Survey: Nigerians trust their employers more than government, media and NGOs

Nigerians have more trust in business than government, media and non-governmental organisations, according to the result of the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer.

They believe that their employers should take the lead on “change” rather than waiting for the government to initiate it.

The 19th Edelman Trust Barometer Survey Report was unveiled by Edelman and its exclusive Nigerian affiliate, Chain Reactions Nigeria, in Lagos on Thursday.

Edelman Trust Barometer is the annual global trust and credibility online survey conducted by Edelman Intelligence, the independent research arm of the Edelman global network.

It surveys how well people trust the institutions of government, business, media and nongovernmental organisations to do what is right.

Jordan Rittenberry, the managing director of Edelman Africa, presented the data from the Nigeria Trust Breakout.

“Ninety-five per cent of respondents agreed that employers can create positive change in skills training, while 93 per cent said that CEOs can influence economic prosperity in Nigeria. Eighty-eight per cent agreed that their employers can create positive change in job creation while another 83 per cent believed in the ability of their employers to initiate positive change in discrimination,” he said.

As many as 72 per cent of the Nigerian respondents see their employers as a trustworthy source on the global economy while 58 per cent perceive business as a reliable source on technology, according to the survey conducted by Edelman Intelligence between October 19 to November 16, 2018.

“Fifty-eight per cent of respondents look to their employer to be a trustworthy source of information about social issues and other important topics on which there is not general agreement. A further 77 per cent believe that a company can take specific actions that both increase profits and improve the economic and social conditions in the communities where it operates,” Rittenberry said.

In Nigeria and nine other African countries surveyed, government is the least trusted institution while trust in media amongst the 10 African countries exceeds the global average of trust in media at 47 per cent, he further said.

“Business is the most trusted institution amongst the 10 African countries, while NGOs are trusted in six of the 10 African Markets,” Rittenberry said.

Israel Jaiye Opayemi, the managing director/chief strategist of Chain Reactions Nigeria, said the importance of trust could not be over-stated.

“Trust is built by what we say as well as by what we do and so for a government like ours, perhaps this is an auspicious time for those who are responsible for managing the institutions of government in Nigeria to begin to think about investing in that asset of trust. My admonition to President Muhammadu Buhari and his Vice, Prof Yemi Osinbajo is to make a deliberate effort to earn the trust of Nigerians in their second tenure of four years,” he said.

“For them to earn our trust as Nigerian citizens, one of the things my experience has taught me on this job is, perhaps, we need to rethink the entire communication architecture of government once more. I ask that fundamental question, ‘in what way has the present architecture helped the government to earn the trust of the people?’ And President Muhammadu Buhari, our appeal (this morning) is that as you select the next set of ministers, you must reign them in. What we saw in the last four years was that there were too many people speaking for your government.”