Public Awareness and Perception of Public Relations Activities in Government Agencies in Nigeria

This study examines the public awareness and perception of public relations activities of government ministries and agencies in Nigeria, using Ogun State in the South-West geopolitical zone as a case study. Stratified sample size of 250 respondents was drawn from the Ogun State population. Built on a theoretical framework of Grunig's Two-way Symmetrical public relations model, findings show that the awareness level of public relations activities of Ogun State ministries and agencies is on the low with few respondents expressing positive perception. The study recommends the holistic practice of public relations by clearly defined public relations set up or department, training and retraining of governmental public relations professionals and the focus of government on activations rather than rhetoric because public relations is evaluated by actions rather than mere words.