NJOMACS

Sustainable development has become a central global development priority, particularly following the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations in 2015. Despite this global commitment, Nigeria continues to experience persistent developmental challenges such as poverty, inequality, corruption, and environmental degradation. Strategic communication, particularly public relations (PR), has increasingly been identified as a potential mechanism for promoting sustainable development through stakeholder engagement, behavioural change communication, and policy advocacy. However, existing studies on the relationship between public relations and sustainable development in Nigeria remain fragmented across disciplines. This study therefore conducts a systematic literature review to examine the role of public relations as a catalyst for sustainable development in Nigeria. Using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) approach and guided by PRISMA procedures, the study synthesised empirical studies published between 2016 and 2025 in Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. A total of 450 articles were initially retrieved, out of which 59 met the established inclusion criteria and were subjected to thematic analysis. The findings reveal that public relations in Nigeria is increasingly conceptualised as a strategic communication function that emphasises stakeholder engagement, development communication, and behavioural influence rather than its traditional publicity role. The literature also indicates that research on PR and sustainable development in Nigeria largely focuses on three key dimensions: social sustainability, economic sustainability, and environmental sustainability, with social sustainability receiving the greatest scholarly attention. Despite the growing body of research, significant gaps remain, particularly in theoretical integration and empirical measurement of communication outcomes on development indicators. The review concludes that while PR has strong potential to support sustainable development initiatives in Nigeria, future studies should adopt more rigorous theoretical frameworks and methodological approaches to better establish the link between strategic communication and measurable development outcomes.