How PR can add value – by Emeka Oparah

This story I’m about to tell is first, a throwback story and second, an inspiration for Public Relations professionals, who sometimes feel unappreciated and unrecognized simply because they are NOT BRINGING MONEY.

Shortly after I joined Econet Wireless Nigeria (the precursor of Airtel Nigeria), the Head of Government and Regulatory Affairs, the late Ogugua Chioke, informed me that one of his friends was getting married and wanted me to be the Master of Ceremonies.

I didn’t know the guy and I wasn’t going to decline because Oga Chioke, as everyone called him, was like a senior brother to me. He greatly helped me to settle down in the highly politicized upcoming mobile telco as it were then.

And so, I didn’t hesitate in agreeing to emcee the wedding. Gerald Otiji got married to his German girlfriend. The crowd was top-notch and complex. Indeed, it required a practiced corporate compere. Thankfully, I was told I did a good job. Jerry was very happy. We became friends. He also told me he owed me one. I memorized that.

Fast forward to 2013. Airtel Nigeria had landed an undersea cable in Lagos and wanted to connect it to our data centre in Lekki Phase One Estate. The Lekki Residents Association had bluntly refused to allow us to dig their roads from the nearby lagoon into our data center. Meanwhile, the cost of Right of Way, labor and others, if we took the longer route came to $1m (N180m) at the time.

Our Chief Technical Officer then, Col. Awadesh Kalia, approached me. He said he was sure I’d know someone or someone who knows someone who could resolve the challenge with the Lekki Residents Association. He talked about the cost implications of going the longer route compared to the shorter route into Lekki. I promised to help and I was like, damn, this is how PR can bring value by helping the company save costs!

Remember Jerry? The gentleman I compered his wedding? He was the Vice President of Lekki Residents. He was owing me a 10-year-old debt, remember? So, I called in the debt. Great guy, he promised to help. Less than 24 hours later, he came back: “Emeka, can Airtel complete the abandoned Lekki Police Station and give us a patrol truck? If yes, I’ll get you the approval to lay your cable”!

I went back to Colonel. The police station and patrol truck would cost about 10% of the cost of taking the longer route. We proposed it to our CEO, Segun Ogunsanya who, by the way, is retiring at the end of June as Group CEO of Airtel Africa. He not only approved the proposal but added one more truck!

The rest, as they say, is now history!!!

We saved over N160m; laid our cable in double quick time; got high media mileage from commissioning the station and built a huge emotional bank account (goodwill) with both the Police and Lekki Residents!

Nothing more to add. Except to say, build a network, be good to people, build goodwill and know when to leverage that for your organization or yourself!

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• Oparah is Vice Present, Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Africa. He wrote from the UAE