Tolu, The foundation was not flawed, it was foundational. Now, the future awaits our elevation

 By Ishola N. Ayodele

“We are not here to indict the giants who cleared the bush. We are here to build the city on the land they prepared” Ishola Ayodele

Recently, I read an article titled “Our Predecessors Did Not Lay The Right Foundation’ ‘Tolucomms’ Indicts Generation Of Communications Practice,” an insightful interview with Tolulope ‘Tolucomms’ Olorundero, founder of the Public Relations Women Foundation and Lead Consultant at Mosron Communications, published by Brand Communicator on February 17, 2026

The interview which highlights the evolving challenges in Nigeria's public relations (PR) landscape. Tolulope ‘Tolucomms’ Olorundero makes several compelling points: the urgent need to reposition PR from mere implementation (like media placements and press releases) to a strategic advisory role, the risks of devaluation in an era of decentralized media where anyone with a smartphone can amplify content, and the generational imperative to build a sustainable profession. Her comparison to developed markets like North America, where PR advisors sit at the boardroom table alongside lawyers and accountants, is spot-on and serves as a clarion call for emerging markets like ours.

While Tolucomms’ observations offer valuable food for thought and rightly challenge the profession to aspire higher, the interview would have gained far greater depth, balance, and credibility had it first acknowledged the monumental historical context that shaped Nigerian PR rather than framing the pioneers’ work as flawed.

A more nuanced perspective would honor the genius of those trailblazers instead of sounding like a child in an elite private school complaining that their parents didn’t build a mansion from the start; it overlooks the raw miracle of turning wilderness into foundation when no blueprint existed.

To start with, this article shows the author's lack of thorough understanding of the history of PR in Nigeria. As the Yoruba proverb wisely states: "Bí ọmọ de kò bá bá ìtàn, ó má bá aroba, Aroba ni bàbá ìtàn" (If a child does not encounter history, they will meet myths, for myths are the father of history). Our founding fathers were not shortsighted implementers chasing quick profits; they were geniuses who carved a path out of a bush, creating a pond where there was no river. It was nothing short of a miracle. The reason we even have a profession called PR today is due to their sacrifices, foresight, and resilience in building from indigenous roots to a formalized discipline against colonial and post-colonial odds.

To appreciate this, let's briefly trace how PR developed in Nigeria. Contrary to the notion of a flawed foundation, Modern PR in Nigeria emerged in the 1940s during World War II, with the colonial government's Special Information Office in Lagos countering Nazi propaganda through newsreels, ads, and broadcasts evolving into a full PR department by 1947. Pioneers like Chief Fadairo (first head of this office) demonstrated PR's potency in image management and public orientation. By the 1950s-60s, entities like Nigerian Railways (1956, under Dr. Samuel Epelle) and UAC (1949) established units, with Otunba Adekunle Ojora becoming the first indigenous PR Adviser at UAC in 1961. The crowning achievement was the establishment of PR as a chartered profession through Decree No. 16 of 1990 (now an Act of the National Assembly), spearheaded by visionaries like Sir Alex Akinyele (then Minister of Information), alongside Chief Bob Ogbuagu, Mr. Mike Okereke, and Alhaji Sabo Mohammed. This decree empowered the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to regulate ethics, standardize training, and professionalize the field transforming it from ad-hoc practices into a structured profession. Without this foundational act, PR in Nigeria might still be conflated with journalism or advertising, lacking the legal backbone it enjoys today.

In addendum, Public Relations did not fall from the sky as a polished profession, it grew out of the newsroom. In North America, just as in Nigeria today, PR was born from journalism. The early architects of the field were reporters who understood headlines before handshakes. Ivy Lee, once a newspaper reporter, issued the first modern press release in 1906 and introduced transparency during a railroad crisis. Edward Bernays moved from press agentry and wartime propaganda to shaping theory with Crystallizing Public Opinion (1923).

Even in North America in those formative years, propaganda, spin, manipulation, and persuasion often overshadowed strategy and ethics. Not until when James E. Grunig introduced the Excellence Theory (1984–1992), and the global community adopted the Mexican Statement (1978) defining PR as a management function rooted in mutual understanding rather than manipulation, that the discipline stopped being “press tricks” and started becoming “strategic trust building.”

So we can forgive the pioneers for their journalistic instincts, they built with the tools they had. And in the last decade, professionals like Yomi Badejo-Okusanya, John Ehigiesi, and Yushau Ahmed Shuaib have steadily steered PR away from spin and toward strategy, ethics, and true consultancy.

 

Besides, criticizing the pioneers for chasing “what makes money” misses the context of their time. In an era when organizations dealt directly with newspapers and equated success with paid visibility, proving that PR could deliver value beyond advertising was no small victory. Historical accounts such as Otubanjo et al. (2010) show that media exposure was seen as the end goal, not strategy.

Our predecessors did more than chase revenue, they changed mindset. They wrested influence from media houses and ad agencies by demonstrating PR offered more than mere ad space, it provided strategic narrative, relationship-building, and measurable outcomes. Many early PR agencies functioned as ad hybrids (e.g., Lintas and Grant Advertising created PR units in the 1970s-80s), but the founders elevated PR by showing it could deliver "better" results through ethical persuasion and trust-building. Press agentry and releases were valued because they addressed clients' prevalent belief at that time (success equaled media presence). Without demonstrating tangible outputs, they stood no chance of survival. We must give them great acclaim for prying this from advertising agencies and journalists, if they hadn't succeeded as businesses, no one, not even the author, would be in PR today.

Their wins laid the foundation, attracted new entrants, and ultimately helped professionalize the field and strengthen institutions like the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

 

Furthermore, this criticism falls into the classic trap of a Psychological bias known as Presentism. Presentism is the act of judging past actions, people, or decisions based on current-day standards, values, and knowledge, rather than the context of the time. It is easy to prescribe strategy in hindsight, but history was not lived in hindsight. In those early years, no organization would have paid a PR agency simply for “consultancy.” Most institutions didn’t even have structured communication departments. The very idea of strategic advisory was foreign. You cannot sell architecture where no foundation exists.

To say they “should have done this or that” is to forget the soil they were planting in, a resource-scarce, post-colonial environment where survival, not sophistication, was the first priority. They weren’t operating in a mature market; they were building one from scratch. So they did what pioneers always do: they used the tools available, proved value in practical ways, generated revenue to stay alive, and slowly earned credibility. Without that pragmatism, there would be no profession to refine today.

In truth, they did not choose the ideal path, they chose the possible path. And sometimes, survival is the most strategic communication of all.

 

Lastly, the article suffers from strategic framing. The headline “‘Our Predecessors Did Not Lay The Right Foundation’ ‘Tolucomms’ Indicts Generation Of Communications Practice” is an all-out attack on the founders, framing the discussion as adversarial rather than collaborative. PR, as an art and science, uses subtle means to address controversial or sensitive topics, building bridges through nuanced narratives. A better phrase would have been: "Reimagining PR’s Foundations for Strategic Positioning: From Execution to Advisory." This title respectfully acknowledges the enduring legacy of our pioneers while boldly inviting the profession to evolve, turning yesterday’s miracle into tomorrow’s masterpiece. It frames the conversation not as criticism, but as a shared, forward-looking journey toward greater strategic influence and enduring value.

 

Conclusion

This is not to say there are no challenges, far from it. The rise of decentralized media has shattered old certainties, quackery still undermines the profession’s credibility, and there is an urgent shortage of high-quality, continentally relevant case studies to sharpen strategic thinking and elevate practice. Equally critical is the ongoing push for advisory repositioning: moving PR from tactical execution toward trusted boardroom counsel. These are real, structural challenges that demand our generation’s focused attention and decisive action.

This is where our generation must rise and resolve them, and leave a legacy. Some of us have taken this upon ourselves. For instance, observing the lack of case studies in the PR industry, I rose to the challenge by producing the first compilation of case studies in Nigeria in 2017 with the publication of my book PR Case Studies: Mastering the Trade Vol. 1. I have also published Vol. 2, featuring prominent case studies from Africa. We are currently working on Vol. 3, which will feature over 100 case studies from the continent of Africa, the first of its kind in the world, aimed at documenting best practices and inspiring strategic thinking.  Others including the interviewee can come with revolutionary solutions to some of these challenges.

Inspired by the words of Sir Isaac Newton, “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” I will categorically say, “We are not here to indict the giants who carved the path through the wilderness; we are here to stand upon their shoulders, see further than they could dream, and leave a legacy that turns their miracle into our masterpiece. The foundation was not flawed, it was foundational. Now, the future awaits our elevation.”

Ishola, N. Ayodele is a distinguished and multiple award-winning strategic communication expert who specializes in ‘Message Engineering’. He helps Organizations, Brands and Leaders Communicate in a way that yields the desired outcome. He is the author of the seminal work, 'PR Case Studies; Mastering the Trade,' and Dean, the School of Impactful Communication (TSIC). He can be reached via ishopr2015@gmail.com or 08077932282.