ASSESSEMENT OF PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIES OF THE NIGERIAN ARMY IN THE WAR AGAINST BOKO HARAM INSURGENCY, 2015-2019

The study assessed the public relations strategies the Nigerian Army deployed in the war against Boko Haram insurgency between 2015 - 2019, covering the first term of the Buhari administration after he pledged to root out the murderous insurgency during the President’s Inauguration Speech on May 29th, 2015. The study used the survey research method by applying the instruments of the questionnaire and interview where 400 respondents were sampled. Findings from the study show that out of the five public relations strategies adopted for the study, respondents believe that crisis communications, media relations and community relations strategies stood out as the most relevant PR tools for this study. Findings, however, also show that the deployment of these strategies in the public relations toolkit were not as effective as desirable. The reasons for the ineffectiveness of the strategies, the findings further shows, constitute impediments to the war against Boko Haram insurgency. The study concluded that the Army needs to re-strategize both its PR approach at combating the terror sect by intensifying efforts at reigning in the communities mostly affected by the Boko Haram insurgency in North East, Nigeria. The study recommends, among other things, that the Nigerian Army should endeavor to address the reasons for, and remove, the impediments that hamper its PR strategy and ability at effectively winning the support of various stakeholders whose understanding, partnership and goodwill are crucial in defeating the Boko Haram insurgency.