IMPERATIVE OF HOST-COMMUNITIES PARTICIPATION IN ORGANIZATION COMMUNITY RELATIONS PROGRAMMES

Whispering Palms, a privately owned holiday resort commenced operations in 1980. Despite the community relations programmes put in place by the holiday resort to create and maintain a cordial relationship with its host-community, there are some strains in their relationship. It is to this end that this study seeks to assess the imperative of host communities participation in organization’s community relations programmes using Iworo-Ajido people and Whispering Palms resort as case study. The study adopted the Social Penetration Theory. The survey research methodology was used on a population of 13,550. The sample size was 371and non-probability sampling technique was adopted. The questionnaire was the research instrument, supplemented with focus group discussions and an in depth interview with the Chairman of Whispering Palms. Simple percentages were employed in quantifying the data collected from the questionnaire while the interview conducted with the Chairman, Whispering Palms resort and the focus group discussions were qualitatively analyzed. The hypotheses were tested using frequency distribution of responses in percentages and cross-tabulation. The study found out that Whispering Palms resort failed to carry along the community through regular consultation before embarking on its community relations programmes. Consequently, the community relations programmes lacked the acceptance of Iworo-Ajido people. Findings from the study led to the conclusion that Iworo-Ajido people’s perception of Whispering Palms resort’s community relations programmes was negative. The study among others, recommends that Whispering Palms resort should always consult the host-community as a precondition for its community relations programmes planning, implementation and evaluation.