between the executive and the legislature. A total of 246 questionnaires were designed and issued to the respondents in line with the sample size. Out of the number distributed, 201 of the questionnaire representing 81.7% were collected and returned, in which 168 of them representing 68.3% were actually validated and used in the final analysis. To find answers to the issues portrayed by the objectives of the research work, the research addressed the following problems in the study viz: 1. What is the effect of the frequent crisis between the executive and the legislative arms of government? 2. What benefit does the crisis or disagreements portray for democracy in Nigeria? 3. What role has the constitution to play in resolving this problem? 4. What alternative(s) is left in managing these conflicts so as to yield good democratic dividends to the masses and electorate? The data gathered from the expensive presentation and in-depth statistical analysis of facts indicate that elected officials and members of executive and legislative branches of government have not displayed good thinking over prospects for effectiveness with and through the support of others and also do lack awareness about matters relevant for policy results by means of invoking broad constituencies and institutions. The state of executive legislature relations in fourth republic is not satisfactory given the dysfunctional conflicts that occurred in the first tenure of the administration and the attendant effect on its performance. The result of this is that meaningful use of the persuasion process is derived. Persuasion can unite the president and key officer and members of the National Assembly in spite of the doctrine of separation of powers and yet permits maximum choice of action and decision. It is indeed discovered that public Relations management can create the realisation that effectiveness is not the equivalent of sample political survival of sample political survival rather it is moving a constituency and possibly the society in the direction it must go in its own collective interest. Against this background, autocracy in civilian administrations has a direct relationship with insensitivity to the needs, values and reactions of constituents and to the demands of the communicative occasion involving government officials

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE DEDICATION CERTIFICATION ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT TABLE OF CONTENT CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1.4 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY 1.6 LIMITATION OF THE STUDY 1.7 SCOPE OF STUDY 1.8 DEFINITION OF TERMS REFERENCES CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT DEFINED 2.2 MEANING OF DEMOCRACY 2.3 SEPARATION OF POWERS AND PRACTICE OF POLITICS 2.4 CONSTITUTIONAL LEGACY ON AND PATTERN OF INTERACTION 2.5 A SURVEY OF EXECUTIVE – LEGISLATIVE CONFLICTS IN FOURTH REPUBLIC 2.6 PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND REACTIONS 2.7 RELATIONSHIP – BUILDING STRATEGY REFERENCES CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN 3.1 INTRODUCTION 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN 3.3 SOURCES OF DATA 3.4 POPULATION OF INTEREST 3.5 DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE 3.6 SAMPLING PROCEDURE AND STRATEGY 3.7 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS REFERENCES

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION INTRODUCTION PATTERN OF DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION OF QUESTIONNAIRE

PART A

QUESTIONNAIRE DISTRIBUTED, RESPONSES RATE AND USAGE PART B

ANALYSIS OF RESPONSES BASED ON SOCIO-GRAPHIC/ECONOMIC VARIABLES

PART C

TEST OF HYPOTHESIS

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUTIONS SUMMARY RECOMMENDATION CONCLUTIONS

BIBLIOGRAPHY APPENDICES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

In the wake of political independence in 196os, the indigenous political leaders sought to institute a responsible and people –based government different from the ruler-ship and traditional institutions which existed before the colonial era. The independence constitution being the second schedule to Nigeria independence Act 1960 passed by the British parliament transferred power from an appointed Governor General of the Federation and Governors of the regions to a Federal Prime Minister (with his cabinet) and to Regional Premiers (with his cabinet) Also, the constitution was not radically different in nature from its predecessor, the 1954 constitution which transformed Nigeria into a federation from unitary formation and in which the Queen of England continued to be the Head in Nigeria as represented by the Governor – General irrespective of whether he was British or Nigerian. Under the 1957 constitution, at the executive level, it provided for appointment of a premier from among the members of the legislative Houses for the Northern, Western and Eastern Regions, while the Governor-General was being appointed as it was equally done in 1960. However, the 1963 constitution of the Federation of Nigeria which came into force on 1st October 1963 (three years after independence and referred to for short, as “Republican Constitution”, established the office of a (ceremonial) president of the federal republic which took over from the Queen, acting through her representative, the Governor- General, as the Nigeria Head of State and Commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the federation pursuant to 5.4(3) of the 1960 constitution. Actually, the head of government then was the prime minister and at the same time, the president was not exactly and directly connected with the executive powers. Notably, the three arms, the president (or Governor-General), the legislature and the executive in that order were segregated in separate chapters in the 1960 and 1963 constitution. In this regard, both the independence constitution of the 1960 and Republican Constitution of 1963 provided for a Westminster type of legislature in which, in addition to elected representatives, the members of the executive branch of government were also members of the legislature. The inability of the political leaders to exert influence over one another manifested in the manner in which crisis such as the 1964 Federal election crisis, the 1963 census crisis, the on shore and off shore dichotomy debacle and the iron and steel industry were all managed. It was also revealed in other disagreements, which include the struggle over revenue allocation, constitutional amendments, and impeachments of the fourth republic senate presidents Hon Chief Evans Enwerem of the blessed memory, to late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo etc. Plus other issues like the third term elongation of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo that lead or would have lead to the collapse of the government. While the politicians could not realize that need to reconcile their differences using communication advocacy, it became impossible transforming emerging and pending conflicts into problem-solving situations. Even now the exact cause for the collapse of the first regime remains uncertain. However, an observer and scholar have been able to capture the situation in the following manner thus: “The contradictions generated by autocratic rule during the first republic coupled with fear that democratic political change was not possible created the conditions for the collapse of the regime and the entry of the military. Politics is a collective activity and democratic politics are based upon the widest level of discussions, consultations, mobilization and propaganda. These activities enable change of positions and views reflecting popular opinion for political groups concerned. There can be no movement towards a democratic political system without mobilization, political propaganda and political meeting”. (Braham 1986:208) The indication is that the condition upon which democratic leadership would give meaning and purpose to communication and motivation have not been achieved. The idea that political leadership in the country has displayed a lacking understanding that governance depends on human qualities and the ability to appeal in any communication situation came up again in another dispensation. In the second republic, the monarch’s formal powers inherent in governance was further shared largely among the three policy-making organs viz. the executives, the legislature, and the judiciary for the first time in the country. The change occasioned by mere focus on structural difference was hinged on the assumption that “the choice of presidential system itself reflected the difficulties encountered with the loose parliamentary system in the 1960s which was believed to have contributed to the collapse of the first republic” this symbolizes that no consideration was given to the leadership behavioural patterns of the individuals who constituted the political leadership. The fact remains that the presidential system as well witnessed considerable degree of wrangling and political manipulations which rendered it impotent and ineffective at the first republic. Several attempts have been made by scholars to probe into the remote causes of failure of democratic regimes in Nigeria, in this regard; another observer of the second republic declares that: “The ineffectiveness and alienation of Shagaris administration forced a military coup on 31st December, 1983. The scale of adjustment which would have the intended effect, required a much more disciplined regime. Notwithstanding its general authoritarian orientation, Shagaris administration had shown a clear incapacity to provide political leadership. Furthermore, the near defactor one party rule did not silence the growing popular opposition. The military solution therefore became imperative to save the system from mass riots, prolonged uncertainty and stagnation (Bangura 1986:23). The fact here remains that just like military leaders; civilians in power are also yet to realize that command has limited utility. Upon this, it is therefore, becoming increasingly clear that the choices being offered are between different forms of autocracy rather than between autocracy and democracy. The coupists who took over the second republic expressed their dissatisfaction in a way in the absence of influential leadership. In the maiden speech, after the second republic was truncated through a military coup. In 31st December, 1983, where major General Buhari who explains reasons for the take-over despite the expressed provision in S.2(1) outlawing unconstitutional change of government says: “The political leadership of the second Republic circumvented most of the checks and balances in the constitution and brings us to the present state of general insecurity. The premium on political contestants regarded victory at elections a matter of life and death struggle and were determined to capture or retain power by all means (Daily times 2nd January, 1984);. The implication here is that apart from the fact that the president violated the rules governing the system, his needs also could no longer tolerate bargaining with the National Assembly, neither did he appreciate any more, the lead each other to voluntary action. In the present fourth republic which after the aborted third republic and several years of military rule, the high-level of autocracy and disagreements is repeating and cycling itself. The system of government, which is again modelled after both the second and the third republic has faced severe difficulties arising from the inability of the executives and legislative arms to co-exit and manage their interactions which the benefits of separation of powers. The basic challenge before the president and the legislators is therefore to utilize the opportunities and benefits arising from the clear distinction between them to institute long-range social values and goals which can instil democratic stability in the system. Against the crisis that may crop up, the leaders of the two branches of government are expected to make use of public relations techniques in cropping with them while putting in place the required consultation and dialogue in order to take the problems posed by change and continuity. Indeed, there is clear evidence that both branches of government cannot achieve a proper means of avoiding destructive forms of disagreements which yield frustrations among key officers, thereby affecting their performance and this is evidenced during the late Dr. Chuba Okadigbo`s lead legislature, chief Pius Anyim Pius and equally highly manifested in Chief Ken Nnamanis legislative era. Its only time will tell in senator David Marks (though he was being accused of 3 million naira scandal) Present Period whether there will be no love lost with the executive or not for this reason, the researcher, in tends to find out by what means public relations management act as a panacea for creating mutual understanding between the executive and legislative organs of government in order to safeguard the dangling democracy.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM While making a case for presidential system, an author as earlier identified confirms that one of the benefits of a presidential system is that it makes for a cheaper separation of powers than other forms of democratic government and thereby discourages dictatorship of government, political party or individual. This means that conflict is accepted and managed through the use of human communication as a means of mediating with environment. Government under this system is expected to operate as an expression of national unity and also to create the unity, which should sustain it by turning integrative action. In the present fourth republic process has been inflicted with crises of dysfunctional nature such as those which characterized the year 2000 Appropriation Bill, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Bill, the incessant undemocratic impeachment of some leaders of the three arms of government, the present debacle of the speaker of the house of representative (Mrs. Patricia Etteh) and other disagreements leading to discriminations at the national level. While most opinion writers believe that the National Assembly is becoming a rubber stamp of the president (even though the leadership of chief Ken Nnamani proved otherwise) just as it was seen to have been in the second republic, the fact remains that often times, the conflicts which occurs in the first phase of the fourth republic did attract president prefers to have his way without opposition. The application of public relations strategies in the conduct of government would ensure that the leadership should be advised on the probable public effect of a given action, decision or policy. And that also the organization is in turn informed about trends in public opinion apart from just way to communicate polices and actions to special groups or the public at large. It is on this ground that the following problems are to be addressed in the study viz: 1 What is the effect of the frequent crisis between the executive and the legislative arms of government? 2 What benefit does the crisis or disagreements portray for democracy in Nigeria? 3 What role has the constitution to play in resolving this problem? 4 What alternative is left in managing these conflicts so as to yield good democratic dividends to masses and electorate? 5 Does the crisis show evidence of recycling itself?

Given the situation, the study is set forth to examine the means by which public relations management can establish mutual understating and a harmonious working partnership between the president and the National Assembly with the much needed integrationist conflict in the bid to sustain the nascent democracy. 1.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The objectives of the study are: To analyze and examine the operations of the presidency with respect to the constitutional powers of the president. To assess and determine the manner of operations of the legislature with particular reference to the authority and constitutional imperatives of the (senate president and speaker of the House of Reps) National Assembly. To investigate into the network of interactions and interrelating between the president as head of executive and the National Assembly as the legislative, with a focus on their public relations needs and applicable strategies. To determine the factors given rise to conflict and the particular areas of disagreement between the two arms of government. To identify the similarity as well as compare the politics of structure in Nigeria with that of the United state as comparative Federal Systems. To make adequate recommendations as may be appropriate on the ways in which public relations management can enhance politicking Nigeria and consequently create a conducive atmosphere for democracy.

1.4 STATEMENT OF HYPOTHESIS HO: There is no significant difference between managing the communication process between the president and National Assembly and stimulating dialogue between the two organs. HI: There is a significant difference between managing the communication process between the executive and the legislative arms and stimulating dialogue between the two branches of government. HO: There is no disparity in the relationship between the ability of a president to persuade and the level to which voluntary co-operation is achieved in his interaction with the legislature. H2: There is disparity in the relationship between the ability of a president to persuade and the level to which voluntary cooperation power in order to effect good human and institutional relationships based on the ability to effectively diagnose and to understand the differences and to select appropriately from a variety of behaviours as well as posses the ability to deal with personal feelings particularly which might reduce social sensitivity and action flexibility in the process of governance is achieved used in his interaction with the legislature. 3. Ho Effective usage of public rotations strategies cannot build, Institutional responsiveness to change in Nigerian democracy H3: Effective usage of public relations strategies can build institutional responsiveness to change in Nigerian democracy. 4 Ho: The observance of communication criteria cannot significantly influence management of issues and constituency building in the relationship between the president and the National Assembly. H4: The observance of communication criteria can significantly influence management of issues and constituency building in the relationship between executive and the legislature.

1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY The result of the study will be beneficial to different people in diverse ways for public relations practitioners and politicians, it will serve as an eye opener towards appreciating the substantive role which public relations plays in politics and also depict the dynamic relationship between the two areas of human endeavour. It will also aid students of public relations and political science as well as allied disciplines such as marketing, mass communication, law, sociology etc to explore the opportunities in this area to achieve realistic ends in their various pursuits. Generally, the study will be of immense benefit to the politicians in many ways. It will make them to see politics in a new light especially with regard to the use of persuasion. And also, apart from seeing the need to be sensitive to persons and situations, Machiavellianism and decent inherent in the political manipulations currently existing in the present system. In the same view, the findings of this work will provide insights into seeking positive means to change the negative tracts of Nigerian politics. And lastly, it will create the desire as well as be of great interest to the journalist, bureaucrats, and public servants and the different segments of the general public servants and the different segments of the general public to embrace a more comprehensive and extensive approach in dealing with other persons, after the order and attitude and values expected of elected representatives. This will vehemently re-assert a new political culture amenable to an enduring democracy. 1.6 LIMITATION OF STUDY The researcher encountered some several problems in the course of carrying out this study. The intermittent academic strike is one of them. It posed a peculiar difficulty which hindered the researcher’s efforts in many ways particularly in gathering literature materials for the project work. In addition, is paucity of related materials and attention. Apart from the fact that huge amount was spent on photocopying of materials, proper access to government officials and legislators in the presidency federal secretariat and the National Assembly was a serious problem. The administered questionnaire were not only delayed, but treated with uncertainty. Indeed, the researcher visited Abuja for about five times and the desire to obtain reliable data was frequently frustrated. At the end, the researcher suffered a great deal with the time wasted and the fact that the overall work was delayed, apart from other problems arising from the virgin outlook and nature of the topic.

1.7: SCOPE OF STUDY The researcher to focused on the president as head of the executive arm and the National Assembly as the legislature with respect to the way in which problems arising from their interactions and communication can be resolved. This study looked at the dynamics of their operations alongside the manner in which public relations management operate in their verbal and non-verbal communication and contacts, thereby smoothening the policy-making process and establishing a democratic foundation that would develop a capacity to resolve or render innocuous important dividing issues before new ones arise.

1.8: DEFINITION OF TERMS In the course of writing this project work, some terms were defined with reference to their particular usage in the study. These works are as follows: PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT It is the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences through research and forecasting, counselling organizations leadership and implementing planned programmes of action by means of establishing and maintaining mutual lines of communication, acceptance and co-operation which will serve both organizations and public interests.

DEMOCRACY It is a kind of practice in which power is vested in the people to choose their leaders at elections by voting and the leaders who in turn constitute the government are expected to respond to the views and feelings of the electorate which are felt by the tone of public opinion. In essence, the power of the government is circumscribed while there is individual liberty in which case the basic laws and rules guiding every person are normally expressed in a constitution acceptable by all for the common good and interest of the society DYNAMICS The process and course of building relationships or the course of interrelationship and interactions in terms of verbal and non-verbal contact, movement, communication and the extent to which force may be applied in the process of events. MODUS VIVENDI It is a way of living or getting a temporary agreement while waiting the final settlement of a dispute etc CONSTITUENTS This term has the same application with the word “publics,” but has its origin from the political science perspective and often used in this arena to describe particular stakeholders in government and politics

REFERENCE

Ajala V.O (1993): Public Relations: In search of professional Excellence.

Bangura Y. (1986): Structural Adjustment and the political question in Alternative Political future for Nigeria-Lagos: NSPA pp, 26-28.

Nnoli O. (1980): Ethnic politics in Nigeria Enugu: fourth Dimension publishers pp. 196-7

Stephenson H. (1971): Handwork of public relations McGraw Hill Book Company P.68

Lew is, G. (1973): Public Relations for local government London: Business Books pp. 28-29

Pattern S.C (et al, 1989): A more perfect union An Introduction to American Government California: wads worth Inc

Pious, R.M. (1986): Pious, R.M. (1986): American politics and Government New York: McGraw Hill Inc

Bingham, R.D and Hedge D. (1991): State and local Government in a changing society New York: Mc Graw Hill Inc

Editorial comment (2000): “Executive-legislature Relations” Newspapers: The Guradian News Papers may 16, p.20

Okunade 13. (1986): “Human Rights: An explanation and panacea to Nigerian’s political instability” In alternative political future for Nigeria Lagos: NPSA

Ibrahim J. (1986): “Forms of Government and the struggle of Democracy in Nigeria,” in alternative Political future for Nigerian Lagos: NPSA knez, Mercj. (2000): “Trade Offs in Organizational Design” This day Newspaper vol. 6 No 1789 June 2, p.6.

CHAPTER TWO LITERATURE REVIEW “A state must give to men their due as men before it can demand at least with justice their loyalty” (Harold Laski, 1982, p. 98)

2.1 PUBLIC RELATIONS MANAGEMENT DEFINED The overriding importance of public opinion to the success (or otherwise) of public ventures of all varieties suggests that public relations is an essential tool of management. This equally means that it should be appreciated in all levels and situation of management functioning. According to the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) London, public Relations practice is defined as “the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and its publics”. In the light of this definition, it means then, that public relations can become a veritable instrument in meeting not only the need to arrive at consensus over the basic political questions, but also enabling the leadership to act as system architect and strategically build a constituency for social, political and democratic change. Public relations is not propaganda, its not about telling lies or projecting falsehood, its about the truth. Nwosu (1996a:p 34 – 35) observes that public relations experts look at the practice in two ways: more broadly as a strategy for overall corporate survival and more narrowly as a marketing support system or tool. In some quarters, public relations is seen as not applicable to politics, and so merely viewed as purely a marketing concept. In the first analogy of Nwosu’s (1996a P. 34-35) view point, public relations is defined as “ a philosophy and function of management which evaluates public attitudes, identify the policies of an individual or organization with the public interest and executive understanding and acceptance” (PR News, 1974). In this perspective, public relations and marketing are seen and practiced as equal and complimentary partners in achieving the objective of any organization, including the selling of its ideals, goods and services. However, quoting scheme (1987:497), he reiterates that public relations is usually defined as “a promotion activity that aims to communicate a favourable image of the product or its marketer and to promote goodwill”. As it applies, the emphasis here seems to be on the customer relations aspect of modern public relations practice which contributes more directly to the selling of organizations products or services and the generation of goodwill for the salesmen and the company they represent in order to facilitate the selling process. Indeed, it may be further emphasized that public relations goes beyond customer relations or sales building function. In this opinion lies the argument that public relations are, distinct from marketing. The postulations by academic in marketing and allied disciplines have denigrated public relations in many respects for them, public relations, is a mere element of the promotional mix or just a promo tool. Public relations are equally distinct from advertising and personal selling. public relations in many organizations, is being seem only from the angle of personnel management, which is why some did not see the need for a public relations department. Over the years, the above believe tend to forestall proper understanding of the concept in Nigerian politics and which aid the entrenchment of the principle of Machiavellianism. This principle, however, focuses upon destructive uses of persuasion to achieve societal malaise and “with particular effectiveness in a time of rapid change or stress (Anderson, 1973:34). Under the auspices that public relations is purely a marketing concept (now referred to as traditional view or marketing myopia), there was no attention given to the practical relevance of the subject to the substance of politics. In this capacity, a large number of marketing communication scholars are shifting positions from the traditional marketing philosophy to new stance that public relations and marketing are separate, but related disciplines. The list of those who have made public their opinions and findings include scholars such as Seitel (1987:242), Yip (1990:8-9), Ajala (1993: 22-26), Kotler and Mindak (1978:13-20), and Cutlip (et al, 1985: 12-14) who also clarified comprehensively the interrelatedness and distinction between the two disciplines and professions. While they all accepted that public relations can play a significant role in helping to achieve marketing efforts, Cutlip (et al, 1985:12-14) further clarify that: “… public relations deals with a broader range of publics involved with or affected by the organization”.

In this respect, it entails that besides the offering of products or services organization leaders whether in private establishments or government organizations would like the services of those who can effectively interpret them to their publics and suggest wise courses of action through swirling seas.

2.1.1 CONCEPTUAL ISSUES Many scholars have so far attempted to give a unilateral definition of public relations, but the task proves almost impossible. Danny moss, a lecturer at the University of Sterling is quoted to have defined public relations as: Part of every manager’s portfolio of responsibilities a means of understanding and influencing the perception held of an organization, a strategic counselling function a potentially valuable and cost effective marketing support function. a means of monitoring and managing internal communications; an issues managing function in essence as Ajala (1993:3-10) explains, he meant public relations is: Reputation management, reinforcing reputation, enhancing reputation and combating damaged reputation. It shows that the ramification of public relations activity covers the total impressions and actions of an organization. More so, Black (1990:3-25) views that public relations practitioners are “the eyes and ears of management”. It means that they anticipate issues and provide the leadership with the right information to guide policy – actions and decisions, and also suggest alternative proposal to communicate them effectively for acceptance, while considering the feelings and opinions of the affected audiences. Edward Bernays who wrote the first public relations book titled “Crystallizing public opinion” in 1923 and who also taught the first public relations course at New York University defines public relations in another of his book titled “Engineering of consent” published in 1936 as: “The attempt by information, persuasion or adjustments to engineer public consent for a course, idea, activity or programme”. In addition, Grunig and Hunt (1984:6) define public relations as “the Management of Communication between an organization and its publics”. This means all viable alternatives are considered to appropriately achieve common purpose and meaning with the target audience. In order to explain the way public relations operates, a captivating and multi-dimensional definition was provided, following the world Assembly of Public Relations practitioners in Mexico City in 1978. in what is described as the “Mexican statement”, the definition of public relations is given as: “The art and science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organizations leadership and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both the organization’s and public interest” The special significance of this definition is in its acceptance of research as an intricate part of public relations planning. This signifies that research provides insights into issues which support the means for establishing continuing relationships which pull in both directions.

2.1.2 RESEARCH AND PROGRAMMES MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE Marston (1979:3) views Public Relations as the “planned, persuasive communication designed to influence significant publics”. This applies that in the context of politics, since the leaders are concerned with viability of policy and the means to achieve exceptional performance, they must ensure that they are in proper perspective of available information and that can give them a good thinking about prospects for effectiveness with and through the support of others. In the light of the above suggestion, elected and appointed officials are expected to have the awareness about matters relevant for policy results by means of invoking broad constituencies and institutions. Research plays a significant role to this effect. In agreement, Gruning and Hunt (1984:6) note that in the absence of research, managers “would have to rely on institution rather than information inputs….” This entails those public relations practitioners must have the capacity to seek the right information to anticipate reactions forehand before any leadership or managerial action is taken. This is the first tilt towards public relations management. As an endorsement to the above opinion, Broom and Dozier (1990:5-6) observe that viewing public relations as something requiring scientific research departs from the dominant paradigm in practice – public relations as the communication “art” of informing and persuading. They further observe that: “……… many practitioners, however, serve as communication technicians and do not use scientific research. As a result, public relations tend to focus on the means or strategies, paying little attention to the specific ends to be achieved. Few programmes have measurable objectives specifying measurable outcomes, and fewer use systematic research to determine the nature of problems situations, progress towards achieving objectives, or programme success or failure. It is apparently the case that practitioners take on faith and ask their clients and managers to accept assertions that certain strategies should be used and that programmes using those strategies are working” It reveals that under this condition, the subject is treated as merely a creative art than as an applied and behavioural science which has managerial significance. Also, Ehling (1985:4-22) opines that public relations is “incomplete and flawed” and technician behaviour replaces management level functioning without research. In appreciating the role of research in the overall public relations process, he explains public relations management thus: “……a decision making, problem – solving activity essentially concerned with selecting and specifying end-states (goals, objectives) to be attained by an organization or group and with developing, programming and implementing efficient and effective means (course of actions, strategies) for attaining or accomplishing the desired end-states.

It applies that research provides the underlying principle with which the public relations professional employs initiatives in suggesting alternative proposals to certain communication decisions while taking into cognizance the looming implication or outcomes. He went further to outline the role of public relations management as including the following: Conceptualizing specific task and responsibilities such as budgeting, staff, organizing, administering and evaluating. Monitoring the organization’s environment to analyze and evaluate opportunities and threats as that arise out of the interaction and relationships with other organizations and social groups. Planning public relations programmes of deal with the opportunities and threats found in the environment. Organizing and co-ordinating required resources inside and outside the organization to implement programmes. Activating and administering programmes of communication. Receiving and evaluating programme performance against stated objectives. The point here is that public relations acts as a deliberate, purposive, goal-directed and problem – solving management function. Fun (1982:12) concedes to the fact that research can demystify public relations for other members of management and save it from cost- cutting oblivion. He specifically views that there is a growing appreciation of the importance of good public relationships, but many practitioners still don’t believe that management fully understands how public relations functions, or how essential, it is to business or governments.

2.1.3 CONVENTIONAL TOOLS AND STRATEGIES The following among others are the conventional public relations tools and strategies that can be applied in any campaign efforts. Pamphlets, Brochures and Manuals Organizational publications are directed to many public and presented to new employees, existing employees, students, and visitor’s management staff with the ability to deliver specific and detailed information about the organization. Books Books tracing the history of an organization or the biography of past leaders, their achievements and mistakes can be employed to educate and change the attitudes of members of an organization. By identifying the purpose for which it is established together with the best way of achieving results, it can also influence favourable opinion and change attitude towards certain idea, cause or the organization itself. In-house Journals This can take the form of newsletter magazine or tabloids newspapers/organizational in-house materials used to communicate noble ideals. Letters Letters can be used regularly to reach out to relevant publics. This channel is economical, direct and has individualized approach and impact. It affords accuracy of information and could be very timely. Inserts and Enclosures This tool can be directed to ordinary employees and staff as well as key officers of an enterprise. It is cheap to produce and normally with well focused messages. Public Speaking Speeches which are streamlined to the public relations policy of an organization can go a long way in influencing significant publics.

Press Release A press release is a published material issued on a subject – matter that is considered to be of news value. To qualify as news, it must be a major development that is of benefit to the society and in particular, the reader of publication concerned. Press Conferences It is a forum arranged to release “hard news” such as a new discovery, a major innovation or a significant policy change. Media Reception A media reception is usually called when the story is “soft” such as meeting a new top executive or to announce the performance of an organization. A single speaker is allowed to inform the media on the activity of the entity and the use of graphs and charts is sometimes employed to illustrate performance. Facility visits and media tour Facility visit entails an organization inviting the press to witness things themselves with regard to a recent development, change or transformation. It is usually organized for the media to obtain first hand information about a development or discovery especially in situations that require demonstration. Media briefing The main purpose of a media briefing is to provide comprehensive explanation on an already existing matter. It is not a forum to breaking news. Those to be invited are often in the categories of editors or analysts who can give detailed analysis and reports.

Visit to media organizations A tour of media organizations are of strategic importance when there is a success story to tell. Television Television is a powerful medium of communication. Through this medium, knowledge can be imparted and support mobilized. For a chief executive or a public official, through planning and rehearsal must precede a major television interview. Brevity and precision are the main requirements of effective speaking on television. A public official can also participate in discussion programmes, personality programmes or dialogue to speak on issues that are of concern to society and perhaps the organization. Radio Radio is an effective medium of reaching a largest majority of Nigerians. Issues Management It is the proactive process of anticipating, identifying evaluating and responding to trends about public policy issues that affect an organization and its publics. Special events Management It involves managing and utilizing the benefits of special event such as independence anniversary celebrations award ceremonies, coronations and other special occasions as Annual General Meetings etc

Newspaper/Magazine Interviews Often, there are opportunities to speak with the press on the platform of press interviews. The aim of the press on such is to elicit responses to questions and they are published as it was spoken. Feature A feature article is a write-up written specifically on an important issue for a particular publication with a view to providing comprehensive information to the public. Seminars A seminar is a special event organized with a view to providing more information through learned speakers on an issue to a particular audience. One of the tools that have been found most useful, particularly in educational public relations is the conduct of seminars. Documentary Films A documentary film is produced by an organization with a view to educating, enlightening and to some extent influencing an audience about an issue or organizations activities. Slides and video clips are employed in this direction.

Visit to Opinion leaders Sometimes it is necessary to canvass support for a ceria cause or issue. A visit to opinion leaders to explain the logical reasons why it is necessary to lend support, could pave way for success. Opinion leaders are often quite influential, as they are perceived as reference points by their followers who are likely to tilt support towards the preferences of their leaders

Sponsorship and events marketing Certain organizations undertake to sponsor activities that may enhance their public standing. The reason may be to generate publicity or to exploit certain opportunities in order to parley with the publics Suggestion boxes Public relations are a two-way communication process and strictly speaking a suggestion box is a feedback channel. It connotes and implies that the organization cares about the views of employees and other stakeholders Lobbying It is the specialized part of public relations that builds and maintains relations with government or any of its units primarily for the purpose of influencing policy, legislation and regulation Exhibitions Exhibitions are associated with advance media relation invitation to the stand, press receptions and film show or seminar. This medium lends itself to realities and display of products, services and ideas or innovations. It also promotes face to face communication with a high level of trust for both sides Workshop/symposia Workshop and symposia are conducted almost the same manner with seminars but with more attention to the acquisition of practical skill in the same view, symposia are based on major talks to impart knowledge Third-person endorsement schemes This refers to schemes and programmes in which expert opinion is required in order to win belief. In such actions as introduction of new policy or idea or product launch or launching of a new programme, there is usually the need for an expert opinion or endorsement. The personality may be needed to communicate with the audience or listeners in order to set forth a reasoned elaboration of his ideas and give an endorsement based on his referential authority.

2.2 MEANING OF DEMOCRACY Pious (1986:10) identifies the very first principles of a democracy to be constitutional politics and democratic politics. By explaining constitutional politics, he notes that “when people create a government, they usually specify and limit its power at the outset. To do this they sometimes write a constitution, which establishes the governmental structure, provides the governing institutions with their formal powers, set limits on the use of these power and guaranties the people certain specific rights and liberties”. This shows that a viable constitutional foundation is a necessity for democratic politics having provided an equitable structure. He reiterates that constitutional politics involves the consent of the governed. And when the people find the constitution unsatisfactory, they can amend its provision and change to their liking”. This remains a major problem in Nigeria as most of the important provisions on core issues are not generally acceptable. In order words most of the changes that have been made as against the basic provision of the 1963 constitution out lining the relationship between the central government and the regions have been affected by the military, represent transitory thus: That government are established by and with the consent of the people almost always by a constitution That the people choose their leaders in free and fair elections; and That the government and its leaders must ultimately obey the will of a majority of those elected to make laws, except in the case of matters that are specifically exempted from this rule by the constitution” This indicate that a situation where the constitution merely becomes a façade and providing only paper guarantees that no one believes will be respected, must be avoided. It further indicates that there must be wilful obedience and proper enforcement of the provisions to avoid ruler exercising virtually unlimited powers. Patterson (et al 1989:5) discus the origin of American democracy when he says Americans believe that Government is necessary but it is not just a necessary evil. They explain that government can be an instrument for good, as those who founded the United States of America assumed. Indeed, they work the purposes of government into the preamble to the constitution in the following words: “The first job of government they said was to bring about “a more perfection” they had in mind bringing the states and the people together in security, harmony, well being and freedom. Then they said, government should establish justices, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare and secure the blessing of liberty to ourselves and our posterity”.

This signifies that by the very purpose and aspiration of a democracy, developing a capacity for justice and good judgment is a chief concern in bringing happiness to the citizens while autocracy is avoided. Similarly, Koenig (1973:5-6) do not differ in his opinion; rather he explains the way a democracy should be operated. On this note, he affirms that democracy consists of a body of principles that have an enduring character in law and practices and therefore, a measure of protection from any hostile whim of the moment. The following are the chief of these principles; Democracy is “rule by the people”. The “People” is inclusive entity, well expressed by the concept of universal suffrage. In a sizeable state “rule” does not mean that the people govern, instead they determine who shall govern and broadly, to what ends. “Rule” in that case refers to popular control of policy-makers, asserted through periodic elections. Popular influence over politics is asserted continuously through a variety of means, in chiding the pressure groups that abound in the United States Popular control gains effectives from various political freedoms. Ideally, the votes make a free choice, untrammelled by fraud and intimidation, between rival candidates who come forward freely. Popular control requires a variety of other freedoms-speech, press assembly, and association. As the elected representatives govern, political opposition is tolerated and accepted and minorities are free to criticize and agitate. When representatives are divided the will of the majority prevails. Presumably, the representatives have been chosen by a majority of the votes. Majority whether of citizens or representatives act within the framework of political freedoms. Opponents may be compelled to obey the law, but not silenced nor deprived of their political liberties. The majority of representatives and their adherents may work to win further converts to their views, to become majority eventually and replace the incumbent policy. Modern liberal democracy stresses “fraternity”. We treat others not simply as persons with rights equal to ours, but with concern for their welfare. What John Stuart Mill Spoke of as “benevolence” and the social feelings of mankind. The order or classical democratic theory is atomistic, stressing rights to the neglect of duties and obligation, individual indulgence at the expense of co-operation. Democracy is not a creed – a fixed detailed body of beliefs and purposes. Essentially, democracy is a method, a way of arriving at political decisions to which all goals are subordinated. The dominance of methods over goals goes far to assure that changes in office – holders and the structure of power will be accomplished peacefully”. These unveil the fact that as much as many people are used to the principles and are informed, educated and enlighten by the conduct of elected officials, the more the practice would be enshrined. It particularly unveil the fact that these principles remain standards since democratic politics is constructive to an extent of dealing with society’s cleavages and contributes to ensuring integration through the policies and actions of leadership. SEPARATION OF POWER AND PRACTICE POLITICS Akinjide (2000:8) confirms that two of the greatest contributions of the United States to political ideas are: That Federal system of Government and The doctrine of separation of powers. As it applies, the basis of these ideas was to create a befitting structure and atmosphere for the pursuit of justice, freedom, fairness, probity, equity, as well as enable the government of the day become a counter point for unity and the realization of political and economic aspiration of the people. For the above reason, he further confirms that the doctrine of separation of power as it is understood today comes from the work of the French jurist, Montesquieu, based on a study of Locke’s writing and on an imperfect understating of the 18th century English constitution. He indicated that the concern was on the preservation of political liberty and quoted Montesquieu to have affirmed: “Political liberty is said to be found only when there is no abuse of power. But constant experience shows that every man invested with power is liable to abuse it, and to carry his authority as far as it will go …. To prevent this abuse, it is necessary from the nature of things that one power should be check on another. When the legislature and executive powers are united in the same person or body, there can be no liberty. Again, there is no liberty if judicial power is not separated from the legislature and executive. There would be an end of everything if the same person or body, whether of the nobles or the people, were to exercise all three powers”. It shows that as against the ferocious activities which greeted most traditional ruler ship institutions that existed in the primitive and medieval ages, the thrust of this doctrine was the exclusion of autocracy in government. Patterson (et al, 1989:66-9) demonstrates an understanding of this seemingly theoretical construct when they note that “the principle of separation of power involves creating legislative, executive and judicial branches of government that are relatively independent of one another, sharing government powers. The corollary checks and balances-requires balancing power among the three branches of government so that they check one another’s activities”. It signifies that it is foolhardy to give lawmakers the power of executing law because in the process they might exempt themselves from obedience and suit the law (both in making and executing it) to their individual interest. It also signifies that concentrating authority in a single government unit or political constitution, in effect can be avoided by dispersing it among the independent branches of government equipping the leaders of each, with the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist entrapment of the others. THE EXECUTIVES The executive powers are provided in sections of the 1999 constitution. These are vested at the centre in the president section 5 (1) and (b) provides “5(1) subject to the provision of this constitution, the executive powers of the federation, shall be vested in the president and may subject as aforesaid and to the provisions of any law made by the National Assembly, be exercised by him either directly or through the vice -president and the ministers of the Government of federation or officers in the public services of the federation; and shall extend to the execution and maintenance of this constitution, all laws made by the National Assembly and to all matters with respect to which the National Assembly has for the time being, power to make laws”. At the state level, the executives power is vested on the Governor as provided in S.5(a) and (b). The indication here is that there is a single constitution in Article 11, similarly vested the executive power in the president of the United States. In the same manner, both constitutions set forth the qualifications necessary to be president and specified the method of electing the president and vice-president. However, the fundamental difference between the arrangement in the United States and Nigeria lies in the fact that each of the 50 states has it own state constitution. The constitutions of the various states lay down the basic legal framework for each state. Also, all of the state constitutions embrace the principle of separation of powers, checks and balances. Accordingly, each state has executive legislature and judicial branches of government. State action by the state executives, the state legislature or the courts must conform to the U.S. constitution. Moreover, in the United States instance, the governor is the chief executive officer in each state. State governors are elected for four years terms, except in the New England states of New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, where the governors serve only a two year term. In half of the states, governors are limited to two consecutive terms in office. State governors exercise the power to develop and recommend the states budget and manage the state administration. Consequently, in many states, the governor must share administrative management with other independently elected officials (such as the attorney –general, the auditor general or the secretary of state). The governor in all states but one (North Carolina) has the power to veto laws passed by the legislature and in 43 states; the Governor wields the items in the state budget bills. In the same vein, local governments, including all counties, townships, town and cities are creatures of the states. These units of government are established under the authority of the state constitution and laws. In general, local governments may be altered by the states that created them. “A state can for instance change or abolish its existing counties”. (Paterson et al, 1989:93) THE LEGISLATURE Legislative powers are vested in the National Assembly, for the purpose of the state. Subsequently, section 4(2) and (3) of the 1999 constitution provides that: “4(2) The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive legislative list set out in part 1 of the second schedule of this constitution. “4(3) the power of the National Assembly to make laws for peace, order and good government of the federation with respect to any matter included in the exclusive list shall serve as otherwise provided in this constitution, be to the exclusion of the House of Assembly of states” In this regard, a single constitution provides for the power of national and state governments. The states also are presumed to be creatures of the national government. The state house of Assembly is conferred with powers to legislate on the concurrent list alongside with the National Assembly in section 4(4)a. However, in the United States as (Patterson et al 1989:92-93) outline all but one of the state legislatures are bicameral i.e. they are made up of a house of representatives and a senate whereas in Nigeria there is none . The lower house is called the Assembly in California, Nevada, New Jersey, New York and Wisconsin and in Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia, it is called the House of Delegates. In all the states, the upper house is called the senate. Nebraska has a one – house or unicameral legislature called the legislature whose members are called Senators. In each state, the districts in which legislators are chosen must be equal in population; in the bicameral states, this is true for both house and senate district. The house and senate are organized along party lines, except in non partisan Nebraska. States houses of representatives vary in size from 40 in Alaska to 400 in New Hampshire. State Senates vary from 20 in Alaska to 67 in Minnesota. This invariably means that the states have prescribed independence and autonomy within the terms of the United States Federal constitution. Furthermore, the states are specifically unitary systems by themselves and so counties and cities do not have an independent constitutional status comparable to that of the states in the federal union. It equally means states are not created by virtue of landmass, but based on their economic viability and political potentials as determined by the congress, which also gives its consent. THE JUDICIARY The judicial powers are vested in the court created under .S(5) of the constitution, and to inherit all powers and sanctions of a court of law. Superiority of the various courts is set out in subsection 6(5) in the following order; The supreme court of Nigeria The court of Appeal The Federal High court The High court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja A high court of a state The sharia court of Appeal of the Federation Capital Territory Abuja A sharia court of Appeal of a state The customary court of Appeal of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja A customary court of Appeal of a state. Such other court as may be authorized by the law. The US constitution in Article III vested the judicial power of the United States in one Supreme Court and in such inferior courts as the congress may from time to time ordain and establish. This provision recognizes the principles of dual federalism and state sovereignty in which case structures can evolve their own arrangements. Also the same article III provides that federal judges be appointed for life (they “shall hold their offices during good behaviour”), and removable only by impeachment. It defines the scope of judicial power indicating what kinds of cases the federal courts may adjudicate and require a jury trial in criminal cases and also define treason against the United States. In terms of the states, since most of the laws affecting ordinary Americans are state laws (regulating professions, defining crimes, validating marriages, divorces and deaths), the state courts are important. Although the state court systems vary in detail, all of them include municipal or local courts, general district trial courts, courts of Appeal and a state supreme court. The state Supreme Court and appellate court judges are popularly elected in about half of the states, in the others, judges are appointed or chosen by methods that combine appointment and election. This simply means that the federal government does not exercise legislative supremacy, as political equality is a cardinal principle. It is clear from the above indication that it is not conclusive that the national government is naturally superior to the state. The supremacy clause, as Patterson (et al, 1989:3) stated requires that the states (or their creatures, the local governments) give way to the national government when conflicts arise between national and state governments over exercise of concurrent powers. More so, National-state conflicts are normally resolved by legislation passed by congress but the umpire of the federal system is the U.S Supreme Court. In the same view, just as the states may not use the taxing power to cripple or inhibit activities of the national government , so that national government may not use its enormous taxing power to destroy the states to make them ineffective. The constitution prohibits both the national government and the states from exercising certain powers, provides guarantees that protect the states. For instance, the national government may not violate the Bill of Rights, the states may not deny individuals the right to vote because of their sex, the states may not coin money, a state may not be broken up into two state or more without its consent and states must give full faith and credit to the official acts of the states such as court decision. CONSTITUTIONAL LEGACY AND PATTERN OF INTERACTION Patterson (et al, 1986; 69) note that separation of powers carries the corollary of checks and balances; each branch of government is to balance the power of the others and checks their action. In explaining the relationship in terms of law making, they state thus: “The constitution provides explicit checks that one branch of government can exercise a veto. The president vetoes a bill passed by congress by refusing to sign into law, usually the president gives congress reasons for his disapproval. If congress adjourns within 10 days of sending a bill to the white House, the president can let it die; neither signing nor vetoing it (this is called a pocket veto). Congress can by a two-thirds veto, over-ride a veto. The president can propose legislation to congress that can refuse to enact. The Supreme Court can scrutinize the constitutionality of laws passed by congress and signed by the president, with the agreement of the Senate. Moreover, the power of the Supreme Court to hear appeals from lower courts is subject to limitations passed by congress and approved by the president. Even with congress, the power of the state equally represented in the senate is theoretically balanced with the power of the people who are directly represented in the House; and the agreement of both houses is required to pass legislation. It reflects that national unity and objectively in actions is ensured by the very nature of justice so pursued and interaction permitted by the constitution among the three organs in stressing the necessity of communication in governmental actions, they further stated that: “These provisions of the constitutions do not mean that only congress is involved in law-making, they do not mean that the president does nothing but exercise executive power; and they do not mean that judicial powers are exercised only by the courts. The three branches of the government shares law-making executive and judicial powers. Congress shares in executive departments. It share in judicial power when it creates or recognizes the lower federal court systems (the courts below the U.S supreme court) the president shares in legislative power when he suggests laws to congress or vetoes acts of congress. The Supreme Court can declare an act of congress unconstitutional if it finds that the act is not constituent with the meaning of the constitution; when it does so, the court exercises a kind of veto. Beyond this negative power, the court interprets the meaning of laws passed by congress as they are applied to particular circumstances. Executive’s agencies make laws when they draw up the regulations needed to carry out polices adopted by congress. Making laws, executing them and interpreting are intertwined functions of government”. This indicates that the principles of separation powers, along with checks and balances, ideally means that separated institutions share powers. It also indicates that the nature of the structure of government indeed reflects the diversity of the society and the need for creative change. Alongside with the law-making function, O,connor and Ingersoll (1975:19) say that the constitution clearly grants only one specific “official” authorization to the president regarding his role in the legislative process section 7 of Article 1 (which deals with congress) limits presidential authority to the power to veto legislation. Significantly, this is one of the few constitutional prerogatives of the president, which has not substantially changed in the United States. He must still sign every congressional bill, or permit it to lie on his desk for ten days while the congress remains in session, for the act to have the statutes of a law. In this same direction, they specify that: “In the event that the president decodes that the bill as written should not become law, even if this disagreement is with a single provision of the bill, he must return the entire bill to the congress in order to veto the measure. Neither the constitution nor quite understandably the congress had given him the power of vetoing only selected parts of an act (an item veto). Once vetoed, a measure must secure a two-thirds majority in each house of congress in order to become law. If congress has adjourned for the end of its session, however, the president may exercise his “pocket veto” by simply refusing to sign the bill in the requisite ten-day period” By implication, the American constitution provides room for exercise of discretion, consultation and dialogue. The provision for pocket veto by reason of adjournment of congress within a ten-day period is not taken care of by the Nigerian constitution. It only in section 58(4) provides for a period of thirty days whereby the president is expected to assent to a bill, and after that each House by two-third majority can pass the bill into law if he withholds his assent. Again discussing how some of the difficulties are relieved, O,connor and Ingersoll (1975: 66-7) state that “By threatening to veto a Bill while it is still under congressional consideration, the president is often able to persuade congress to change those features of the bill to which he objects”. This shows that such threat of veto has a psychological impact in expressing his wish communicatively to the legislature. On this note they aver that: “Although all bills must be passed by congress in order to become law, we have seen that the constitution does not place the entire legislative process in the hands of the congress. Thus we must explore the relationship between congressional actions and presidential vetoes. After a bill passes both the House and the Senate, it is sent to the president, who has three alternatives: he can sign it, he can veto it, or he can do nothing. If he signs it, the bill becomes public law. If he vetoes it, the bill is returned to congress, which may modify the bill in the light of the president’s wishes or may attempt to override his veto-a difficult course of action. The difficulties arise from the constitutional provision (Article 1 Section 7) which requires a two-third majority in each house to override presidential veto. Relying on his battery of persuasive tactics, a president can usually convince either one third of the senators or one third of the representatives to support his veto”. This implies that each organ is particularly concerned about the means to achieving effectiveness and so must head to occasions that demand arguing from frequent vetoes, they further aver thus: “No one is more aware of the difficulties inherent in overriding a presidential veto than the members of congress, a prospect they seek to avoid whenever possible. A president is not all reluctant to brandish an impending veto if the bill in question is not modified to reflect his views. Although, the constitution does provide him with an item veto. The president must either sign an entire bill or veto an entire bill, he cannot sign certain sections of the bill while veto encourages congress to propose ruler (legislation not relevant to the bill to which it is fixed) which may be displeasing to the president) to bills particularly favoured by him. He therefore must sign or veto the bill in its entreaty since he is unable to separate the rider from the bill to which it is attached. A powerful president will have enough support in congress to avert the attachment of riders to his proposed legislation.” It means that at the end of the day political leadership is more than position power. It equally means that effectiveness on the part of a national leadership will be gauged by how well that leader can deal with new realities and changing rules by moving a constituency or society in the direction it must go in its own collective interest. Salfell (1989:70-1) observe that by setting up three separate divisions of government with shared powers, the United States constitution encourages competition among the three arms. In terms of our focus here, he specifically notes that: “Throughout American history, there has been a struggle for power particularly between the legislative and executive branches”. The equally manifests itself recently when president George .W. Bush is insisting on sending more troops to Iraq and increasing the troops while the opposition party lead congress is speaking to the contrary. The president voted the move of the congress while the two third majority is another option to move ahead. The American constitution provides room for constructive conflict which according to Robbins (1983:344) improved the quality of decisions, stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages interest and curiosity among members, provides the medium through which problems can be aired and tensions released and foster an environment of self evaluation and change. Similarly, Saffed (1989: 70-1) point that although the framers of the United States constitution were generous in their grant of power to the president, they create the congress during a period marked by distrust of executive power. The result was a strong legislature intended to be a source of public policy, a primary initiator of rules and a master of the public purse. This indicates that the thrust of power was on the legislature, as proposed for National Assembly. He further observes that during the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth; American public opinion and the general social climate supported the legislature at all levels of government as the dominant force in American public life. Also, explaining low the change of baton came about in the exercise of actual power, he states that: “The relative importance of congress compared with the executive has declined since the 1930s. However, the force working against legislature dominance since the thirties has been the needs of an increasingly industrialized society that calls for technical and complex decision making. Today, American society is characterized by a huge economic system, a government bureaucracy unprecedented in size and scope, increased involvement in international affairs and reliance on mass communication. All these factors dramatize and personalize the chief executive. A legislative decline is evident not only at all levels of governments in all United States, but in all nations of Western Europe as well.

The concern here is that presidents have been able to take advantage of issues and make assertive contributions to the benefit of the people while communicating with the various constituents. Also, special techniques of communication have been used in the advent of mass communication made possible by advancement in technology. Upon this he further states that:

“Presidents have surrounded themselves with more and more technical specialists to aid them in their complex decision making. They also asserted themselves personally as leaders of the America people and most of the non-communist world members of congress on the other hand, have declined in effectiveness even as representatives supposedly close to their constituents. Many legislators are little known to the people of their district of states, and special interests have gained power as representatives of public sentiment. By contrast, the president through increase use of the mass media, is seen almost constantly-making policy statements and often claiming to reflect the real will of the people that is being distorted by congress”

This indicates that better communication programmes have been developed and implemented for each public affected by the president than the legislature. It therefore further indicates that better message and media strategies have been utilized by the president to engineer favourable public sentiment and support. Against this background, there is yet the realization that in a presidential system of government the president is the engine room of the government. As the week magazine puts it, “his personality drives it but the president is not the government”. In the same vein, another Nigerian journal expatiates that “Nigerians experience in the second republic clearly illustrates the bitter rivalry and acrimony which could exist between the legislature and the executive.” This reflects that special attention has not been paid to the communication function as required in the business of government. Segue to the above; the chief executive officer of the week magazine consequently observes that it is important that government pays special attention to human communication to the extent that there should be no gap in the manner in which the function is handled. In observing the contradictions arising from the fourth republic government, he notes that: “In a well organized system, spokesmen for the president and government ought to be different. The former ought to be someone who knows the president well and can project his thoughts and personality faithfully to the public. The latter must be someone of cabinet rank who is possibly a member of the president’s kitchen cabinet. He must understand the critical issues and their background and have the ability to communicate. Both need technical expertise.”

This opinion reflects the state of quackery associated with the public relations and communication function in Nigerian government. It also reflects the inadequacies associated with the period when the duties of Dr. Doyin Okupe (a medical doctor) as special Assistant on media and publicity were overlapping with that of sarumi (a computer scientist) appointed minister of information. Succinctly, after several reflections, Akinteleye (2000:1-15) analyses the effect of each conflict occurring in fourth republic and the concludes that “the most serious and most dangerous one is the incessant conflict between the legislative house and the Executive”. It applies that apart from the dysfunctional outcome of possibly collapsing the economy by grinding down the government sense of direction, the breeding of frustration which undoubtedly result in use of force or treat of force as alternative means to solution can be avoided through appropriate public relations management approach to the relationship between the executive and the legislature 2.5: A SURVEY OF EXECUTIVE- LEGISLATIVE CONFLICT IN FOURTH REPUBLIC A historic event that took place then was the unprecedented non passage of the 2000 budget which stays close to six months on the grand of exclusion/ non exclusion of vital issues and the restructuring of the budget. This happened during Okadigbo Chuba of the blessed memory’s tenure. It took the high powered politics of the executive and notable Nigerians intervention for such debacle to be curtailed.

Consequently, very memorable dispute that greeted the fourth republic administration and which equally occurred during Dr. Chuba Okadigbo of the blessed memory’s tenure is the issue of public holiday. The president has declared may 29 as “Democracy Day”, and a public Holiday. A public announcement was made which called out all Nigerians and friends of the country to go and celebrate with Obasanjo at Eagles square, Abuja. But the National Assembly boycotted the event. Both Okadigbo and Umar Ghali Na’ Aba had boycotted the 29th may rally in Abuja that marked the Democracy Day. Sequel to the report by Ohi Okewale and Tobs Agbaegbu in News watch edition of June 12 and 19 2000, respectively, the senate leader who is also head of the National Assembly promptly reacted saying the holiday was not illegal but also unconstitutional. He argues that “the power to declare public holiday is rested in the National Assembly, not in the executive”. He maintains that public holiday is item 15 under the exclusive list and that it gave only the assembly the authority to declare a holiday. Again, Emeka Ihedioha, special Assistant to the senate president argues that section 4(1) of the 1999 constitution vests in the National Assembly exclusive powers to declare public holidays. This situation provoked a raging debate on the legality of the president’s action. On the president’s side, Doyin Okupe, special Assistant to the president on media and publicity called a press conference to defend the president’s action. Kanu Agabi, the then attorney general and minister of justice also defended the president. He faults the argument presented by the senate leader and his assistant by pointing at the public holidays Act, cap 378, laws of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1990. In the same manner, a press release signed on behalf of Agabi by Rotimi jacobs, the then ministers special Assistant says: “Contrary to the position expressed by the National Assembly, the president of the federal Republic of Nigeria is a competent authority to declare any day as public holiday in Nigeria and such a day so declared shall be kept as public holiday by all including the national Assembly itself.” It was on this basis that Agabi quoted section 2(1) of the public Holidays Act, cap 378, laws of federation of Nigeria to justify the president’s action. But the basic question here is which law overrides,? Is it the powers granted by the constitution or that of decree by the military?

2.6: PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND REACTIONS In the report titled “Good Morning at the senate after 181 days”, published in the Guardian Newspaper of Thursday, June 8, 2000, the paper generally concludes that the National Assembly performed below expectations. The position is strengthened by the views of Hon. Muyiwa Oladipo, the speaker of the Ogun House of Assembly, and Hon. Habu Isa Ajiya, the speaker of Taraba state House of Assembly, who both commented differently in the same publication while the former believes that both arms are at fault given the incessant conflicts, and that the bottom line is money, the later condemns this issue of politicization of sharia and did not lend his support to confederation in Nigeria, as issues of conflict then affecting the broader society. They maintain that both arms should be blamed for the squabbles. Similarly, while Hon. Muyiwa Oladipo says “ it is most unreasonable for a National Assembly of 2,500 and 5000 (staff inclusive) to spend N22.5 Billion in one year”, with respect to year 2000 Appropriation bill, he also notes that “available information indicates that the legislative arm of government brought out its own estimates.” It was said to be very wrong, and that the national Assembly needs money, but it shouldn’t be the primary thing. In the same vein, chief Theophilus Akinyele who was the Director of Budget and special Adviser on budget affairs during president shehu shagaris administration (1979-83) says “the face-off between the executive and the legislative arms of government as it relates to the 2000 Appropriation bill was part of the kind of things one should expect in a new experiment. We in Nigeria have changed over from the parliamentary system to the executive presidential system.” This means conflict should be accepted under the presidential system. He also adds that what is important these days is not how much each organ spends, but how much each achieved with what is spent. In other words, spending should be performance oriented. That is what should be at the back of the mind of every legislature rather than playing to the gallery. Moreover, chief Johnson Ukueku who was a member of the federal parliament in the first Republic and who aired out his Views in the Guardian newspaper of may 29, 2000, together with chief Akinyele notes. “Certainly the first Republic and the fourth Republic cannot be the same. There are vast differences in size and even in the number of electorates and in the organization”. This reflects changes in the structure. In this same respect, he added that:

In those days, there was a clear distinction between the lawmakers and the executives. But today the law makers want to arrogate the duties of the executive to themselves to the extent that they have to award contracts besides making laws. And they have to talk about making laws, and they have to talk about impeachment and so on”. This implies that in spite the fusion in the first republic arrangement, the law makers were strictly lawmakers and when the executive wanted anything, they will send to the legislature to pass the bill. Also, Hashimi Hadi who wrote from Abuja, an article titled “Obasanjo as problem in Thisday Newspaper of Sunday July 22000, says: “It is now beyond question that chief Olusegun Obasanjo is the problem with Nigeria. He has been carrying on as if we are finished without him. This general insensitivity and his very poor interpersonal relations as evidenced by his very poor handling of the minister while he was on admission in an Abuja hospital speak for themselves. If he thinks, or has been told that he is a superman, it is not true. The earlier he disabuses his mind of that illusion, the better it could be for him and for us all.” This shows that there was disenchantment towards the way the president was generally handling issues. He went further to express his disenchantment and then adds that: “How on earth can one individual, single handily expect to supervise the work of a cabinet that is as larger as any three state Houses of Assembly legislators put together? Or, for that matter a team of ministers advisers and all categories of special assistants equal in number to all the House of Assembly legislators in a geo-political zone” In this sense, the complaint is that many of the people in government today, are unfocused, spent and utterly lacking in seriousness and may be prone to sycophancy. In addition, his complaint of the president’s insensitivity is of concern because that alone may create apathy in his constituents. Again, Victor Abu who in his article titled “of our nascent Democracy: The president and his men” in this democratic dispensation is transitory. It may lead the operators being milled and processed as seasoned politicians and statesmen. Thus the gain of experimentation so far is worth investigating. He maintains that such a task is to properly apportion blames and effect changes preparatory to year 2003. However, he says before doing that, one should recognize the uniqueness of the handicap of the legislative arm of this government as an arm that has not been represented in the military arbitrative governance of the previous years. This is why some of the mistakes should be accommodated. He reiterates that of course, the executive and judiciary had always been there with a consolidated heritage for their successors in office. While on the contrary, the legislature with its chequered past, has no infrastructure in place nor precedence of practice with total lack of legacy or heritage of predecessors. This argument tends to favour the legislature, but in many respect, it is not tenable for the kind of explosion that greeted their budgetary allocation. Chief Johnson Ukueku who was member of the federal parliament in the first republic lamented on the situation as against the position when he asserts that: “……today there is a conflict between what the executive will bring out and what the lawmakers want. In lawmaking, as were then, we never got involved with the details as designed of the executive. The executive made all the details of the budget and sent to the house designed to approve. We didn’t make budgets for ourselves for this or for that if we don’t agree with any part of the budget, we sent it back to the executive in the present situation, the legislature is insisting on, doing the work of the executive. In those days, we had a minister, the late chief Festus Okotie Eboh minister of finance, who submitted the appropriation bill to the parliament. We didn’t have this acrimony at all. What is happening now is that these present legislators are very greedy, they want to boot, because the soldiers have looted. That is what is going on, you can’t hide this.” It applies that inasmuch as those who have looted the nation’s treasury remain untouched, there would always be the desire by incumbent to steal money by any means. Going by what is happening now in the fourth republic, the present speaker Mrs. Patrcia Atteh was indicted by the Idoko panel of a total sum of N628 million scam and he refused to step down while deliberation will be going on. It caused the death of a house of representative member widely believed to be in the speakers camp. Such a huge sum was alleged for the renovation of the speaker and deputy’s house. How on earth can such money that can build any type of house be earmarked for renovation. It’s ridiculous and malicious. The current senate president David mark is being accused now of 3.1billion naira, though it has not being established about the veracity of the claims. In the same sense, the former president Olusegun Obasanjo was misguided with respect to his actions on matters like the incessant fuel price hike, payment of N12 billion to Julius Berger construction company, unilateral deployment of troops to Odi for the sins of a dozen dissidents, all of which there was no consultation with the National Assembly as it was reported by the reporter-Eddy odivwri, titled “what manner of Advisers” published in this day Newspaper, Saturday, June 17,2000. He also wonders if the president consulted any of his advisers before approving a raid of the senate president’s official residence. In this wise, he asks “how much of the advice has Nwosu given the president on the relationship between the executive and legislature? He asks further that whether the president is not being advised or he’s just a bad student of guidance and counseling? All these issues point to the need for interpretation of public attitudes to the president as well as making him being able to know the probable effect of these actions on his constituents.

Several Newspaper and magazines report different cases of disagreement between the executive and legislative organs of government. While Newspaper and magazines describes the relationship between the two arms of government as nasty, the paper says it has best been a cat and mouse game since return of democracy on May, 29 1999, it notes that Obasanjo did not appear willing to help the matter. While marking the one year of the democratic dispensation of Obasanjo in the first term (tenure) of his eight year reign, on May, 29 2000, he posts a warning to the National Assembly, saying he would not cede any of his powers to it. The magazine in the edition of June 19, 2000 says that the declaration of May, 29th as a public holiday did not go down well with the legislature, which saw that as an enchantment on its powers, the announcement infuriated the legislature whose leadership declined to attend the rally slated for that day as earlier stated. Consequently, there were other reactions to the issue raised in a feature article titled “Agenda for the new legislative season,” published in the Guardian of Thursday, July 13, 2000, chief Richard Okafor, a stalwart of the ruling peoples Democratic party (PDP), was reported to have reviewed the incessant bickering between the two arms, and expressed hope that some lessons must have been learnt by everybody to face the call to duty. Saddened by the negative impact the face-offs have had on the nation’s economy, Okafor insists that: “it was time the party’s members in the national Assembly put their heads together for positive actions. As the ruling and dominant party, the PDP ought to be a catalyst for progressive development instead of becoming an anathema to itself at a time the country needed liberation from the economic doldrums foisted on it by the ears military rule”. The view is consistent with need for common leadership visions that will enable them achieve integrative action to better the economy. Again the party leader, however, charges members of the Assembly to focus their attention on legislating laws that would be of benefit to the common man, observing that at the end of the day the law markers could be dredged by the level and quality of the laws they made for the protection of the average Nigerian. He also urges the legislators to maintain constant touch with their constituencies to enable them acquaint themselves with their problems and needs with a view to property aggregating and tabling them on the floor of the National Assembly. He observes that: “There are destitute unemployment and lack of social security scheme for them, all of which calls for legislation, noting that after one year of differences and disagreements it was now ripe to put their acts together”. It invariably means the interest of the masses should be uppermost while legislating. In the same light, Alhaji Sikini Seriki, the former chairman of the defunct United Nigeria congress party (UNCP) in Lagos state, and a chieftain of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) appeals to both the National Assembly and the executive to see themselves as partners in progress for the interest of democracy. He examines that: “The issue of which party one belongs should no longer be of concern since development is what is required of them now.” This means they should focus on developmental programmes According to him: “Impeachment and counter-impeachment motions should be jettisoned completely. They should think more, of the welfare of the people that voted for them. Politics is about compromise. Unnecessary differences should not tear them apart, to the detriment of the development of the society.” This opinion reveals that there is high expectation on the two organs to transform Nigeria but they are not meeting up. Also, Alhaji Maitama Sule, former Nigeria permanent representative at the United Nations who was also a parliamentarian during the first republic said “it would be impossible for the executive to function well and perform its assigned constitutional roles if the legislature fails to resist the temptation to undermine the executive through petty rivalry or undue hostile disposition.” It means that they should carry out their activities in line with the expected code of conduct. In a paper titled “Historical development of Nigeria legislature,” delivered at the all speakers workshop held in Jos, he argues that for the current democratic order to be successful, the executive arm must regard the legislature as a partner rather than an adversary. This position emphasized the need for a fruitful relationship. More so, on the speculation whether Alhaji Buhari Salisu was going to return to the House after being granted state pardon then, chief Nathaniel Anah a senator in the second republic and presently a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in Thisday newspaper of Monday June 12, 2000, says that “it was doubtful if the National Assembly would accept the former speaker of the House of representatives, Alhaji Salisu Buhari, since constitutional procedures were not followed in granting him pardon.” This shows the legislators opinion was not sought before the action was taken. In briefing newsmen then in Enugu, he again says that: “That National Assembly was not consulted before Buhari was granted a state pardon and that he did not think he would support his reinstatement,” This opinion is in line with the fears that may be expressed by those whose positions may be at stake, and the likely resistance that may greet the action. Moreover, while commenting on the sour relationship between the executive and the legislature, the senator attributed the problem to lack of lobbying and advised the two arms of government to learn the art of lobbying with a view to reaching an understanding between them. Chief Nathaniel Anal affirms that. “The president must lobby, he should not act as a soldier and members of the National Assembly should also try to reach out: This will help in decision making.” It means that there is the need to effectively manage their communication and contacts in order to achieve mutually beneficial relationships. In that wise, he again affirms that: “The two arms of government had failed to make use of the country’s constitution in performing their functions, particularly the section that has to do with separation of powers.” The indication is that such action may have been informed by ignorance, ego, mistake, unprepared ness or any other factor, thereby affecting their impression of each other. More so, he explains that “the constitution stated clearly that the declaration of holidays is the sole right of the legislature and that president Olusegun Obasanjo should have lobbied the National Assembly on the issue. He also described the crisis in the national assembly as part of democratic process but condemns the police invasion of the then senate presidents house which was undemocratic. On that note, after surveying the various conflicts between the two arms of government in fourth republic, the editorial comment of the Guardian newspaper May16,2000, concludes that: “The presidency so far has been winning most of the arguments with the legislature, but this should not be interpreted as superior wisdom since members of the national Assembly deserve to be treated with courtesy and consideration now and again we have observed a certain imperious attitude, a haughtiness and impatience by the presidency in its dealings with the legislature.” In politics, even the man who is right has to persuade others to see that he is right. If the presidency is to be faulted, it is perhaps in the area of its public relations skills, which can still be sharpened. The communication process between the presidency and key members of the House can be improved upon.” It implies that the president is unaware of the need to apply public relations sense and he has possibly not realized that he himself together with the government is likely to be more than ever before at the mercy of his personal approach to issues of relevance. It also implies that he is also not aware of the fact that his strength or weakness can turn on his personal capacity to influence the conduct of the men who make up the government Similarly the Editorial comment cautions the ignorance of most legislators with respect to having a spokesman and the need for a crisis communication plan when it asserts that: “For their part, legislators must be careful with their language. Under no circumstance should they allow their actions to be interpreted as contempt for Mr. President.” It applies that the self-discipline and right attitude required of them is lacking as exhibited by the manner they query the president. On this note Alhaji Maitama Sule concedes that: Mutual antagonism and uncooperative attitude between the two arms would only produce a negative effect on the electorate.” By implication, this opinion entails without mutual cooperation’s, and consultations between the executive and the legislature, it is difficult and unlikely to sustain democracy in Nigeria. It also unveils the need to seek truce with each other.

2.7: RELATIONSHIP-BUILDING STRATEGY Akpala (1990:101) identifies that communication occupies a central place in organizing and directing. It relates to exchange of facts, opinions or emotions by two or more persons. In government, it is equally expected that it would occur by using words, letters, symbols or messages in a way that an organization member would share meaning and understanding with another. This position is endorsed by the Guardian Editorial comment of Thursday, May 16, 2000, which notes a contrary situation and aver thus: “If there is any lesson for our nascent democracy journey so far, it is that much progress cannot be made unless the executive and legislature learn to work together for the collective pubic good. It is almost as if the two arms of government are incapable of resolving their differences without intervention of peace makers. The checks and balances in our system of government are meant to avoid or minimize abuse, not to paralyze government.” It means that the communication process is not well managed as displayed by their disposition towards each other. Consequently, Schmidt and Tannenbaun (2000:24) argued that there are times in the lives of most of us when our personal needs are the strongest determinants of our behaviour. They added that fortunately, while most organizations can tolerate a limited amount of such self oriented behaviour on the part of their managers or leaders as the case may be, the danger occurs if an individual believes that his actions are solely motivated by the “good of the organization,” when in fact, he is operating on the basis of other kinds of personal motivation without being unaware of it. This thereof, means that a manager or leader who is more fully aware of his own feelings and inclinations is in a better position to diagnose a situation accurately and to choose relationally the kind of behaviour which is in the best interests of the organization. More so, while Neustadt (1990:4-8) notes that “in political government means can matter quite as much as ends; they matter more. And there are always differences of interests in the means,” cult lip (et al, 1985:4) identifies public relations techniques to constitute the means when he describes public relations as “the management function that identifies, establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the various public on whom its success or failure depends.” This view point inculcates the understanding that the concept can function in any form of government hence the basic principles are observed. In addition, Ajala (199367) concedes that public relations can serve as a problem-solving management function by performing four main tasks in this regard via: counselling, media relations, liaison and managing events. This entails that the practice involves appreciating a situation to recognize the problem and then recommending a solution as it concerns achieving better understanding on this note, he is of the view that applying public relations management can help to build a no collapsible bridge of acceptance and good will by playing a bridge building role or boundary role in influencing and shaping the thoughts, opinions and perceptions of those affected by each arm’s actions, policies and operations.

2.7.1: American Model and legislative liaison. pious (1986:323) observes that congress in the united states has many powers which potentially conflict with the president’s, meaning they share powers in this sense, o’ Conner and ingersoll (1975:10-72) noted that presidents in turn have always expressed their intention to enforce all of the laws, “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed”. In reality, however, all presidents emphasize certain laws and almost ignore others. One kind of law that presidents generally enforce or execute involves the expenditure of funds appropriated by congress. Further more, pious (1986:324-5) indicates that most of the powers that presidents exercise, including some war and emergency powers are delegated by congress, using the necessary and proper clause. In a national emergency, president uses delegated powers to confine persons who are considered threats to national security, restrict travel in and out of the country, require persons to register with the government, control employment in the public and private sectors among others. Also, congress make conditional delegation; the president must declare a national emergency exist and report to congress periodically. Congress may at anytime, end the state of emergency by passing a joint resolution (subject to presidential veto). This means that congress often grants presidents responsibility with commensurate authority, but circumscribes such powers with detailed rules and regulations in subsequent laws. Again, O’ Connor and ingersoll (1975:71-72) note that “the decisions of the Appropriations committee are rarely challenged by the House and generally supported by the senate as well. In the same dimension, they add that “the members of the committee therefore, in viewing their role as that of watchdog over the national treasury, are ever wary of waste in the executive.” They perform their valuable function of acting as an “overseer” of the executive branch with vigor and clarity, indeed, Administration official usually results in the committee deciding that the official’s department or bureau receive little or no increase from the previous fiscal year’s allotment. This shows a commitment to duty. Similarly, they point out that hearings are held in which administrative officials are required to attend in order to answer questions put to them by congressmen. Through this mechanism, many less laudable activities of the executive branch have been exposed and corrected. Hearings are ostensibly investigated to gather information for the writing of approved legislation, but they also serve to focus public attention on problems of new issues. This procedure of hearings have publicized the risk of birth control, hunger in America, campaign abuses etc among many other issues. In this vein, congress tends to revamp its relative importance which has declined since the 1930s, with its increasing investigations into the quality of the federal bureaucracy and American life in general. In the same light, O’Connor and ingersoll (1975:10-71) observe that congress is not always as swift to appropriate funds for presidential military activities as it was in the case of Roosevelt’s great white fleet. Congress reluctantly appropriate the necessary funds where a presidential proposal is not convincing, and can provide and act upon alternatives to both specific executive proposals and the general direction of national policy as well. In terms of law-making, they further observe that “congress law- making function involves not only passing bills, but their modification and rejection as well. Although major legislation increasingly originates in the executive branch, congress rarely accepts the executive’s version of the bills without making important substantive revisions. Often, it rejects such legislation entirely in most cases, some congress finest hours have come in its rejection of popular, but ill-conceived bills” it indicates that each organs exercises its powers and discretion as to how to carry out its functions, roles and responsibilities. Conflict, Managerial strategy and the policy-making process. Neustadt (1990:30-197) declares that in American politics, the sine guenon of innovative policy is controversy. He went further to identity that “what the constitution separates, our political parties should not combine” this assertion subscribes to the opinion that the separateness of the institutions and the sharing of authority prescribe to the terms on which the president and any other elected official persuades. Pious (1986:333) endorse this position and then note that “what the constitution separates, the president’s cannot unite”. This means both organs are to operate separately, but together in one government. In the fourth republic in Nigeria, aside such scheme as “inter- party unity” initiated by President Olusequn Obasanjo’s administration, several opinion writers have condemned the conduct of key officers in the two arms of government. Adah-wah (2000:20-50) points out that chief Evan Enwerem reduced the senate to a mere rubber stamp of the executive through his relationship with the president then, chief Olusegun Obasanjo. She adds that “this may be because he decided to follow the foot steps of Dr. Joseph wayas Senate President 1979-1984 who had non-confrontational relationship with the Shehu Shagari led Executive” this applies that their approach to managing their differences was either avoiding conflict or repressing them which is not good for presidential democracy. Chief Pius Anyim Pius, who succeeded Chief Evan Enwerem as senate president confirms the above position in an article titled “the politics of a senate presidency”, published in the guardian newspaper, Tuesday, December 29 2000. The paper indicated that while critics sometimes see the actions of Chief Pius Anyim Pius, the former senate president as Kew-towing to the executive, he has confidently arranged that “it is a humorous working relationship in existence”. This implies that harmonious relationship is seeing as conformity. Though the later days of the former president of the senate, Chief Pius Anyim was so tedious and tough as he put the executive to proper check against what many observers taught. He fought a good fight as he rebuffed every attempt to be used as rubber stamp. Pius (1986:331) pointed out that “while presidents retain he support of their party rank and file, they cannot translate that support into long-term leadership of their party rank and file, they cannot translate that support into long-term leadership of their party-in- government. More damages is done to presidents by their own congressional or legislative leader than by opposition”. This means legislators of the same party are more critical of their presidents in order to level up the position of their political parties. Also, they adds that “presidents are effective party leaders when they represent political and economic interest that seize the publics imagination, capitalize on crises, and replace worn-out ideas and practices with something new.” This means conflict enable the key officers to think. Too much conflict is bad and no conflict is equally bad as its being asserted to public relations. This was evidenced in the senate presidency of Chief Ken Nnamani, when despite all odds; he came out victorious as a leading and role model senate president. A lot of promises, and counter promises were made so that the wish of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo will take sway but to no avail. The third term was fought to a stand still by the legislative arm lead by the senate president. Accusations and threats of life were issued by known and unknown persons but he maintained his position and stood his ground. We belief the new senate president mark will toe his path. In this regard, Robbers (1983:344-8) asserts that “conflict is constructive when it improves the quality of decisions, stimulates creativity and innovation, encourages interest and curiosity among group Members, provides the medium through which problems can be aired and tensions released and fosters an environment of self- evaluation and change. It shows that constructive conflicts prevent stagnation and imitate the seed for change without disrupting or deterring co-ordination of activities. He further asserts that.

“The comparison of six major decisions during the administration of four different U.S presidents found that conflict reduced the chance that brain storming would over power policy decisions. The comparison demonstrated that conformity among presidential advisers was related to poor decision, while an atmosphere of constructive conflict and critical thinking surrounded the developed decisions”

It signifies that under such condition, it is possible to turn difference into creative problem solving According to Nwabueze (2000.8-9).“The system of separated power, with the friction between the legislature and the executive necessarily attendant upon, it is a deliberate and calculated choice instituted by our constitution because of its cardinal virtue in protecting the people against government autocracy”. It indicates that by virtue of the structure of government, both arms are to counteract each other to allow vital initiative that can in turn enhanced the quality of government decisions. However, Robbins (91983:347-8) argues that “inadequate or excessive levels of conflict hinder the effectiveness of a group or an organization resulting in reduced satisfactions of group members, increased absence and turnover rates, and eventually lowers productivity”. This is exactly what has been happing in four republics. This is evidenced in an editorial comment on the effect of the crisis between the two arms in this way. “Until now, that has not been the case. Bills emanating form the presidency have not always been handled with dispatch by the national Assembly. Several times, the reason advance by the legislators for their slowness is either that the bills were not properly presented in the first instance or that business of legislating is so critical and involved that it requires a careful study and deliberation. The public is not convinced. Indeed, the fact that only a few bills have been passed in one year does not inspire confidence in the electorate” The indication is that the key officers and members of the two arms have been unable to exact effective influence on each other.

THE PUBLIC RELATIONS OPTION In observing the Nigerian situation, Ige (2000.:43) states that a good working relationship between any two arms of government does not, certainly, include one giving the other space to defraud us. The executive and legislature must realize that its one war the ordinary man fully endorses and any elected politician that is not ready to lead this war deserves to be impeached, the nation will be better for it”. The emphasis is that given the high level corruption in the country, a truce between the two arms may mean collaborating to loot the country further. For this reason he explains that: “The present stance across the nation fanned by well-meaning Nigerian that there be a truce between the executive and legislature does not mean that either of them should not seek to expose the other in a process of ensuring accountability and transparency in the new democratic order”. (the Guardian, Monday, Sept 11 2007)” This is witnessed in the current problem bedeviling the lower house i.e. house of representatives where the present speaker, Madam Patricia Etteh is being accused of N628 million scam and he refused to step down since the Idoko panel indicted her and hence, she cant be a judge in her own case. The executive led by the president Umaru Musa Yaradua vowed to stay clear the problem since it’s an exclusive matter of the legislature. The Nigerian bar Association president, olisa Agbakoba faulted the president since it distorts the peace of the generality of Nigerians and the speaker does not command the confidence of the Nigerian people. She should be made to step down from the angle of being the people democratic party leader (the ruling party). The president waded into the matter on 27th October after much pressures and the speaker has being urged to resign even though the integrity group that is spearheading the move for the speakers stepping down is now championing a new song as it was caption in the nation newspaper of October 29,p94 2007 as thus: “However, members of the integrity group declared yesterday that the action of the speaker and her loyalists in going to court to get a restraining order would not deter them from insisting that Mrs Etteh should step aside the following day 30th October 2007 for the election of a speaker pro-tempore. It was gathered reliably in Abuja yesterday that many members of the house from the six geo-political zones, on Friday, signed the notice for the impeachment of the speaker. The collection of signatories was conducted by a lawmaker from the south- west zone in conjunction with some members of the integrity group”. It signifies the need for a search for a reconciliatory bastion that will not tamper with the principle of separation of powers. According to Akinjide (2000:8), “conflict was institutionalized in the very heart of the United States politics with the adoption of the doctrine of separation of powers, but it does not exclude influence or control by one over the acts of another.” If influence is “the ability of people to get others to do what they want them to do by convincing them that it is in their own best interest as described by pious (1986:4- 8) it means it is achieved by the fullest utilization of channels of communication and leadership potential of elected and appointed officers in government Newstadt (1990:76-7) points out that congress in the United States is a distorting mirror for a presidents prestige. In giving reasons for this, he notes that congressional constituencies differ from his own, what happens at the capital rarely will reflect the full extent of his apparent popularity. He specifically states that: “with powers and with status and show of will, a president of the united states can wield effective influence in many situations even though he has a bulky congress and seems short on popular appeal --- The weaker his apparent popular support, the more his cause in congress many depend on negatives at his disposal like the veto or impounding”. It symbolizes that presidential influence on government becomes, in part, a matter of direct relationships with special-purpose publics, and his general reputation will also influence what legislators think of him. The concern in the above assertion is that the less his demonstrated power, the more the president will be confined, down turned, to realms where sheer command proves workable, and at the same time, his options are reduced. Adindu (2000:2-15) likewise finds evidence in the conflicts in fourth republic when he affirms that: “There are also laudable programmes which it well implemented, might ameliorate the economic hardship in the land. But Obasanjo is still seating over a political train that is constantly derailing with frequent antagonisms between the executive and the legislature. Nigeria can boast of having wrestled power form the military, but it is yet to boast of having installed a meaningful democracy”. It applies the opportunities and freedom for manoeuvre of the president is checked by the legislators and politicians alike as a result of his inability to exert influence. According to Broom and Dozier (1990:2-200), public relations uses both corrective- action and communication to build and maintain what Elling (1985:4-22) refers to as “co-operation over conflict” or cut lip (et al, 1985:6) calls “mutual beneficial relationships between an organization and the various publics on whom it success or failure depends”. It entails since the two arms operate as different compartment of government, a wide range of public relations techniques can be strategically, operationally and tactically applied with the right iniatives and actions to faster partnership. Hither .H. Hodges, former governor of North Carolina is among those who gave the strongest endorsement as to the effectiveness of public relations in a democratic government. He remarks that: “After five years experience as Governor of North Carolina, I am more convinced than ever that public relations is an essential and valid function of government. When you realize that government is the peoples business, there is actually more reason-and need for the practices of public relations in the management of government than in the management of private business”. This is particularly true when it is realized that political leadership involves inspiring people to do the unusual and effective communication is a basic aspect of directing in this regard, he further remarks that: “Yet there is still much misunderstanding about what place, if any that public relations should have in government. Good constructive programmes are often handicapped because government officials do not understand or appreciate how modern public relations techniques could help understanding and support”. This shows the ignorance about the means through which voluntary co-operation can be achieved and it has been the cause of political problems. It also shows often times that politicians fail to realize that the people are always way ahead of politicians in understanding of issues and problems and usually not too far behind the statesman. Viewing these issues about the need for a good working relationship, Nwabueze (2000:8-9) notices that “the notion of partnership between the two political organs, desirable though it must therefore seek, not to abolish the friction and thereby destroy the cardinal benefit of the system as a protective mechanism against autocracy, but to prevent the inevitable friction from degenerating into a showdown that may cripple the entire machinery of government”. Though he believes that a working partnership between the two organs would help to produce the needed modus vivendi, but in reality, public relations, in this sense help to transform conflicts into problem-solving context while utilizing the various communication techniques to maintain good relationship. He reiterates that a harmonious partnership between the legislature and the executive is an imperative necessity for sustainable democracy. But it is not attained by merely wishing to talk about it. Four requirements for fostering such a relationship are: Keeping within the limits of power and within the institution generally. A disposition not to abuse power while keeping with its limits Restraining the arrogance and intolerance of state power. Consultations and dialogue. So far from the discussion, other points have been highlighted. The ways by which these requirements together with consultations and dialogue can be effected in this regard include: Lobbying It has been identified that lobbying is employed by interest groups in American society to reach to congress. It equally identified that there are government groups, representing state and local government or the executive branch of the federal government, which have become increasingly active in trying to influence congress. City mayors and the National league of cities, lobby on behalf of their government by seeking increased federal aid. It is noted that many cities and most states have full-time Washington lobbyist. As regard this fact, the author specifically notes that: “Perhaps the most powerful and clearly the best-financed lobbying forces are those of the executive branch. The pentagon, for example, employs several thousand public relations and information officials. It spends millions of dollars annually to sell military spending to the public and to congress. Executive lobbying may be the most pervasive and expensive on capitol Hill”. (saffe, 1989:41-45) This practice is almost similar to the professional measures as regard to lobbying in Britain.

Issues Management This involves the proactive process of anticipating, identifying, evaluating and responding to trends about public policy issues that affect either the presidency or the legislature or both arms and their constituents. Internal communication system. Effective internal communication system facilitates the exchange of messages of common interest and motivates and directs the effort of members. Face to face interactions such as meeting should be encouraged. Another vehicle is print which include house journals, newsletter, tabloids, external publications etc. this requires a high degree of technical skill. And lastly, audio-visuals which usually need some form of print back up and seem to work best for hard news and training. This vehicle can be utilized to enhance communication across and within each arm and to improve the performance of officials. Persuasion The president cannot always rely on his formal authority in situation which calls for presidential leadership. Many individuals the president hopes to influence are not under his authority. Legislators for example are under no obligation to follow the president’s suggestion. He cannot compel congress to act; he must persuade. The president’s ability to get other people to do what they don’t want to do and like is what makes him a leader. A president who can get people to take action of their own volition has converted them from trading partners into willing allies. On this basis, he can invite influential members of the National Assemble to launches, dinners and diplomatic receptions like what happened during the “obnoxious” third term agenda which was the highly acclaimed elongation of the then former president olusegun obasanjo. Fortunately and unfortunately, it was not done in proper manner i.e. the real principle of persuasion was not followed but barbaric and autocracy was employed instead. Threat of presidential veto The threat of a veto often results in compromises between the president and the legislature, and so its influence is important, even though it may not actually be used. The National Assembly may be persuaded to change those features of a bill to which the president objects. Public liaison Presidents can communicate with leaders of labour, business, scientific, cultural, religious and ethnic groups. And also, they relate to influential governors, presidential aids also can give these people briefing and information and invite them to launch and meetings with the president and cabinet leaders. The president can bestow favour for their support and allow them have access to him when they want the government to do something for them. In doing this, president hopes that in turn, they will or can influence the legislators. Issue Management This involves the proactive process of anticipating, identifying, evaluating, and responding to trends about public policy issues that affect either the presidency or the legislature or both arms and their constituents. Listening and observing Listening and observing are two communication options open to any organization which should not be ignored. Without listening and observing, it is impossible for internal communication to work in transmitting information to the receiving group, and even assessing feedback National Commission on Intergovernmental Relation A Commission like this as evidenced in the united states may be advocated or created in Nigeria to monitor how well the federal systems seems to be functioning and recommends improvements in intergovernmental relations. Negotiation and Bargaining Negotiation, compromising and bargaining is facilitated by the instrument of persuasion but significantly involves some trade-offs. Elected officials such as the president or the senate president can utilize his vantage points. He can trade power for help on other matters as a quid pro quo – a specific exchange of favour for favour. He can threaten to veto a particular bill and then lift the veto in return of promises to support the bills he wants Appointment of legislative liaison staff Eisenhower former republican president of the United States introduced this idea of appointing legislative liaison officers. Ever since his tenure, the practice has worked tremendously. Presidential liaison officers should be men of integrity, knowledgeable and with high sense of public relations and interpersonal relations skills. Special Events Management Proper Management and utilization of events such as parliamentary conferences, hosting commonwealth heads of government, visits by other presidents and diplomatic personnel, independence, coronations etc can generate goodwill based on invitations granted to relevant officers in the presidency and national Assembly. Brainstorming sessions This kind of techniques is similar to multiple advocacies which is always almost limited to an arm. In the case of important dividing issues or matters of international significance, the president can create a forum and invite specialists and experts among the public, key officers and members of the legislature and experts among them and other relevant stakeholders to deliberate on issues with a view to funding a broad-based solution to the pressing matter. This will promote rapport as time goes on. Grass-root strategy A president can employ grass-root strategy by using bankers to the legislators, constituent member’s contractors, and even business executives to reach out to the key opinion leaders among the legislators. He can persuade by pointing out to them that what he want them to do is what their own appraisal of their political position should impel them to do in their own interest. He can also point out not only the objective merits of his proposal but also its political merits and why in the long run it may help others, even though in the short run, it may cost them some support Meetings Meetings, if properly conducted can provide a continuing opportunity for the president to exchange ideas and feeling with the key officers and members of the National Assembly. He can use this medium to keep warm personal relations with his party floor leaders to canvass their combined prospects in opposition, especially where the house leadership is of a different party. Legislative veto This form of veto can be proposed by the legislature to kill undesirable potential programmes. It is perhaps the most controversial and least known oversight technique in the United States, though declared as unconstitutional by the judiciary National Agenda Politics Where a president finds himself loosing a political struggle in one area, he may move it to another by which he has an advantage. If he cannot get those within the government to flow along with him by using bargaining and persuasion, then he tries to appeal to the public by using a strategy of national agenda politics The principle here is that governing with public approval requires a continuing political campaign. Prime–time televised addresses, public appearances, and minor presidential speeches can be employed to make case for him before the public. In the United States, presidents use national agenda politics to push their programmes through the legislature, budget speeches, pseudo events or speech events such as economic summits, special visits and tours etc could be utilized to stress presidential debate for certain programmes by engineering public support. This can in turn earn him respect and support of the legislators. Leadership Training Scheme Several avenues can be employed to effect learning among members of the executive and legislative organs. Training of elected and appointed officers in different areas can help to enhance their performance, and so training media and schemes like workshops, seminars, documentary films etc can be utilized. Professional trainers can be hired and other media like lectures, video chips and audiovisual aid, extract on speeches by renowned politicians can be utilized also to improve the ideas, information of elected and appointed officials as well as change their approach to issues in relation to the policy making process. REFERENCES 1)Adindu, G (2000): “Abacha: Two years After” An article 2)Ajala, V.O (1993) Public Relations; In search of Professional Excellence Ibadan: Afrika-link Books Published in post Express Newspaper, June 7,P3 3)Akinfeleye, R.A. (2000): “Tension, Crises and conflicts Management in fourth Republic”, Paper presented at the 13th Sam Epelle memorial Gold paper lecture organized by the Nigeria institute of public Relations Lagos, October 26: 4)Akpala, A. (1990): Management; An introduction and the Nigeria Perspective Enugu; Department of Management UNN

5)Edeam , D.O (1993): “Public Relations, Public Opimon, and Attitude change” salu A. Ed

6) Cole-Morgan, J (1982): Public Relations in central Government in howard (w.Ed),The practice of public relations

7)Constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 8)Finn, P (1982): “Demystifying public Relations”, public Relations Journal, May, vol. 30 No I P.12 9)Jefkins, F. (1980): Public Relations Plymouth: Macdonald and Evans Ltd 10)Koenig, L.W.(1973: Toward a democracy: A brief introduction to American Government New York: Harcourt Brace Jovavich Inc. 11)Lewis, B, (1980) “How to make internal communications work” Public Relations journal February, Pp 14-17 12)Neustadt, R.E. (1990) Presidential Power and the modern Presidents: The politics of leadership form Roosevelt to Reagan New York: The free press 13)Nkwocha, I (1999) Effective Media Relations: Lagos 300m lens 14)Nwabuze, B. (2000) “Fostering partnership between the Executive and the legislature for sustainable Democracy”, Paper delivered at a conference organized by the House of Representative, Abuja, Nigeria 15)Nwosu, I.E. (1960) “Marketing communication management in Nwosu I. E and Ekwo, U.A (eds) Mass Media and Marketing Communications Enugu. Thought Communication Publishers Publishers 16)Nwosu I.E (1966): The Mass Media of communication In Nwosu I.E and Ekwo, U.A. (eds) Mass Media and Marketing communications Enugu thought Communication

17)Ogbemudia, S.O (2000): “Prospects of sustainable Democracy in Nigeria” Paper delivered at the Nigerian institute of policy and strategic studies (NIPSS) kuru, September 11

18)Ostheimer, J.M. (1973): Nigerian Politics New york: Harper and Row 19)Robbins, S.P (1983) Organizational Behaviour; Concepts controversies and application New Jersey; prentice Hall Inc. PP. 201- 368 20)Schmidt, W.H. and Tannenbaum R. (2000): Management of Difference in Harvard Business Review on Negation and conflict Resolution Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing PP.2-24 21)Scott, A.M. and Wallace E.(1989) Politics, U.S.A; cases on the American Democratic process, Ontario Macmillan Ltd P.2-4 22)Sheare B. (1982): Parliamentary Public Relations in Howard W. (Ed) The practice of public Relations London: Heinemann ltd. PP. 250-300 23) The Guardian Newspaper (2000): “Executive-legislature Relation”, and Editorial comment, may 16 24)The Nation newspaper (20007): “Executive- legislature tussles” an Editorial comment, October 29, P.4

.

CHAPTER THREE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY AND DESIGN “……. all business in a democratic country begins with public permission and exists by public approval” (Arthur W. Page).

3.1 INTRODUCTION This chapter shows the research methodology adopted by the researcher in the process of executing the research work. It contains the research design, sources of data, population of interest, determination of sample size, sampling strategy and procedure and method of data analysis. It also describes the statistical methods used for analyzing the data collected.

3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN A research design was simply the framework or plan for the study which was used as guide in collecting and analyzing the data. The sample survey design method was used and adopted for the study. By this method, the general views of the selected respondents on the subject matter was collected and examined. This was supported by a review of available literature from the already existing data. Survey according to Zikmund (1982:16), “requires asking people who are called respondents for information using either verbal or written questions. The purpose of contracting respondents is to obtain representative target of the population. This involves drawing up a set of questions on various subject or aspects of a subject to which selected members of the population are requested to act. The question are known as questionnaire or research instrument, while the members of the population who are later asked answers to the questions are called a sample” The questionnaire was designed and administered in this sense to those within the sample size as carefully devised. The choice of questionnaire usage was based on its relative convenience for both the researcher and the respondents considering their special characteristics. In view of the fact that there is limited influence on the responses provided by the respondents, the method is considered by the researcher as most effective given the sensitive nature of the topic.

3.3 SOURCES OF DATA The primary and secondary sources of data were both utilized for the study. The primary data were collected through the questionnaire method and supplemented by the use of interview where necessary. The secondary data for this study were gathered from the use of the following available literature materials. Government and politics textbooks Public relations textbooks Newspapers Magazines Journals and special publication Official publications such as the 1999 constitution and reports

3.4 POPULATION OF INTEREST The population of interest in this study includes the officers and members of the National Assembly and presidency, top policy – makers and bureaucrats in the public and civil service, public servants, public relations practitioners,’ students and specialized groups among members of the general public who are of voting age.

3.5 DETERMINATION OF SAMPLE SIZE By virtue of section 48 and 49 of the constitution, the senate and the House of Representative shall comprise of 109 and 360 members respectively. The total number of 469 legislators is taken as part of the entire population since the number of other segments of the population of interest is not known including the number of staff in the executive branch. In view of the above situation, a pilot survey was conducted in which the research questionnaire was administered on 30 members of the population of interest. The respondents were asked if public relations management could help to establish mutual understanding between the executive and legislative branches of government in order to sustain the nascent democracy. The result upon this exercise indicated that 24 out of the 30 respondents representing 80% of the pilot survey sample said “yes”, while remaining six representing 20% said “No”, to the dichotomous question. Also the 24 persons equally agreed that the state of executive legislative relations in the country was not satisfactory. Going by this ratio, to determine the sample size the formula was applied thus:- N = Z2 (p.q) e2 Where n = Desired sample size z = Desired level of confidence p = Percentage of positive responses q = Percentage of negative responses e = Standard error of estimate From the pilot survey, Z = 1.96 (95% level of confidence) P = 80% (0.80) Q = 20% (0.20) E = 5% (0.05) N = (1.96)2 (0.80) (0.20) (0.05)2 = 3.8416 x 0.16 0.0025 = 246 3.7 SAMPLING PROCEDURE AND STRATEGY

Probability sampling was employed in administering the research questionnaire under the belief that it would produce unbiased results. Also, the researcher was able to build report with the respondent on matters requiring face to face interview and physical display of graphic materials used to stimulate responses on certain question as a result of respondent’s positions. A set of questionnaire was designed and administered to respondents in the Legislative and Executive branches of government and other specialized group within the general public. A particular number of the self administered questionnaire were randomly allocated to legislators and members of the executive arm and systematically distributed to other groups of persons among the general public. The pattern of distribution adopted is as follows Group No of Questionnaire Distribute i. The presidency and relevant - Agencies and ministries - 45 ii. The National Assembly - 40 iii. Public relations practitioners - 40 iv. Journalists and special assistant - 40 v. Organized private sector and others - 81 246 3.8 METHOD OF DATA ANALYSIS Data collected in the course of this study were analyzed by the use of the following statistical tools: Simple percentage calculated:-This is represented as F x 100 where f = frequency of responses N 1 N = Total number of sample population Chi square test :- This is to determine the statistical significance of the differences in response Chi – square formula is given as X2 = (0.e)2 e Where X2 = Computed chi – square

O = Observed frequency E = Expected frequency

REFERENCES

1) Adamu S. O and Tinuk L.J (1985): Statistics for Beginners Ibadan: Evan Bothers Ltd 2) Constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria 1999 3) Nwogu, B. G (1991): Educational Research. Basic Issues Methodology Owerri: Western Publisher Ltd. 4) Zikmund, W.G (1982): Exploring Marketing Research Winston: CBS College Publishing

CHAPTER FOUR

DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION

4.1 INTRODUCTION

A set of questionnaire was designed and administered to officials of the

executive and legislative arm as well as their staff members, and members of the

general public and other specialised groups with the organised private sector. The

researcher took notice of the particular questionnaire distributed to public relations

professionals and journalist in both government and private employment jointly

referred to as human communication specialists.

In the collection exercise, of a total number of 246 questionnaire distributed in

line in line with the sample size,201 of them representing 81.7% were collected

and returned in which 168 of them representing 68.3% were actually validated and

used in the analysis.

4.2 PATTERN OF THE DISTRIBUTION AND COLLECTION OF

QUESTIONNAIRE

The researcher decided to illustrate in graphical terms the manner in which the distributed questionnaire were collected as indicated in table 4.1 below.

PART A

TABLE 4.1: Graphical illustration of the pattern of questionnaire distribution and collection. Respondent Category No of Question No of Question Returned

Distributed

Executive Arm 40 (16.3%) 28 (16.7%)

National Assembly 45 (18.2%) 36 (21.4%)

Public Relations 40 (16.3%) 30 (17.9)

Professionals 40 (16.3%) 32. (33.33%)

Journalists 81 (32.9%) 50 (29.7%)

Organised Private Sector

TOTAL 246 (100.0%) 168 (100.0%)

The result indicates that the response rate is above average.

4.3 NUMBER OF YEARS SPENT WITH EMPLOYING ORGANIZATIONS

In question four of the questionnaire, the researcher intended to find out the period of service of each respondent in his employing organization. The responses are indicated in table 4.2

TABLE 4.2: YEARS SPENT WITH EMPLOYING ORGANIZATION

No of Years No of Responses Percentage

1-5 58 34.5%

6-10 40 23.8%

11-15 30 17.9%

15-above 12 7.1%

unemployed 2 16.7%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result shows that a greater number of those who filled the questionnaire are employed. The majority of the respondents are persons less than 5 years in their respective employment. This may be given by the opportunities created under the new democratic dispensation.

TABLE 4.3: EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF RESPONDENTS

S/N QUALIFICATION NO OF PERCENTAGE

1 SSCE/GCE RESPONSES 17.9%

30

2 OND/NCE/DIPLOMA 56 33.3%

3 BSC/IL.B/EQUIVALENT 34 20.2%

4 M.SC/MBA/MPA ETC 32 19.1%

5 PH.D/POST DOCTORAL 16 4.5%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

It symbolizes that a greater number of those who provided answers to the questionnaire

are literate enough. The respondents, with OND, NCE and other diploma certificates

exceed other categories of respondents.A total of 81.1% of the respondents do have

certificates higher than o’level.

4.5: RESPONDENTS GENDER

In question six of the questionnaire, the concern was to find out the sex of those who

completed the questionnaire. The responses are represented in table 4.4

TABLE 4.4 SEX OF RESPONDENTS

S/N Qualification No of responses Percentage

1 Female 106 63.1%

2 Male 62 36.9%

TOTAL 169 100.0%

The above table indicates that the number of men who filled in answers to the questionnaire exceed that of women by 26.2%.

4.6 AGE DISTRIBUTION OF RESPONDENTS

S/N Qualification No of responses Percentage

1 Below 21 years 25 14.0

2 21-30 years 32 19.0

3 31-40 years 58 35.5

4 41-50 years 30 17.9

5 51year-above 23 13.7

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table shows that majority of those who completed the questionnaire are in the age bracket of 31-40 years. The result also shows the choices of answers provided they are representative of the actual feelings of the respondents.

4.7 REASONS WHY NIGERIA IS A NASCENT DEMOCRACY.

The researcher sought reasons why the respondents feel Nigeria should still be

considered as a nascent democracy in question eight of the questionnaire. The

responses are presented in table 4.7 below. TABLE 4.7 RESPONSES WHY NIGERIA IS A NASCENT DEMOCRACY.

S/N Qualification No of responses Percentage

1 Absence of important beliefs 28 17.0%

2 Obstacles to participation 30 18.0%

3 Absence of sense of animal identity 20 12.0%

4 and integration 24 13.0%

5 Political institutions yet to gain 26 16.0%

legitimacy 40 24.0%

The economy is not yet productive

All of the above

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The results indicate that 40 (24.0%) of the respondents said all of the above;

30 (18.0%) said obstacles to participate; 26 (6.0%) preferred to say the economy is not yet productive, 24 (13.0%) noted the political institutions are yet to gain legitimacy, while the remaining 20 (12.0%) said Nigeria is still a nascent democracy because of the absence of sense of national identity and integration.

4.8 EXAMINING THE STATE OF EXECUTIVE LEGISLATURE RELATIONS

The researcher decided to find out the state of executive – legislature relations in the country before July 2000. The responses to question 9 of the questionnaire are represented below. TABLE 4.8 STATE OF EXECUTIVE LEGISLATURE RELATIONS IN THE

COUNTRY BEFORE MAY 2000

S/N Item No of responses Percentage

1 Highly satisfactory 5 3.0%

2 Fairly satisfactory 18 10.7%

3 Some what satisfactory 32 19.0%

4 Poorly satisfactory 40 23.8%

5 Not satisfactory 73 43.5%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result indicate that 73 (43.5%) of the respondents indicate that the state of executive legislature relations was not satisfactory while the remaining opinions varied with the other options.

4.9 DETERMINE WHETHER THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN MANAGING THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS BETWEEN

PRESIDENT AND THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY AND STIMULATING

DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO ORGANS

The researcher decided to find out in question 10 of the questionnaire whether respondents think there is a significant difference between managing the communication process between the executive and legislative arms and stimulating dialogue between the branches of government. The responses are shown below: TABLE 416: ASSESSING WHETHER THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN MANAGING THE COMMUNICATION PROCESS

STIMULATING DIALOGUE BETWEEN THE TWO BRANCHES OF

GOVERNMENT.

S/N RESPONDENT No of Percentage

responses

1 The executive arm Yes No

2 National Assembly 9 19 - 28

3 Public relations professionals 8 28 - 36

4 Journalists 3 37 - 30

5 General Public and Private Sector 7 17 - 24

18 32 - 55

TOTAL 45 123 - 168

The result indicates that 123 (73.2%) said yes to the questions.

4.10 RESEARCH APPROACHES BEING ADOPTED BY THOSE WHO

CARRYOUT GOVERNMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMMES WHO

CARRYOUT GOVERNMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS PROGRAMMES.

In question 12 of the questionnaire, the researcher intended the and out the research approach mostly used by those who handle government public relations efforts. The responses are shown in the table 4.9 below.

TABLE 4.9 RESEARCH APPROACHES BEING ADOPTED BY THOSE WHO

CARRYOUT GOVERNMENT PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS.

S/N Respondents No of responses Percentage 1 No research approach 28 17.0%

2 Informal approach 30 18.0%

3 Media event approach 20 12.0%

4 Scientific management approach 24 13.0%

5 Evaluation only approach 26 16.0%

40 24.0%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result shows that a greater percentage of the respondents, 123(73.2%) indicated that media-event approach is the major research approach being adopted by those who carry out government public relations efforts.

4.11 THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE ABILITY OF A PRESIDENT TO

PERSUADE AND THE LEVEL TO WHICH VOLUNTARY CO-OPERATION IS

ARCHIEVING THE INTERACTION WITH THE LEGISLATORS

S/N RESPONDENTS NO OF RESPONDENTS PERCENTAGE

YES NO

INDIFFERENCE

1 The executive arm 4 21 3 28

2 National Assembly 6 22 8 36

3 Public Relations

professionals 2 26 2 30

4 Journalists 7 12 5 24

5 General public and private 16 24 10 50

sector

TOTAL 35 105 28 168

The table shows that 105 (62.5%)of the respondents said ‘NO’,35(20.8%)said

‘yes’while 28(16.7%)were indifferent.

4.12 REASONS WHY NIGERIAN PRESIDENTS ALWAYS FIND IT DIFFICULT TO

BRING ABOUT POSITIVE CHANGE IN RELATING WITH THE LEGISLATURE

AS A CONSTITUENT.

S/N ITEM NO OF %AGE

RESPONSES

1 They lack vital initiatives vision and 28 16.7%

problem solving skills

2 Advisers are unable to give proposals 23 13.7%

which are persuasive on merit

3 Semantic difficulties and insufficient 18 10.7%

exchange of information

4 They lack requisite leadership 13 7.7%

temperament

5 Low esteem arising from authoritarian 57 33.9%

dogmatic nature

6 All of the above 29 17.3%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table indicates that among the various variables, a greater percentage,57(33.9%) of the respondents noted that the authoritarian and dogmatic nature of key officers of government coupled with low esteem being demonstrated and which does not permit sociability independence, and development of appeals is responsible for failure by the

President to bring about change.

4.13:RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EFFECTIVE EMPLOYMENT OF PUBLIC

RELATIONS STRATEGIES AND CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIVENESS TO

CHANGE.

The researcher intended to find out what the respondents feel about the relationship between the two variables as provided in question 15 of the questionnaire. The responses are tabulated in table 4.12

TABLE 4.13 RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN EFFECTIVE EMPLOYMENT

OF PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIES AND

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIVENESS TO CHANGE IN

NIGERIA DEMOCRACY.

Respondents NO OF RESPONSES 4.14 %AG

E

1 The executive arm Yes No Indifference 16.7%

13.7%

2 National assembly 12 23 3 28

3 Public relations 8 20 2 30

professionals

4 Journalists 5 7 12 24

5 Organised private sector 10 32 8 58

TOTAL 37 105 26 168

The table shows that 105 62.5% of the respondents said No indicating the effective employment of public relations strategies can build institutional responsiveness to change in Nigerian democracy.

4.14 REASONS WHY SOME MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY

OFTEN CHOOSE TO TAKE SIDE WITH THE PRESIDENT.

S/N ITEM NO OF %AGE

RESPONSES

1 The president rewards with physical money and in kind 98 57.1

2. The president has a high sense of public relations and 7 4.2

wonderful style of message delivery

3. The president displays occasional impulse to tear with 29 17.3

divide and rule tactics

4. Fear of incurring the president wrath 6 3.6

5 issues sometimes effect ethnic and religious interest 18 10.7 6 None of the above 12 7.1

TOTAL 168 100.0%

Majority of the respondents the table reveals agree that the president wins the

favour of the legislators because he rewards with physical money and in kind.

4.15 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR AUTOCRACY IN CIVILIAN

ADMINISTRATIONS IN NIGERIA

S/N ITEM NO OF %AGE

RESPONSES

1 Possession of mere survival skills 28 14.9%

2. Lack of emotional capability and empathy 19 11.3%

3. Lack esteem arising from childhood 32.0% 19.0%

4. Wrong assumption and perception about power 26 15.5%

5 Key officers cannot think, talk bargain and explain before 22 13.1%

they act.

6 All of the above 44 26.2%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result shows that 44 (26.2%) of the respondents believed that all the factors listed are responsible for autocracy in government. 4.16 SSESSMENT OF THE SIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN

OBSERVANCE OF COMMUNICATION CRITERIA AND MANAGEMENT

OF ISSUES

The researcher decided to find out whether respondents agree that the observance of communication criteria cannot significantly influence management of issue and constituency building in the relationship between the president and the National

Assembly. The responses are shown in table 4.15 below.

TABLE 4.15: DETERMINING WHETHER OBSERVANCE OF

COMMUNICATION CRITERIA CANNOT SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCE

MANAGEMENT OF ISSUE AND CONSTITUENCY BUILDING IN THE

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PRESIDENT AND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY.

S/No Respondents No Of Responses Percentage

Yes No Indiff.

1. The executive arm 4 22 1 28

2 National Assembly 8 27 1 36

3. Public relations professionals 6 23 1 30

4. Journalists 7 13 4 24

5. Organised private sector 1 39 10 50

TOTAL 26 124 18 168

The table reflects that majority of the respondents 124 (73.8%) of them indicated to the contrary that observance of communication criteria can significantly influence management of issue and constituency building in the relationship between the president and the National Assembly.

4.17 MAJORITY SOURCE OF CONFIDENCE TO THOSE WHO VIE FOR

POLITICAL OFFICES IN NIGERIA.

In question 19 of the questionnaire, the intention was to find out what respondents

feel is the major source of confidence to those who vie for political offices in

Nigeria. The responses are shown in table 4.16 below.

4.16: THE ATTRIBUTES WHICH PROVIDE CONFIDENCE TO THOSE

WHO VIE FOR POLITICAL OFFICES IN NIGERIA.

S/No Respondents No Of Responses Percentage

1. The charisma and knowledge of 14 8.3%

issues

2 Connections in the political 30 17.9%

domain

3. Finance power together with 36 21.4%

magical and diabolical linkages

4. Integrity, public prestige and sense 13 7.7%

of vision and persuasiveness

5. Finance muscle 64 38.2%

6. None of the above 1 6.5%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table shows that 64 (38.2%) of the respondents believed that financial muscle is major source of confidence; 36 (21.4%) indicated financial power together with magical and diabolical linkages; and 30 (17.9%) said connection in the political domain among others.

4.18 REASONS WHY THE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR OF KEY OFFICERS

OF THE EXECUTIVE AND THE LEGISLATIVE ARMS OF

GOVERNMENT IS NOT BEING ACCOMPANIED WITH THE RIGHT

COMMUNICATION ADVOCACY.

The researcher in question 23 of the questionnaire opted to know what is responsible for the leadership behaviour displayed by key officers in relation to the communication advocacy: The responses are tabulated in table 4.17 below.

TABLE 4.17: REASONS WHY THE LEADERSHIP BEHAVIOUR OF KEY

OFFICERS OF THE TWO ORGANS IS NOT BEING

ACCOMPANIED WITH THE RIGHT COMMUNICATION

ADVOCACY.

S/No Item No of Response Percentage

1. Leaders personality characteristics 16 9.5%

2. Non-professional performing 68 40.5%

public relations tasks

3. Emphasis on media relations 41 24.4% 4. Little concern for integrity and 20 11.9%

effective results

5. All of the above 19 11.3%

6. None of the above 4 2.4%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table shows that 68 (40.5%) of the respondents are in favour the fact that those who perform the public relations tasks are often appointed not on the basis of their professional expertise; 41(24.4%) said the concentration is on media relations, while 20 (11.9%) said the leaders do have little concern for integrity and effective realization of management results.

4.19 STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS WHICH GOVERN THE

EMPLOYMENT OF PERSUATION IN NIGERIAN POLITICS.

In question 21 of the questionnaire, the purpose was to find out the strategic considerations, which governs the employment of persuasion in Nigeria politics. The responses are shown in table 4.98.

TABLE 4.18: STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS, WHICH GOVERN THE

EMPLOYMENT OF PERSUASION IN NIGERIA POLITICS.

S/No Item No of Response Percentage

1. Control of assess to 21 12.5 communication and content

2. Content manipulation of what is 5 8.9

published by mass media and

distortion of facts

3. Control of reward and punishment 15 8.9

4. Blend of force, fear and reward 11 6.5

5. Creation of desired valued 14 8.3

6. All of the above 92 54.9

TOTAL 158 100%

The result indicates that 92 (54.9%) of the respondents said all of the above factors and attributes are strategic considerations, which govern the employment of persuasion in Nigeria politics.

4.20 ASSESSMENT OF THE NATURE OF APPEAL USED BY PRESIDENT

UMARU MUSA YARADUA

The researcher in question 24 of the questionnaire wanted to know how the

respondents view the use of appeals by President Musa Yaradua.

4.19 THE USAGE OF APPEALS BY PRESIDENT YARADUA

S/No Item No of Percentage

Response

1. Usually motivational and sometimes 31 18.5

logical 2. Usually blatant and objectionably obvious 2 1.2

3. Usually in motivational appeals than 70 41.7

logical

4. All of the above 3 1.8

5. None of the above 5 3.0

6. None of the above 4 2.4%

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result reveals that 70% (41.7%) of the respondent said he is skilled motivational appeal than logical appeals, 57 (33.9%) believed his appeals are usually unblatant and non aggressive among others.

4.21 SIMILARITY BETWEEN PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA YARADUA AND

PRESIDENT OLUSEGUN OBASANJO IN TERMS OF CONDUCT

TOWARDS OFFICE AND PEOPLE

The researcher intended to asses the similarity in terms of conduct towards office and people between the two personalities. The responses are shown in table 4.20 below.

Table 4.20: RESPONSES TO WAYS IN WHICH PRESIDENT UMARU MUSA

YARADUA’S CONDUCT TOWARDS OFFICE AND PEOPLE IS

SIMILAR TO CHIEF OLUSEGUN OBASANJO

S/No Item No of Response Percentage

1. Conservative and optimistic 22 14.9

2. Views authority more from formal 17 10.1 powers

3. Have sense of purpose and 22 13.1

direction

4. Have expertise to solve problems 25 14.9

5. All of the above 19 11.3%

6. None of the above 60 35.7

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result shows that majority of the respondents 60 (35.7%) indicated that none of the above attributes reflect similarities between the two public figures.

4.22 FACTORS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FREQUENT DISAGREEMENTS

BETWEEN THE EXECUTIVE AND THE LEGISLATIVE ORGANS

The researcher’s purpose in question 27 of the questionnaire was to find out what

factor is responsible for the frequent disagreements. The result of response are

shown in table 4.21.

Table 4.21: Attributes Responsible for the Frequent Disagreement Between the

Executive and the Legislative Organs.

S/No Item No of Response Percentage

1. Absence of listening skills 22 12.1

2. Absence of preventive 28 16.7

communication

3. Inappropriate language and appeals 21 12.5 4. Absence of empathy 21 12.5

5. Primary attention is not always 33 19.6

given to maintain relationship

during conflict

6. All of the above 46 27.4

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table shows that the options received proper attention but 46 (27.4%) of the respondents as majority indicated that all of the above factors are responsible for the frequent disagreement between the two organs.

4.23 ASSESSMENT OF THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN THE ATTITUDE OF

PRESIDENT (FORMER) OLUSEGUN OBASANJO AND THAT OF

FORMER SENATE PRESIDENT KEN NNAMANI AS THEN PUBLIC

OFFICAL AND SPEAKER

TABLE 4.22: Responses to the ways in which former president Olusegun

Obasanjo’s Attitudes as a Public Official is Similar to the that of

Chief Ken Nnamani.

S/No Item No of Response Percentage

1. Self opinionated 5 3.0

2. Egoistic 31 18.5

3. Blatant language and disposition 10 6.0 4. Doesn’t consider the psychological 20 11.9

aspect of the recipient of his

message.

5. Manipulatively forceful 15 8.9

6. None of the above 87 51.8

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The table shows that the majority of the respondents in terms of 87 (51.8%) of them indicated that none of the above factors reflect similarity between the two public officials.

4.24 COMMUNICATION MANAGEMNT PRACTICES WHICH CAN

ENHANCE THE PERFORMANCE OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP IN

NIGERIA.

In question 31 of the questionnaire the desire was to sample out which of the listed human communication endeavour, respondents feel can enhance democratic leadership in Nigeria. The responses are shown in table 4.23.

TABLE 4.23: COMMUNICATION PRACTICES WHICH CAN ENHANCE

THE PERFORMANCE OF DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP IN

NIGERIA.

S/No Item No of Percentage

Response 1. Propaganda management 24 14.7

2. Marketing management 17 10.1

3. Advertising management 14 8.3

4. Mass communications management 21 12.5

5. Public relations management 89 58.0

6. None of the above 3 1.8

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The results reveal that 89 (53.0%) of the respondents believed public relations management is the appropriate communication practice that can enhanced the performance of democratic leadership in Nigeria, 24 (14.3%) said it is propaganda management reflecting a political science perspective; 21 (12.5%) noted it is mass communications management, and 17 (10.1%) said it is public management.

4.25 QUALITIES WHICH POLITICIANS MUST POSSES TO EFFECTIVELY

FULFILL THEIR ROLES

In question 33 of the questionnaire, the researcher intended to known what respondents feel about the requisite qualities of a politician as a public figure and communicator.

The responses are shown in table 4.24.

TABLE 4.24: QUALITIES A POLITICIAN MUST POSSES TO

EFFECTIVELY FULFIL HIS ROLE AS A PUBLIC FIGURE

AND COMMUNICATOR

S/No Item No of Response Percentage 1. Integrity 24 14.3

2. Knowledge and self-confidence 23 13.7

3. Communication skills 27 16.1

4. Sensitivity to people and situations 25 14.9

5. Willingness to learn from others 14 8.3

6. All of the above 55 32.7

TOTAL 168 100.0%

The result indicates that 55(32.7%) of the respondents said all of the above qualities are necessary for a politician to effectively fulfil his role people and figure and communicator, 25 (14.9%) said it is sensitive to reflected that it is knowledge and confidence.

PART C

TEST HYPOTHESIS

HYPOTHESIS ONE

Ho: There is no disparity in the relationship between managing the communication

process between the president and the National Assembly and stimulating

dialogue between the organs.

Hi: There is disparity in the relationship between managing the communication

process between the president and the National Assembly and stimulating

dialogue between the two organs. Test Statistics = Chi – Square (X2)

X2 = (o-e)2 e

= Row Total x Column Total Overall Total

Test Table Two

Option O E O E TOTAL

The executive 9 7 19 21 28

National Assembly 8 10 28 26 36

PR Practitioners 3 8 27 22 30

Journalists 7 6 17 18 24

Private Sector 18 14 32 36 50

TOTAL 45 45 123 123 168

Adapted from table 4.16

Degree of freedom = (c-I) (r-1)

Where C = No of Columns

R = No of Rows

= (2-1) (5 -1)

= 1x4 =

124 x2 0.05, 4 (critical chi-square) = 9.488

DECISION RULE

Reject Ho, if the calculated Chi-square is greater than the critical chi-square, otherwise accept.

X2 = (9-7)2 ┼ (8-10)2 ┼ - (3)2 ┼ (7-6)2 ┼ (18-14) 7 10 8 6

+ 19-21)2 – (28-26)2 – (27-22)2 + (17-18)2 + (32-36)2 18 26 22 19 36

CONCLUSION

Since the calculated chi-square is less than the critical chi-square, we hee again accept the Ho, which says that ‘there is no significance difference between managing the communication process between the president and the National Assembly and stimulating dialogue between the two organs.

HYPOTHESIS TWO

Ho: There is no disparity in the relationship between the ability of a president to

persuade and the level to which voluntary co-operation is achieved in his

interaction with the legislature.

Test Statistics = Chi-square (X2)

X2 = (o-e)2 e

= Row Total x Column Total Overall Total

TEST TABLE TWO

OPINION GOVERNMENT HUMAN COMM. ORGANISED OFFICIALS SPECIALIST. RIVATE SECTOR Yes 10 9 16

No 43 38 24 TOTAL 11 7 10

Adopted from table 4.10

The values for the executive arm and the National Assembly are integrated into a common value under the subhead ‘government official’. The same thing applies to the values for public relations professional and journalists commonly classified as human communication specialists’.

OPINION OBSERVED DATE TOTAL Yes 10 9 16 35

No 43 38 24 105

Indifference 11 7 10 28

TOTAL 64 54 50 168

Adopted from table 4.10

Level of significance = 5 percent (0.5)

Degree of freedom = (C-1) (r-1)

Where c = No of columns

R = No of rows

(c-1) (r-1)

= (3-1) (2-1)

= 2 x 2 = 4

∴ Critical chi-square x2 0.054 = 9.488

DECISION RULE Reject Ho if the observed x2 0.054 is less than the calculated x2

X2 = (10-13.3)2 ┼ (9-11.3)2 ┼ (16-10.4)2 13.3 11.3 10.48

(43-40.0)2 + (38-33.8)2 + (24-31.3)2 40.0 33.3 31.3

+(11-10.7)2 + (7-9.0)2(10-8.3)2 19 36 8.3

= 0.82 + 0.47 + 3.02 + 0.52 + 1.70 + 0.01 + 0.40 + 0.35 = 7.52

CONCLUSION

Since X2 calculated at 15.6 is greater than x2 0.05 4 critical, we reject Ho and therefore conclude that the observance of communication criteria can significantly influence issue management and consistency building in the relationship between the executive and the legislature.

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0: SUMMARY, RECOMMENDTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS

‘The probability of power do not drive from the literal theory of the

constitution-----Government power, in reality, not form is influenced of an

effective sort on the behaviour of men actually involved in making public

policy and carrying it out.’

(Richard Neustadt,1990,pp.37-150)

5.1 SUMMARY

The summary of research finding is as follows:

1. The crises between the executive and the legislative arms hindered the

effectiveness of the president and key members of the national Assembly

in first tenure of the fourth republic administration. Evidence can be found

in the slowness associated with the way bills emanating from the

presidency were handled, reduced satisfaction of legislators and key

officers of the executive branch following attacks and counter media

attacks, increased absence and turnover rates during impeachment

proceedings, and the general low performance by the government

2. Interactionist and constructive conflicts cannot be instituted between the

president and the legislators to help avoid autocracy because both parties

have not being learned to the act of persuasion. It is therefore difficult to prevent stagnation and initiate the seed for change without disrupting co-

ordination of the government activities.

3. Most of the problems leading to dysfunctional outcomes arise because the

president and key officers of the National Assembly members of both

organs have not developed effective method of communicating with each

other, inspite the non-usage of persuasion. Fresh opportunities accrued to

the presidency in the face of new technology cannot be fully exploited

given the nature of communication advocacy being rendered. Media-event

approach is often being adopted to generate news worthy and action-

getting information and cannot uncover significant problems and

opportunities arising from the socio-political environment.

4. A significant level of impropriety can be found in the 1999 constitution of

the federal republic of Nigeria with regard to the prescribed powers of the

president and the National Assembly.

As against the U.S.constitution, it does not grant autonomy to the states,

neither does it observe the pluralistic attributes of the Nigerian societies.

5. Political strivings and problems of adjustment continue to exist as a result

of the communication and credibility gap created by the failure of the

leadership to cope with the moral dilemmas posed by multiple

constituencies. Group influence and ethnical interest play significant role

in the conduct of elected officials towards one another and policy-

decisions given that communication strategies have not being fully employed to achieve the right national orientation and appropriate political

culture for the country.

6. Participation and consultation in decision-making process is distorted by

The frequent thinking by key officers of the two arms that can bring about

the needed change alone without paying attention to persuasion and

anticipated reactions. Effective communication is inevitable in all

presidential and legislative roles that persuasion remains the access to

power. The inability of key officers of the two organs to demonstrate

leadership creativity in providing avenues for conforming to political

pressures has been responsible for the several problems facing the polity

since independence

7. Many of the key officers in fourth republic cannot achieve a successful

and happy blend of message organisation and delivery skills in their oral

and non verbal communication. Aside that motivated sequence is not being

adopted and also that most of the appeals of the president and key officers

of the National Assembly are usually blatant and objectionably obvious,

heated disagreement in the first tenure of the fourth republic arose from

the fact that primary attention was not always given to maintaining

relationship between the two arms and appropriate communication

vehicles were not created during conflict.

8. Stimulating dialogue between the president and the National Assembly

Means managing the communication process between the executive and

the legislature. There exist in practice an intensive daily interchange in both topic and function between the executive and the legislature

regardless of the type of governmental structure instituted by the

constitutional design. Their exchanges mainly involve legislation, budgets,

the conduct and review of administration, the selection and confirmation

of personnel appointments, and debated upon current topic. Each of these

areas represents a potential source of conflict and disagreement depending

on differences of interests.

5.2: RECOMMENDATIONS

(1) Political parties should create platforms and adopt techniques similar to

Straw polls in the United State where the selection of candidates for

Presidential elections involve and encourage rank-and-file participation.

Several states should be required to hold straw polls in the pre-primary

State to indicate their presidential preferences based on a selected and publicized range of criteria

(2) Government should set up an independent organ and re-organise existing institutions to handle the public information needs of the Nigerian society

based on the fundamental principles of truth, clarity and unity of word and deed. Also, competent professionals and public relations experts should be employed to tackle public education and social mobilization problems with

programmes and messages designed towards changing attitudes and actions

of the various cultural status groups. (3) Electoral debates should be made compulsory for all presidential aspirants. Also, the various media houses and television stations should be encouraged to organize debates and contests for people in

middle-age and younger generations in colleges and secondary schools. In

same view, talk shows on topical issues should be organized in

universities and the different tertiary institutions.

(4) The National Assembly should put in place an established public Affairs

Department or Directorate adequately staffed and with a crisis

communication plan. Also, the communication function of the presidency

and the National Assembly should be well organized and staffed with

public relations experts certified and registered with the Nigerian Institute

of Public Relations (NIPR).

(5) Leadership development and sensitivity training programmes should be

continually initiated and implemented to train and develop the potentials

of elected officials and members of the two organs as well as those vying

for elective positions in the country.

Audio-visuals, slides and projectors should complement the print and oral

media in order to have enough impact. At the same time the stress areas

should cover major topics on fundamentals of political leadership, public

communication, persuasion and negotiation, communication and

democratic change, conflict resolution and bargaining and essentially

public relations in government. (6) Electoral laws and rules and practices should be reviewed to create an

atmosphere and social climate which effect concern for merit and result.

In the same capacity, objective criteria and conditions should be provided

to allow position such as Auditor-General, Accountant-General, Secretary

of state, Attorney-General etc to be opened for electoral contest as against

appointments to widen participation.

(7)

Government should provide opportunities for public relations consultancy.

The Nigeria Society requires a National issues management plan which can be

developed and implemented using public relations strategies. Also, a National

reconciliation Commission or any other related organ can be instituted to

implement the plan along with consensus-building strategies to accelerate

Nigeria into Nationhood status. In addition, activities and programmes such as

community services, achievement awards, ethnic relations and sponsorship

schemes, probe panels, intercultural marriages, new policy on recruitment into

armed forces and federal civil service as well as review of revenue allocation

formula based equity and justice together with major action-plans will help

bring about peace and stability of an enduring worth.

5.3: CONCLUSIONS

1. Effectiveness in office at the realm of executive and legislative power

depends

on how well a leader can deal with new realities and changing rules than yielding to the pressure for conformity. Effectiveness is gauged by sensitivity

toward people and situations and the capability to communicate effectively.

2. Political leadership depends to a large extent on proper observance of

communication criteria together with leadership behavioural patterns of

awareness about issues concerning governance and consequently

effectiveness in office, objectivity, empathy and self-knowledge. The

absence of concern for these attributes which make for leadership

effectiveness and inadequate reconciliation of personal need and self-oriented

behaviours with collective interest gave rise to the conflicts which occur in

the first tenure of Obasanjo administration.

3. Learning which occurs in primary socialization and which is more basic for

subsequent interpersonal relations is inadequate in the Nigeria political

system.

The fact that most Nigerians are consistently introduced into the political

milieu from ethnic and religious positions make them have conservative and

parochial view of issues. The situations informed by the absence of shared

beliefs and vision as well as broad-based commitment to an established

ideology have debilitative effect on leadership behaviours in Nigeria.

4. The ability of a president to persuade has a strong relationship with the level

to which voluntary co-operation is achieved in this interaction with the legislature. This applies that institutional responsiveness to change can be made possible through effective usage of public relations techniques with the right appeal and sensitivity. It is upon this fact that president Dwight David Eisenhower, former republican president of the United States first introduced the idea of appointment of legislative liaison staff during his tenure in office.

5. The application and effectiveness of public relations management in

government chiefly depends on the level of attention given to the

communication function. The 1913 Gillett Amendment to an Appropriation

bill in the House of Representatives as reaffirmed in Public law 92-351,

Section 608 (a) enacted July 13, 1972, to avoid huckstering in U.S

government brought about some misguided sentiments leading to legislative hospitality. In the Nigerian situation, the siege mentality and hedge-hog approach to African politics associated with official ignorance and lack of basic political socialization has created sample opportunity for special persuasion instead of openness in communication arising from concern for results.

6. Public relations management is decorous to the search for influence and

prospects for Usually loaded with money to bribe legislators instead of

lobbying and persuasions used in advanced democracies related more to

hedge-hog approach and the inclination towards totalitarian persuasion than

genuine search for legitimate means to achieve national aspirations and

management goals.

7. The adoption of proactive approach to public relations management can

integrate all other facets while stabilizing the polity without to concentration on media relations. This will invite several initiatives and creates and open system that will be all embracing in line with democratic tenets.

i. Public relations management can stimulate and on-going process

of dialogue to enable key officers and elected officials from to

create a shared vision (an ideology for Nigeria, which describes a

unique nation.)Listening and observing between the president and

officers of the National Assembly has been difficult because

communication is not consistent with the corporate personality of

each arm and do not occur in the spirit of mutual interest.

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Folarin, B. (2000): ‘Public Relations and the Conversation of Democracy’ NIPR Public Relations Journal April,.

Hart, G. (1980): ‘Emerging Issues for Public Relations’, Public Relations Journal, January Vol. 36 No 1.

Hodges, L.H. (1960): ‘Public Relations A Must for Good Government’ Public Journal Jan-Dec. Vol. vi No. 1.

Levis, B. (1980): ‘How to Make Internal Communications Work’ Public Relations Journal, February Vol. 36 No. 1.

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES

Adindu, G. (2000): ‘Abacha: Two Years After’ Post Express June 7p 31.

Agbaegbu, T. (2000): ‘Executive, Legislative Disorder’ Newswatch June 17p. 44-45.

Agbese, D. (2000): ‘Browning Obasanjo’, Newswatch July 3pp. 10-23.

Agbese, D. and Asaju T. (2000): ‘Self-succession will lead to crisis’ Newswatch April 30p. 34.

Akinjide, R. (2000): ‘Separation of Powers under Nigeria’s Constitution’ The Guardian, August 23, p,B.

Asaju, T. (2000): ‘Twice Lucky’ Newswatch.

Babangida, I.B. (2000): ‘My Role in Obasanjo’s Election’ Newswatch July 10p. 15

Chigbo, M. (2000): ‘The Budget War’, Newswatch May 1 pp. 1 10 – 17.

Ekpu, R (2000): ‘The Revolving Door’ Newswatch April 17, P. 50.

Ekwowusi, S. (2000): ‘Wanted A Responsible Government’ Thursday June 11, p. 8.

Emeje A. (2000): ‘Agenda for the Legislative Session’, The Guardian July 13, p.9.

Hug, Q.H. (2000): ‘Emotional Capability and Corporate Change’, This day August 13, p. 36.

Nwabueze B. (2000): ‘Fostering Partneship Between the Executive and the Legislature for Sustainable Democracy’, The Guardian, August 18, pp.8-9.

Nwazurike, A.G. (1999): ‘Need to Review Separation of Powers in the constitution’, The Guardian December 21, p. 64.

Nwosu, S. (2000): ‘Enwerem Square up to Okadigbo’, This day July 1, p. 13.

Ochama, C. and Reef S. (2000): ‘Okadigbo’s Travail’, The Post Express, May 24, p. 19.

Odivwri, E. (2000): ‘What Manner of Advisers’, This day June 17,P. 16.

Ogbemudia, S.O. (2000): Taking the Bull by the Horns’, Tell September 11, pp.

Ojewale, O. (2000): ‘The Great Escape Artist’ New Swatch June 19,PP. 20-26.

The Guardian (2000): ‘Executive – Legislature Relations’, Editorial Comment, May 16, p. 20.

Yedimakudon, G. (2000): ‘How to check feud Between Legislature, Executive, The Punch June 9, vol. No. 17. 902 P. 1.

UNPUBLISHED WORKS

Akinfeleye, R. A (2000): ‘Tension, Crises and Conflicts Management in Fourth Republic Nigeria: The Challenges of Public Relations’, Paper Presented at the 13th Sam Epelle Memorial Gold paper lecture organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations Lagos, October 26 P. 10-14.

Ogbuagu, B.E. (1999): ‘Public Relations and Demoralization process in Nigeria’, Paper delivered at the 12th Sam Epelle Memorial Gold paper lecture, NIPR, Lagos September 28 p. 9.

Okereke, M. (1994): ‘professionalism and Excellence: An Overview’, a paper presented at the National Conference of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Lagos May 26 – 28 pp8 – 12.

THE RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE I

Department of Marketing University of Nigeria Enugu Campus, Enugu

April, 2007.

Dear Sir/Madam,

REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE I am a student of the above department and university. I am undertaking a research work on the topic: Public Relations Management and the Sustenance of Democracy in Nigeria: A survey of the Dynamics of Executive –Legislature Relations. You are kindly required to assist by completing the questionnaire attached. This will enable the researcher to draw out the necessary conclusions on the research problem.

Please be assured that any information supplied will be treated with utmost confidentially, and used strictly for academic purpose.

Thanks.

Yours sincerely,

EKWO IFEANYI RAPHAEL

APPENDIX I

RESEARCH QUESTIONNAIRE

Please tick or fill in the answer to each question as appropriate

SECTION A: BIODATA

Name of Respondent ______

(Not necessary)

Name and address of employing organization______

______

Respondents job title/position ______

Number of years spent with your organization______

Educational Qualifications/Attainments: a. SSCE/GCE b. OND/NCE/Diploma c. B.SC/LL.B/Equivalent d. M.SC/MBA etc e. PhD/Postdoctoral

6. Sex: (a) Male (b) Female

7. Age: (a) Below 21yrs (b) 21 – 30yrs

(c) 31 – 40yrs (d) 41 – 50yrs

(d) 51 yrs – above (e) 41 – 50yrs

SETION B: DETAILS

8. Why would you consider Nigeria as a nascent democracy? exist a. Because the beliefs important in a democracy do not still practically b. Because there are still so many obstacles to participation; and the constitution is

not generally accepted c. Because the country is yet to fully develop a sense of national identity and

integrity. d. Because political institutions are yet to gain legitimacy e. Because the economy is not yet productive to secure against harsh poverty. f. All of the above

9. How would you rate that state of Executive legislature relations in the country

before July 2000? a. Highly satisfactory b. Fairly satisfactory c. Somewhat satisfactory d. Poorly satisfactory e. Not satisfactory

10. Do you think there is no significant different between managing the

communication process between the president and the National Assembly and

stimulating dialogue between the two organs? a. Yes b. No c. Can’t say 11. Which of these functions do you consider as applicable to public relations

management? a. Measuring; evaluating, and interpreting the attitudes of various relevant publics b. Assisting management in defining objectives for increasing public understanding

and acceptance of the organisation’s actions, plans, polices and programmes c. Developing, executing and evaluating a programme to earn public understanding

and acceptance d. All of the above e. None of the above

12. Which of these research approaches do you feel is mostly used by those who

carryout government publications effort? a. No-research approach b. Informal approach c. Media-Event approach d. Evaluation-only approach e. Scientific management approach f. None of the above

13. Do you think there is disparity in the relationship between the ability of a

president to persuade and level to which voluntary co-operation is achieved in his

interaction with the legislature? a. Yes b. No c. I don’t know

14. Why do you think Nigerian presidents always find it difficult to creation positive

change in relating with the various constituents? a. Because they lack the vital initiatives, vision and problem-solving skills b. Because their advisers are usually unable to give them proposals which are

persuasive on merit. c. Because their semantic difficulties and insufficient exchange of information do

retard collaboration and participation needed. d. Because they lack requisite leadership temperament e. Because the authoritarian and dogmatic nature of key officers of both organs

coupled with the esteem being demonstrated does not permit sociability,

independence and development of basic appeals f. All of the above

15. Would you accept that effective employment of public relations strategies cannot

build institutional responsiveness to change in Nigerian democracy? a. Yes b. No c. Can’t say

16. Why do you think some members of the National Assembly often choose to take

side with the president on certain issues of conflicting interest? a. Because the president rewards with physical money and in kind b. Because they fear to incur his wrath by being in the opposition c. Because the president himself sometimes displays occasional impulse to tear them

apart using divide and rule tactics d. Because sometimes the issues affect ethnic and regional interests e. All of the above f. None of the above 17. What do you feel may be responsible for autocracy in civilian administration in

Nigeria? a. Key officials oftentimes merely posses survival skills and cannot demonstrate a

sure-footed mastery of the many word-place activities dominated by oral and non-

verbal communication. b. Government officials oftentimes do not posses the emotional capability to cope

with change and at the same time do no realise that aside clarity, leadership

communication demands empathy. c. Personality characteristics and traits emerging from differing value system

coupled with low esteem arising from childhood experience to not make officials

to tolerate opposition. d. Wrong assumption and perception about government power by those in authority

together with strong will, generated from self-interests. e. Key officers cannot think, talk, bargain and explain before they act and as such

cannot institutionalize procedures by which public policy is made, administered

and enforced. f. All of the above.

18. Do you agree that the observance of communication criteria cannot significantly

influence issue management and constituency building in the relationship between

the president and the national assembly? a. Yes b. No c. Can’t say 19. What do you feel is a major source of confidence to those who vie for political

office in Nigeria? a. Their charisma and knowledge of issues. b. Their connection in the political domain c. Their financial power together with magical and diabolical linkages. d. Their integrity, public prestige, sense of vision and persuasiveness e. Their financial muscle f. None of the above

20. Which of these factors do you think contributed to the collapse of the first and

second republic? a. The people were not inspired through an appeal to principle in leading the nation b. Less worthy contemporaries were selected for office than men fit to govern. c. Most Nigerians were consistently introduced into the political milieu from ethnic

and religious position and so their representatives visited issues from conservative

and parochial backgrounds. d. The restrictive policies of those in authority aroused a sense of ethnic identify since the leadership of the country couldn’t provide a common vision and initiative to demonstrate creatively? e. The politicians could not principally persuade themselves and negotiate with one

another amidst the communication gap created by changes in social structure and

political institutions leading to difficult problems of adjustments. f. All of the above

21. Which of the following strategic considerations do you think govern the

employment of persuasion in Nigeria polities a. Control of access to communication and content b. Content manipulation of what is published by the mass media and distortion of

facts about the nation’s history c. Control of reward and punishment d. Blend of force, fear and reward e. Creation of desired values f. All of the above

22. Do you think that the use of persuasion to effect voluntary co-operation between

key officers of the executive and the legislative branches can facilitate good

governance in Nigeria? a. Yes b. No

23. Why do you think the leadership behaviour of key officers of the executive and

the legislative arms of government is not being accompanied with the right

communication advocacy? a. Because the leaders personality characteristics do not permit interactive session

with their special assistants on media and publicity b. Because the journalists employed to handle public relations job in terms of

political appointment and whose training is basically information dissemination

do not view the assignment from managerial sense c. Because the leaders do have little concern for integrity and effective realisation of

management results d. All of the above e. None of the above 24. How would you view the use of appeals by President Olusegun Obasanjo? a. They are usually motivational and sometimes logical b. They are usually blatant and objectionable obvious c. They are usually blatant and aggressive d. He is skilled using logical appeals than motivational appeals e. All of the above

25. In what way do you feel president Olusegun Obasanjo’s conduct towards his

office and people is similar to that of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as past president a. He is conservative and pessimistic b. He views his authority more from the formal powers ascribed to the office of a

president c. He lacks the right sense of purpose and direction and doesn’t guard his personal

reputation d. He lacks the expertise necessary to solve problems and his self-confidence is

fashioned by his control of the armed forces and the police e. All of the above f. None of the above

26. Do you agree that when communicative skills are combined with qualities of

integrity, knowledge and self-confidence that such can significantly increase a

politician’s effectiveness by enabling him to communicate his ideas forcefully and

attractively? a. Yes b. No 27. What do you think is majority responsible for the frequent disagreement between

the executive and the legislative organs? a. Both the president and key officers of the National Assembly do not realise they

must cultivate, consciously refine and practice their listening skills b. The key officers of both organs do not often consider selecting material that will

hold attention and interest while speaking c. Messages do not frequently follow the normal processes of human thinking, and

where motivational appeals are used they are patently aggressive and blatant. d. New ideas are not being separated from those who first propose them in order to

weaken and undermine opposition e. Primary attention is not always given to maintaining relationship between key

officers before and after a dispute and they do not usually create appropriate

vehicles for communication during conflict f. None of the above

28. In what way do you think the adoption of research in public relations management

I can help those in government? a. To define the problem situation for the purpose of developing a public relations

programme b. To redefine the understanding of the problem and identify the forces at work

within and at the external environment c. To monitor programme implementation for performance accountability and

strategic adjustment d. To measure programme impact and effectiveness impact and effectiveness with

respect to goals and objectives e. All of the above f. None of the above

29. How is president Olusegun Obasanjo’s attitudes are a public official and speaker

similar to that of Dr. Chuba Okadigbo? a. He views himself a someone whose opinion is always respected b. He sees himself as superior to the legislators and possibly every other audience

based on his personal achievement c. He use a particular language to express the way the views a subject with similar reflection on the lone of his voice and body behaviour that discloses the way he feels towards himself and his listeners d. He doesn’t take a careful analysis of the attitudes of the recipients of his messages(S) and lacks the ability to appeal and utilize vantage points e. He appears to be manipulatively forceful and not exactly skilled in the use of

negotiation and human influence strategies f. All of the above

30. Do you feel Nigerian leaders are used of o identifying trend and managing them

before such issues turn to crisis? a. Yes b. No

31. How would you best describe the leadership behaviour of Chief Pius Ayim Pius as

senate president? a. He has good understanding of work problems and that aside clarity,

communication demands empathy b. He is a political greenhorn and his inexperience and lack of democratic temper

doesn’t afford him opportunity to demonstrate leadership creativity c. He is strongly influence by his personal needs and desires rather than by the

objective interest of the senate and National Assembly in handling differences

with the executive d. He is intimidated by the profile of older colleagues and politicians and so seek to

gauge his effectiveness by the equivalent of simple political survival e. He understands the principle of supportive relationships and so applies it in his

dealings with legislators and relevant constituencies. f. All of the above

32. Do you agree that fluency, poise, control of the voice and coordinated movements

of the body mark the skilled public president? a. Yes b. No

33. Why do you think the senate originally preferred Chief Evans Enwerem to Dr.

Chuba Okadigbo as Senate president? a. Because Okadigbo could not lobby enough b. Because Okadigbo was not considered as the right person initially c. Because Chief Evans Enwerem is calm with warmth personality d. Because Chief Evans Enwerem choice was immensely influence by the lobbying

and money provided by the presidency e. Because why Chief Evans Enwerem previously served as Governor, Dr. Chuba

Okadigbo only acted as political adviser to president Shehu Shagari f. None of the above 34. Which of these communication management practices do you think can enhance

the performance of democratic leadership in Nigeria? a. Propaganda and publicity management b. Journalism advertising management c. Advertising management d. Public relations management e. None of the above

35. What do you feel was responsible for the later decision by the senate to put Dr.

Chuba Okadigbo in place of Chief Evans Enwerem as senate president? a. Because Chief Evans Enwerem could not satisfy most legislators as he was

always sitting on the fence between the executive and the legislature b. Because he lacked the initiative and vision to demonstrate leadership creativity c. Because his age could not allow him exercise the socio-political activism needed

in the new body d. Because past experience as Governor makes him rather conservative and

parochial than necessary e. Because Dr Okadigbo overzealously lobbied to remove him with the certificate

scandal f. None of the above

36. Which of these qualities do you think politician must posses to effectively fulfil

his role as a leader and public speaker? a. Integrity b. Knowledge and self-confidence c. Communicative skill d. Sensitivity to people and situations e. Willingness to learn from others f. All of the above

37. Why would you believe that president Obasanjo wanted Dr. Chuba Okadigbo

removed as the senate president? a. Because both of them are intransigent and may not be easily moved to the

direction the other desires in his own collective interest b. Because of the irreconcilable difference which may be rooted in past disagreement

and motivated by illogical thinking and prejudices c. Because Okadigbo is personally viewed as a threat by the president since his

political ideas and exposure may not welcome imposition of actions through

force d. Because the president lacks creative talents and so is hell-bent on subjugating and

subverting the national assembly through the installation of a senate president and

speaker for the House of Representative who can be manipulated at will. e. Because the president would like to avenge him for the removal of Chief Evans

Enwerem. f. None of the above.

38. In your own opinion, what would you say is the major reason why Dr. Chuba

Okadigbo was later removed as senate president? a. His tenure was greeted with petty rivalry because he was highly respected

intellectually and stood taller than most of his 108 colleagues. b. He was class conscious because he enjoys a wised network of contents in the

political firmament given his experience. c. Though they rode the senate like a gladiator with his master of knowledge, his

gestures, his delivery, and the panache he brought to the office remained

unrivalled, his choice of mini-confrontation with the executive wasn’t understood

by his peers in spite his conventionally. d. He adopted exclusive style of leadership in which he did not consider the position

of other senators especially those who held prominent posts during the time Evans

Enwerem was senate president as well as underrated the capacity of the junior

ones e. His high-handedness and pomposity together with being patent, objectionably

obvious and patently aggressive, created the resistance that saw him out of office f. His removal from office in spite other odds was facilitated by the president with

the support of opposition within and outside the senate as a result of irreconcilable

differences.