Assessment of the Crisis Communication Strategies of University of Benin, Edo State, Nigeria

The researcher assessed the crisis communication strategies in the University of Benin, Edo State. The objectives of the study were, among others, to know the extent to which university of Benin engages in crisis communication and identify the strategies used by the university to engage in crisis in communication. The study was anchored on the contingency theory of strategic conflict management and situational crisis communication theory. The researcher used the survey research design, using questionnaire as data collection instrument. From a population of 77,000 students and 8,000 staff, a sample size of 749 (382 students and 367 staff) respondents was arrived at using Krejcie & Morgan’s sample size formula. The data collected were analysed using simple percentages to provide answers to the research questions. The findings showed that the university of Benin engages moderately in crisis communication, as majority of staff and students agreed that the university communicates during crises. It was also found that the university employs a mix of press releases, social media and emails for crisis communication, while the university’s crisis communication was found to be moderately effective. The researcher concluded that crisis communication at the university of Benin is active but not fully effective. Based on the findings and conclusion, the researcher recommended that the University of Benin should adopt a proactive crisis communication approach, ensuring that timely, anticipatory messages are released before misinformation spreads and also integrate student-friendly platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram into its official communication channels to increase reach and engagement, amongst others. Keywords: Assessment, Crises, Communication, Strategies, University of Benin