Abstract

This paper explored the crisis management and communication strategy of Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun and how it influenced perception of her image during her NYSC Certificate crisis. The study examined the issue through the lenses of attribution theory to seek the perspectives of public relations professionals in Lagos State. In-depth interview was used to gather data from ten PR professionals who were purposively selected. Respondents attributed the crisis to negligence and delayed response from the Minister, the late admittance and vested political interest in the matter. However, the study found that the eventual admittance of responsibility and resignation of the Minister helped to restore the image of the Minister to a large extent. The study recommends that since personalities begin to lose their integrity and credibility once the public attributes their actions to mischief, they should own up and take responsibility for their actions when they are indicted in crisis; that personalities should quickly and honestly respond to matters in order to regain the confidence of their stakeholders, particularly the media. Based on these findings, the researchers advanced the image restoration-depletion model of personality crisis management which captures the attributions, perspectives of the PR professionals, and essential steps in personality crisis management for discerning individuals.

Key Words: Crisis Communication; Image Depletion; Image Restoration; Kemi Adeosun; NYSC Exemption Certificate; Personality Crisis.

^JCMR Journal of Communication and Media Research, Vol. 14, No. 1, Special Issue 2, June 2022, pp. 50-63

© Association of Media and Communication Researchers of Nigeria (AMCRON).

About the authors

*Oludare Ebenezer Ogunyombo, Ph.D. is with Caleb University, Imota, Lagos, Nigeria

**Adetutu Rosheedat Soremekun is with Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, Scotland

Article Citation

Ogunyombo, O. E. & Soremekun, A. R. (2022). Espousing the Image Restoration-Depletion Model of Personality Crisis Management in the case of Kemi Adeosun’s certificate crisis: A public relations perspective. Journal of Communication and Media Research, 14 (1, SP. 2): 50-63.

Full Article

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Pages: 14

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