Public Relations and Crisis Management in Tertiary Institutions in Taraba State

Abstract

This study examined public relations and crisis management in selected tertiary institutions in Taraba State, Nigeria. Specifically, it assessed management’s knowledge of public relations as a crisis-management tool, determined the level of adoption of public relations strategies and identified the challenges hindering their application. The study adopted a survey research design and used a structured questionnaire to collect data from 102 respondents drawn from Taraba State University, Jalingo; Federal University Wukari; and Federal Polytechnic Bali. Data were analysed using frequencies, percentages and mean scores. The findings indicated that respondents demonstrated a generally positive understanding of crisis-management responsibilities, including timely information sharing, advance planning, stakeholder engagement and trust rebuilding. However, the adoption of public relations strategies was low, particularly in crisis preparedness, media engagement, stakeholder consultation and post-crisis evaluation. The major challenges identified included inadequate management support, exclusion of public relations personnel from crisis-related decisions, insufficient funding and training, delayed information release, inadequate communication resources, unclear guidelines and poor interdepartmental cooperation. The study concludes that knowledge alone is insufficient to ensure effective crisis communication without institutional support and systematic implementation. It recommends regular crisis-communication training, formal crisis communication plans and improved funding, management support and interdepartmental collaboration. The study highlights the need to integrate public relations into institutional decision-making to strengthen crisis prevention, response and recovery.