POCACOV which is Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices is an interventionist project of the Nigerian police force geared towards using a non kinetic approach to contain the ravages of cultism and other vices in our society. It is purely geared towards the recalibration of the mindset of the youths in different segments of the society. It is purely a public communication approach which is a clear departure from the use of force by the police to fight against vices but by deployment of useful engagement, using soft approaches of public communications to bring into youths consciousness the dangers cultism and other vices pose for their lives and by so doing help free the society of certain toxic and untoward outcomes that such vices often birth in the society.
It has the following as its core objectives which is always driven home through the channels of community engagement through public communications.
Sensitization of members of the Public, on the dangers of belonging to cult group(s).
Re-awakening the security consciousness of members of the Public.
Inculcation of moral values in our youths and re-awakening that of the adults.
Educating relevant stakeholders such as Traditional Rulers, Town union Presidents, Political Class, Youth Leaders, Market Union Leaders, Students’ Leaders.
Pocacov community engagement with different stakeholders especially the youths and the adults will always help bring into their consciousness the consequences of cultism and other vices which is inimical to their well being and that of the society. It is through such community engagement that the consequences of cultism are made real like’:
Imprisonment
Protracted sorrows
Perpetual fear
Loss of peace of mind
Disruption of business, academic and social activities
Pain
Rustication or expulsion from school
Pronounced losses and curses
Untimely and shameful death
POCACOV tends to use a very carefully structured public communications approach in driving their points, agenda and objectives home
Pubic communication is a means of communicating to a very large segment of the populace with a clearly planned strategy and intention to help cause positive change by bringing a new perception that will help bring a positive change to the society. It operates in a very structured manner so that the consumers or beneficiaries of the message or information will respond positively to the message being passed, with the intention, of the message becoming part and parcel of them and then moving ahead to owning the outcome as theirs, because they were part and parcel of it, through contributions they made at the early stages of planning and subsequently adding value to it so as to make it become very real and practical to them.
Public communications is very critical in helping advance different types of behavioural changes as it is essential in helping in changing of perceptions from old ones to fresh ones as must have been caused by the originators of the communication paradigm that needed to be changed. This is what POCACOV attempts to do since it was formed and it has been yielding results gradually because it takes time for the mind to be recalibrated into a new consciousness. Public communication is used by governments around the world to change narratives, it is used by different corporate behemoths to do damage control and to help permeate the psyche of the consuming public on perspectives that would suit their fancy and it is equally used severally in religious organisation to push through certain doctrinal exigencies.
The public communications sphere POCACOV operates in the realms of psychology which is very important because every audience especially university undergraduates, students in secondary schools and youths in different villages and motor parks have their dynamics which is reflective of their own environment and world view. The understanding of the psychology of these different environment and stakeholders would make it easier for the engagement of various stakeholders in community engagement platforms which are varied. The POCACOV engagement platforms are in the form of community meetings, focus groups, surveys and online interactions.
POCACOV Community Engagement is using structured communication with intent to change mindset positively so as to pass messages to the people using strategic communications. Community engagement seeks to better engage the community to achieve long-term and sustainable outcomes, processes, relationships, discourse, decision-making and implementation. The success of pocacov activities is its encompassing strategies and processes that are sensitive to the community where the engagement is taking place. Engagement of persons at this level brings in a wholesale approach to driving strategic issues that needed to be tackled home while still allowing the individual touch of one on one communication to still stand out because individuals will ask questions that will help enlighten everyone and at the same time enable the people communicate their group worries, which the pocacov public communicator clears. Trust is very critical for public communication at the community level to happen and equally sustained.
Engagement in POCACOV is not generally driven by a ‘model’ so much as by a framework of guiding principles, strategies, and approaches. POCACOV framework is based on principles that respect the right of all community members to be informed, consulted, involved and empowered. Community engagement employs a range of tools and strategies to ensure success. It also places a premium on fostering and enhancing trust as a critical element in long-term, sustainable engagement and effective governance.
Community Engagement is the process of working collaboratively with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity, special interest, or similar situations to address issues affecting the well-being of those people It is a powerful vehicle for bringing about environmental and behavioural changes that will improve the social health of the community and its members It often involves partnerships and coalitions that help mobilize resources and influence systems, change relationships among partners, and serve as catalysts for changing policies, programs, and practices. ‘Community engagement’ is therefore a strategic process with the specific purpose of working with identified groups of people, whether they are connected by geographic location, special interest, or affiliation to identify and address issues affecting their well-being.
The linking of the term ‘community’ to ‘engagement’ serves to broaden the scope, shifting the focus from the individual to the collective, with the associated implications for inclusiveness to ensure consideration is made of the diversity that exists within any community. In practice, community engagement is a blend of science and art. The science comes from sociology, public policy, political science, cultural anthropology, organizational development, psychology, social- psychology and other disciplines. It also comes from organizing concepts drawn from the literature on community participation, community development, constituency building, and community psychology. The art comes from the understanding, skill, and sensitivity used to apply and adapt the science in ways that fit the community and the purposes of specific engagement efforts. The results of these efforts may be defined differently and can encompass a broad range of structures (e.g., coalitions, partnerships, collaborations), but they all fall under the general rubric of community engagement.
POCACOV STEPS IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT
Pocacov always make effort to understand the particular audience it will be engaging, as each audience is different and has its special characteristics from the other audience. This understanding will always facilitate a better understanding of the parties involved and will ensure deeper communication of the key objectives of pocacov.
Steps in community engagement:
1 .It understands and knows the stakeholders’ interest and how relevant it is the project.
2. It identifies the community values, commonly held principles or valued qualities, such as personal safety, freedom or fairness. Understanding this always help pocacov in crafting its message .Each message is audience specific and customised.
3. It always asks stakeholders about their preferences regarding communication. What communications channels work best for them, getting this perspective during planning both enhances understanding of these key audiences and creates a valuable communication channel for further engagement.
4 Pocacov always attempt to understand connections and relationships among audiences and individuals. Who are their trusted advisors? How willing are these influencers to act? Understanding these dynamics always help the POCACOV broaden the impact of its engagement effort.
With the above information in mind, pocacov identifies and prioritizes communication channels that align with the needs, opportunities and resources of both the project and policy and the audiences that it seeks to engage.
THE MESSAGE AND THE MESSENGER
In developing a public communication message for campaign against cultism a succinctly and clearly articulated message is important and POCACOV always makes the following clear
:
1. What is at stake for the community?
2. Why the audience should care and always explain how the decision could affect what different people value.
3. The action it wants the audience to take. For example, helping inform the people, helping them analyze and weigh in on different solutions provided for the problem, or taking a specific step
4 What benefits that will accrue if audience members do take action. Considering the choice of communicator (messenger) and how it will affect the way in which people will receive the agency’s message is crucial
5. Identifying and supporting community champions who can speak with authenticity and power to the issue or need being addressed.
6. The need to consider developing an outreach task group to help extend the agency’s ability to reach into different audiences in the community.
7. Importance of empowering community members as storytellers. Personal perspective can be compelling to broader audiences and the media.
POCACOV communication plan
a. Project decision-making milestones
b. Communication of progress towards key decision-making milestones
c. Communication of how public input influenced the final outcomes of the decision-making process.
Pocacov Media Plan that Integrates Both Traditional
(Print, Radio and Television) and Online Outlets
In today’s fast paced world the use of all the media channels is very important in getting information out and equally sustaining them after the physical community engagement phase, so that the discussion continues and for it to always be in the consciousness of the consuming public. POCACOV has always deployed this to sustain the narratives of their campaign against cultism by deploying the following:
a .Developing ,key short themes
b. Finding the right community partners and champions to help spread its messages.
c. Developing a sequence of messages that tie to key milestones in the project.
d. Scaling the level of media activity to fit the time frames and capacities of the media outlets.
e. Creating a list of media outfits, reporters, key bloggers and online journalist who reach priority audiences.
f. identifying both large and small community based publications
g .Considering different types of reporters who might cover various angles of the message.
POCACOV Creation of opportunities for Sustaining Communication
Public engagement efforts are most successful when spokespeople consider context, content and commitment in relation to the audiences they seek to reach. Creation of opportunities for engagement through channels and events both within and outside of the pocacov offers multiple opportunities for the public to communicate back to the pocacov (surveys, online forums and meetings) to reflect showing that different groups will have different preferences in terms of communications channels.
It Shows progress, new information or actions as proactively and quickly as possible and follow up on commitments made (for example, to get answers to questions) and (when possible) immediately ask for feedback about POCACOV communications and engagement efforts. POCACOV recognizes and thank partners and collaborating stakeholders for their efforts during the engagement process.
Expansion of opportunities for Sustained Interaction with the Media to Maximize Strategic Communication and Public Engagement
Pocacov has trained spokespeople on the needs and tendencies of media representatives with a view to developing relationships with key reporters and outlets. This they achieve towards keeping and respecting deadlines and providing campaign theme the audiences will identify with and equally understanding which outlets that do and do not have reporters who routinely cover pocacov activities
These trained spokespersons pitch news stories in respect of community engagements and submit opinion pieces consistent with pocacov planning calendar and objectives and communicate progress points and/or key lessons along the way to support champions and demonstrate that the community conversation is influencing the decision-making process. They invite media to all community meetings and make spokespeople available for interviews.
The pocacov communicators are always prepared to take advantage of opportunities to react to news events that affect their core mandate and share media coverage with priority audiences (for example, provide printouts at community meetings, post on pocacov website and share through other online tools).
Measurement and Evaluation of pocacov community Engagement
At the conclusion of an engagement process, pocacov uses quantitative and qualitative metrics to evaluate, adjust and improve their strategy. Lessons learned from both successful and unsuccessful strategies always help to refine its understanding of the values, interests and concerns of audiences and stakeholders. This will benefit future engagement efforts. It helps to gather qualitative data through surveys, interviews, focus groups or informal channels.
By using the following
o Materials distributed.
o Outreach conducted.
o Media engaged.
o Staff, friends, partners and others reached.
As with any relationship, maintaining communication after an engagement effort has been completed will ensure that audiences and stakeholders stay informed–making them more likely to participate in future efforts.
There is always room to share findings and lessons learned from debriefing and performance assessments and reach back to stakeholders with information that shows how their efforts made a difference and thank them for their involvement.
Pocacov often use existing venues (governing body meetings, public events) and resources (website, e-mail newsletters) to celebrate new approaches, new relationships or specific successful outcomes that highlight partners or collaborating stakeholders ,thereby creating an ongoing network for information sharing with stakeholders and community groups and equally support or connect with stakeholders during the periods between major engagement efforts.
CONCLUSION:
The use of public communication strategy in the POCACOV campaign against vices is one of the finest things that has happened to the Nigerian police efforts in their fight against crime in the country as pocacov community engagement approach will make people to really trust police and see them as their friends ,which will help mitigate against different types of crimes in the country that has its root in cultism. This non kinetic approach towards fight against crime requires every support available as it is a panacea to our present day headache as country .POCACOV really requires support from the police high command ,corporate bodies and public spirited individuals as their efforts will be for everyone’s benefit since crime and criminality if not handled in such a manner where everyone takes ownership will eventually affect everybody. A support for pocacov is a support for a more secure and saner society.
Chukwunonye Okereke
SA (Public Communications) To
Executive Governor
Enugu State.
