By Onome Amuge.
Africa’s foremost government relations consultancy firm, GTPro, has unveiled a set of services to top business leaders in the oil and gas, telecommunications, manufacturing, and financial services sectors, in what is set to give form to the age-long practice of government lobbying in Nigeria.
The services were announced during a masterclass on government relations and public policy strategy organised by GTPro in Lagos, where it was disclosed that they are designed to assist businesses operating in Nigeria to evolve effective government relations strategies as they navigate the corridors of government and seek to influence policies.
Dakuku Peterside, immediate past Director General/CEO of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and co-founder of GTPro, in his welcome remarks at the masterclass, explained that with the introduction of the services, the age-long practice of lobbying would begin to take form and operate within the ambit of professional guidelines and stipulations.
Dakuku, who spoke on behalf of Mohammed Daggash,chairman of GTPro, and former Minister of Works,said business sustainability required significant tact and know-how on the part of businesses. He also emphasised that it entails the ability to effectively navigate through compliance with laws, government policies, and regulations that potentially can positively or negatively impact their operations and overall success.
This, the turnaround expert explained, requires access, knowledge of the law, good rapport, and ethical practices, which are not very much available at the current mode of businesses in their attempt at engaging lobbyists.
According to Dakuku, business failures owing to lack of understating of policies have led to gross loss of revenue and investment on the part of founders, managers, and multinationals operating in Nigeria.
To stem this tide and set businesses on the path of sustained success, Dakuku said businesses operating in Nigeria would require the services and counsel of experts, who have both the know-how, skill set and experience of how the government works and who understand the law.
“GTPro is set to offer an assemblage of experts across fields and over cumulative 50 years’ experience in both the private sector and public service, in data, understanding of the law, policies, regulations, and research,” he said.
Presenting the keynote paper,Victor Ndoma Egba, former Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), noted that government and business were like the Catholic marriage that was practically inseparable. Egba said government was like air and businesses could not do without government, and vice versa.
For this reason,he stated that an effective process of communication and interaction between government and businesses becomes of extreme importance.
“This is what GTPro would be providing to businesses as they set out to engage the top leadership of organisations across sectors of the Nigerian economy,” he added.
Nnaemeka Maduegbuna, chairman of C&F Porter Novelli, a business and strategic communications consultancy,who presented a paper on the effectiveness of policy affairs strategies, noted that the practice of government relations would be better suited within the larger spectrum of public affairs.
Speaking from his wealth of experience, the renowned public affairs expert submitted that a lot could be salvaged with effective public affairs strategy on the part of businesses. He also dwelled on the need for businesses to engage the services of experts, for ethical reasons, as they navigate the corridors of government.
According to Maduegbuna, the traditional approach of businesses having on their boards as non-executive members individuals they perceive would have government access would not offer much. This, he explained, is because the dynamics of engaging government and influencing policy are broad, extensive, and require a detailed strategic framework that the individuals would suffer limitations in delivering.
On his part,Bimbo Daramola,former member of the House of Representatives, highlighted the fact that businesses suffered the most in the area of understating government policies.
“Every policy of government has its roots in the laws of the land, and where there is a lack of knowledge of the law, a lot of errors are committed and these errors lead to loss of revenue, loss of investment, and eventual collapse of the businesses,” he stated.
To this end, Daramola advised that organisations operating in Nigeria needed to put structures to how they engaged the government and attempted to influence government policies.
During the panel session moderated by Bolarinwa Onaolapo, ESG strategist and risk management consultant, the panellists all agreed that the time had come for the needed structure and professional guidelines that could regulate the practice of government relations and lobbying to be put in place in Nigeria.
They acknowledged that whilst Nigeria lacked such, other developed countries, like the United States, had well established structures that govern the practice.
The panelists agreed that lobbying was a formalised professional practice that operated within the ambit of the law.
The masterclass submitted, in the panel discussion, that GTPro was bridging a long missing gap, and it would be to the advantage of businesses to begin to find a structured process that could guide their efforts in engaging government as they thought about their success and sustainability.
