Levick is attempting to build support for Nigeria's effort to "find and safely return" the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in April by terror group Boko Haram, according to its $1.2M contract.
That atrocity focused international media attention on the basic ability of president Goodluck Jonathan to control the massive oil-rich country.
Nigeria was roundly criticized for its initial reluctance to accept outside help in tracking down and recovering the children.
The BBC on June 25 ran an op-ed called "Does Nigeria Have an Image Problem?" The article ridiculed Nigeria for believing such a plea for foreign assistance to help its "clearly overwhelmed armed forces" might affect its image.
"We frantically monitor foreign opinions and we panic at the slightest hint of a negative perception of us," wrote author Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani. "We fret about the many uncomplimentary stories from our land making the rounds on international media circuits, more than about the actual negative circumstances that birth those narratives," she wrote.
Goodluck Jonathan (pictured) on June 26 broke his silence about the missing girls via an op-ed piece in the Washington Post titled "Nothing is more important than bringing home Nigeria’s missing girls."
Levick's pact calls for "assisting the government’s efforts to mobilize international support in fighting Boko Haram as part of the greater global war on terror." It is charged with "communicating president Goodluck Jonathan Administration’s past, present and future priority to foster transparency, democracy and the rule of law throughout Nigeria.
Lanny Davis, executive VP and counselor to President Bill Clinton; senior VP/crisis chair Ernest DelBuono (ex-PA officer to federal on-scene coordinator during the Exxon Valdez disaster) and senior VP Eleanor McManus (ex-CNN producer) spearhead the firm's six-member Nigeria team.
Levick has partnered with Jared Genser, managing director of Perseus Strategies, and founder of Freedom Now, a non-profit that works to free prisoners of conscience.
Meanwhile on June 25, a bomb detonated in a crowded shopping center in Abuja, Nigeria's capital. It killed at least 22 and wounded dozens of others. Boko Haram is suspected of planting the device.
Edelman is providing communications support to Panama’s Ministry of Commerce and Industries under an agreement capped at $97,100 per month.
Ballard Partners has recruited State Department veteran Matt Bryza as a senior policy advisor.
Teneo has extended its contract with the Salama Bint Hamdan Al Nahyan Foundation for an additional four months to July 31, adding another $1.8M in fees to the New York firm’s coffers.
The Syrian Kurdish militia recruits Jim Dornan Strategies to press Congress for continued support in their battle against ISIS and Syrian president Bashar Assad.
The Government of Hungary has hired Strategic Improvisation Inc. to generate positive media coverage and combat negative press coverage of the Central European country. (6 reader comments)
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