Last Wednesday, the cofounder of Banwo & Ighodalo, Mr. Femi Olubanwo, recounted how his firm facilitated the visit of a prominent American streamer to Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Lagos House, Marina, acting in their professional capacity as project counsel. Not long after, allegations surfaced that he had collected $100,000 to arrange the visit. A reputation crisis was brewing, the kind that would ordinarily send an organisation reaching for a PR agency.
He said his firm handled the crisis internally – no external communication consultant, no PR agency. And they contained it. He stated this at the inaugural flagship conference of the Crisis Management Advocacy Month, organised by CMC Connect in Lagos.
While I was happy that they contained it, it got me thinking about this profession. That detail should unsettle every public relations practitioner anywhere. It raises an uncomfortable but necessary question: if organisations can manage reputational crises without PR professionals, where does that leave the future of this profession?
For years, public relations in Nigeria has operated without the kind of regulatory guardrails that govern advertising, law, or medicine. Entry is largely unrestricted. Exit is just as easy. The profession has functioned, in many ways, as an open market, and open markets attract everyone, including those who were never trained for the work.
The consequence is now visible. Other professions are not just competing with Public Relations practitioners; they are replacing them, quietly and confidently, in spaces that once belonged to us.
Lawyers now manage reputational risks with precision. Technology teams shape and control digital narratives. Executives respond directly to crises on social media, and most of the time, they succeed. This is not a coincidence. It is a signal that our space is shrinking.
If lawyers, technologists, and internal teams can manage crises without PR consultant’s support, then the profession cannot afford to keep selling the same value proposition it offered twenty years ago. The world has changed. The tools have changed. The competition has changed. And the profession must change with it or continue to watch its relevance erode.
Let me speak to those who are just entering this profession: studying public relations alone is no longer enough. The communications landscape increasingly rewards those who arrive at the table with something more: a legal mind that understands risk, a financial background that speaks the language of business, an imaginative mind that can create content (text or visual), and a technology fluency that goes beyond posting on social media.
A lawyer, a medical doctor, a journalist, an engineer, or an accountant who pivots into communications will be selected ahead of you, not because your PR training has no value, but because theirs adds a dimension that yours currently does not.
The future of this profession belongs to practitioners who are specialists first and communicators second. The brief has changed. It is time to change with it.
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About the Author
Segun McMedal is a strategic public relations leader and nation builder with a distinguished record of advancing the profession across Nigeria. He serves on the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations and previously chaired the Lagos State Chapter, where he played a pivotal role in raising professional standards and driving institutional growth. He is the founder of the Lagos Public Relations Gala and Awards (LAPRIGA Awards) and the Nigeria Digital PR Summit, two landmark platforms shaping the future of public relations practice in Nigeria. He is a member of the National Planning Committee for Nigeria Public Relations Week, Croc City 2026.
Beyond the communications profession, Segun’s commitment to governance and nation-building is reflected in his membership of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, and the School of Politics, Policy, and Governance Public Leaders Network, a combination that positions him at the unique intersection of marketing communication, public policy, and national development.
