Nigeria’s oil-rich Bayelsa state has engaged D.C. shop Washington Avenue International for PR and government relations.
WAI is the Pennsylvania Avenue firm of Lester Johnson, a USDA vet who has focused on consulting with companies in China and Nigeria.
The firm’s pact with the state’s office of the governor includes training and planning for meetings with U.S. government officials and the press with a goal of seeking humanitarian and business development assistance.
Bayelsa, despite its impoverished population, harbors some of the largest natural gas and oil reserves in Nigeria, a top 10 global oil producer. Damaging floods have deluged the region this month, leaving 120K homeless in Bayelsa and neighboring Delta state.
Nigeria’s Washington embassy has engaged WPP’s Glover Park Group for a $30K-a-month-pact through the end of the year. GPG works with subcontractor Whitaker Group.