African petroleum Plc, Enugu, a marketer of petroleum products and chemicals know that public support and good will as well as good corporate image are very important for business success. Tends to be influenced by their publics which includes, its staff, shareholders, customers and of course members of the press.

The company is actually very much interested to know its public problem areas and opportunities with the aim to improving the organization’s overall performance do not know what their public thinks about African petroleum public Relations programmes and quality of services of the organization to its publics.

Be as it may, the researcher therefore decided to embark on the study;

The objectives of the study are:

1. To determine the extent of AP’S public Relations messages accessibility to their publics.

2. To determine whether AP’S public relations practices influence the opinion of their publics.

3. To find out if the largest audience of the African petroleum consider their public relations practices a adequate.

4. To ascertain whether the AP’S public relations department is rated high in term of its efficiency.

5. To know whether the right public relations media were being used.

This study is actually intend to cover African petroleum plc and their public in Enugu State. When asked the coverage in short, all aspects of the study as indicated in the study objectives were concerned.

Certain Survey was undertaken during which some members of the four major publics of African petroleum were interviewed and ideas that got from them really helped in pursuing certain areas of enquiring and to generate the hypothesis. The approach was purely empirical.

Relevant data based on the scope of the study were collected through desk research and field survey with structured questionnaire as the main instrument administered to two hundred and fifty (250) respondents comprising forty African petroleum staff, sixty share holders, one hundred and twenty customers and thirty members of the press.

The questionnaire was highly structured and open – ended where necessary. The questions and the response were very standard to facilitate comparison of responses and to secure good control of the questions.

Further, the questionnaires were also designed to secure information from the African petroleum’s public relations message and media, their public relations department, and programmes are quality of their overall services. Appropriate answers were checked and public relations practices and quality of AP’s overall services rated.

The results are as follows:

1. The degrees of AP’s Relations accessibility to their public is satisfactory as majority of the respondents reported having easy access to African petroleum’s public Relations messages at regular bases.

2. The Public Relations practice of African petroleum influences the opinion of their public. Reason being that most of the respondents said that AP’s Public Relations messages are persuasive and convincing thereby influence their opinion as regards the AP’s programmes and procedures.

3. The right Public Relations media were often used as greater proportion of the respondents supported this claim and indicated that AP uses media combination which are familiar to target audience to achieve the desired effect.

4. The Public Relations Department of African petroleum is rated high as regards its efficiency since majority of the respondents reported this end stated that the department plan and execute series of public relations programmes which enhances mutual understanding, public acceptance and corporate good image and good will,

5. The publics do not consider African petroleum’s public relations practices as adequate as majority of the respondent reported, saying that the department should put more effort to implore some other issues requiring public relations attentions and increase public relations Enlightment programmes to reach the remote areas where the AP’s target audience resides.

CONCLUSIONS: Based on the above Petroleum’s Public Relations message media and quality of their overall services are satisfactory through their mobilization programmes and enlightment campaign needs more efforts. We should know that there is no public relations effort is perfect, meaning that the PR’s effort need to be empowered upon and the time. To avoid certain unforeseen circumstances, crisis and conflicts, there should be a constant review of the organisations. Public reactions practices coming to know its effectiveness and areas of improvement to correspond with the dynamic business environment.

Title Page

Approval Page

Dedication

Acknowledgement

Abstract

Table of Contents

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

1.2 Statement of problem

1.3 Objective of the study

1.4 Formulation of Hypothesis

1.5 Significant of the study

1.6 Limitation of the study

CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 What is public relations

2.2 Role of public relations executives in commercial out fit

2.3 Strategy and scope of public relations programmes

2.4 Frame work of public relations programme

2.5 Importance of public relations in all oil industry.

CHAPTER THREE: SCOPE, RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY

3.1 Scope of the study

3.2 Research methodology

3.3 Structuring the instrument/protesting

3.4 Determination of sample size

3.5 Sampling procedure

3.6 Method of Analysis

CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

4.1 Part A. a table of responses to sex

4.2 Indication of free access to AP’s public

CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary

5.2 Summary of findings

5.3 Other findings

5.4 Conclusions

5.6 Recommendations

Bibliography

Appendix 1

Appendix 11

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

This present dispensation, a lot of companies for production or distribution of a particular type of production or service and its consequent week to week competition among companies, it has become necessary for such organization to established at least good will and mutual understanding with their various publics if actually the tend to succeed.

Though the success of such companies does not depend on product or service quality, neither does it hing on advertising alone, nor on good salesmanship, responsible allocation of fund, but the success of any company depend most often on how well the company has created mutual understanding among her publics.

Jefkins (1988;9) he pointed out that negative situation could be converted into positive achievement through awareness and understanding. Based on this, Jefkins expects that company to use public relations to achieve sympathy where there is hostility, acceptance where there is prejudice, develop interest where there is apathy and communication to achieve knowledge where there is ignorance.

There is now need for a well-organized public relations practice. At this peripheral cutlip, conter and Broom (1985:4) in their conceptual definition states that “Public Relations is the management function that identifies,