AbdulMutallab-gate: Damage Control Measures

Olaseeni Durojaiye-

No doubt, the botched attempt by Umar Farouk AbdulMutallab to cause the suicide bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over Detroit, Michigan, last Christmas and the death of about 300 passengers and crew members will continue to generate varied comments across the globe as well as  concerns within the country for sometime to come.
While some of the comments may be unfounded, that cannot be said of the growing concerns about the image crisis the young man’s misadventure has caused the country among the international community. One of the fallouts is the full body checks that Nigerians travelling on some international routes will have to be subjected to.
Even though the international committee chose to close its eyes to salient security lapses on the part of the U.S security agencies as evidenced in the revelation that the young man’s father had earlier alerted the Embassy of the United States in Abuja, Nigeria of his son’s drift towards Islamic extremism.
As the issue continued to be accorded increasing space and voice in the electronic and print media in the earlier weeks after the event, some of Nigeria’s leading perception managers agreed that the whole saga presented Nigeria with a massive image crisis before the international committee.
In separate interviews with M2, those spoken to concurred that to have a toga of ‘a terrorist nation’ added to the tags of ‘corrupt nation’ and ‘nation of fraudsters’ was the height of uncomplimentary opinions. They also proffered strategic approaches, which could lead to the de-listing of the country from the ignominious list of “countries of interest” to the United States Government; or as it has been widely translated, “a terrorist nation.”
Besides faulting the profiling of Nigeria – a country of over 150 million people based on the misadventure of one individual – some of them fault the country’s handling of the case so far. They opine that the fallout of the AbdulMmutallab-gate was not professionally handled and liken it to the alleged unprofessional handling of the Re-branding Nigeria Project. Others think otherwise.
In an interview with M2, Dr. Phil Osagie, refused to link the botched terror attack to the failure of the Re-brand Nigeria Project and proffered some strategic routes to handle the image crisis.
“Every crisis takes you by surprise. No one can fully be prepared for a crisis and you can’t link the unfortunate incident with the Re-brand Nigeria project; it is an independent issue” he says.
Continuing, he proffers that “The way out of the situation is to be calm and not panic or complain. You keep projecting the good things about Nigeria, like our values and the good things that we stand for. You also need to play up our heroes and their great achievements in different fields of human endeavours. And you keep repeating it over and again until it sinks in.
“Meanwhile, while all that is being done, you keep letting the US government know that the government and people of Nigeria are not happy being listed as a terrorist state. It is important to do so in a calm, confident and diplomatic way; not by complaining or by blowing hot. There is the need to make them realize that this is not part of our way of life or belief,” he canvasses.
Another perception manager and Lead Strategist at Radiate PR, Toni Kan Onwordi, blames the Federal Government for mismanaging the crisis. He tells M2 that  “This need not be an image crisis at all.” He however admits that, “It has turned to one because of the total misunderstanding of crisis management on the part of the Federal Government,” adding that “That is why information management and communication is so important.”
Speaking further, Onwordi concurs with Dr Osagie. He toes the line of playing up the good side of Nigerians as exemplified by the action of the young man’s father who alerted the American Embassy of his son’s new found extremist leanings.
Onwordi says: “If I got the brief what would I have done? Begin by emphasizing the positive sides of Nigerians. As a law abiding Nigerian, Mutallab Snr. took the proactive action of contacting the US government. If they had been up to the task they would have ensured Mutallab Jnr. never got on that plane.
“Secondly, I will point out the fact that this is a freak occurrence. Nigerians are not suicide bombers. There is no recorded precedent. Then I will play up the fact that the blame for the radicalization of Farouk AbdulMutallab lies in the UK where he schooled. We will make them know what we know in the country that educated and well heeled Nigerians don’t get involved in religious extremism.. That is for al majiris. This is a freak occurrence and it doesn’t follow any known pattern,” he says.
Justifying why he said the fault lies in the misunderstanding of crisis management on the part of the Federal Government, he adds that, “The point is that when this happened we had no president to give direction. If Yar’Adua were around, Obama would have spoken to him directly but as things stood, there was no one authorised to speak for Nigeria,” he quips.
He insists that those asking that Mutallab Jnr. be tried as an enemy combatant and for “demonizing Nigeria as a nation of terrorists” forget that his father was the one who made a report.
“The blame is not ours; it’s on the US agencies who allowed a radicalized young man to fly thus endangering the lives of over 200 people. That’s the kind of message we should be passing across,” he posits.
“As per the rebranding exercise, I believe it is a failure because it was poorly conceived and has been poorly coordinated and executed. What we need first is a reorientation before rebranding. You know that for a company to conduct a successful rebranding exercise, they need to get the staff involved. The staff in this case are Nigerians. How can you rebrand a country when the people are not carried along? That is the conundrum,” Onwordi concludes. 
On his part, Head Strategist at Quadrant, Bolaji Okusaga, preaches a holistic solution. While reiterating that PR does not exist in a vacuum, he contends that any solution  must consist of “actionable objectives” as well as “verifiable proof points.”  He adds that for any solution to achieve the desired result there is the need for the strategy to be coordinated from the office of the president. 
According to Okusaga, listing Nigeria as a terrorist nation didn’t come as a surprise considering some religion-related volatility and friction recorded is the Northern part of the country and, in suggesting a roadmap to de-listing the country, he harped on the need to shun “purple patching” or gathering spin doctors to spin stories in favour of the country in the media. 
“It is definitely a PR crisis. The young man’s misadventure presents us with a colossal reputation damage. Nigeria has been labelled a nation of fraudsters and corrupt people. To add that we are a terrorist state is like an icing on the cake of the terrible image. 
“Even if Quadrant is given the brief, I will emphasize the need for a holistic approach. The solution must be coordinated from the office of the president of the country and must include some actionable objectives that will lead to verifiable points. This is when the people can talk about it; PR is not about what is in it for me. This is beyond the Ministry of Information and Communications. 
“This goes beyond purple patching. This is no time to gather professionals or spin doctors to spin stories in favour of the country  even though it is often said that a lie that is told over time assumes the status of truth.  We must recognize the fact that PR does not exist in vacuum. 
“In as much as I like to be patriotic, I like to do a reality check on myself. If we do that, then the de-listing shouldn’t come as a surprise to us considering some volatility and religious frictions recorded up North (of the country).
Like Onwordi, Okusaga notes that PR is beyond making up stories in the media and canvasses that the people be carried along. “When you say you have put so and so together, it must be verifiable. There is the need to carry the people; they’re the ones who will talk more about what is being done. It is like when people clamour for Foreign Direct Investment, when the infrastructure are put in place, the FDIs will definitely come. Investors want to go to economies that work seamlessly not where basic infrastructures are not in place,” he avers, pointing to the way Angola is being marketed as a premium destination after its long drawn civil war. 
Though handling a crisis situation for a product brand differs from that of a corporate brand, as explained by Okusaga, there is no over stating the fact that the AbdulMutallab-gate presents corporate Nigeria with yet another image crisis. However, with the roadmap put forward by experts in the field of reputation recovery and perception management, it is left to be seen whether the custodians of brand Nigeria will pay heed and act right.