Public relations is both an art and science. This requires that practitioners combine a boundless creative imagination with cognitive complexities that embrace sound theoretical insights as d rivers of strategic implementation. The significance of an inventive and innovative public relations practice is essentially driven by time-tested and empirically- proven theory-based evidence which can only be derived through the academia-industry relationships. However, the Nigerian case is such that there is a yawning gap between the academia and the industry and this is evident in the use of mostly western theories, models and case studies, which often do not fit perfectly into our normative worldview, in the teaching of public relations. The failure to blend theory with practice implies that strategic “decisions are still based on gut feelings, speculation, and hearsay” (Gronstedt,1997:34). This paper is of the opinion that there is the need for a synergy between those in the academia who teach public relations and their professional counterparts in order to forge a relationship that could provide well-intentioned meaning to the practice through an accurate analysis of trends, prediction of their consequences, informed counselling of organizational leaders and implementation of sound programmes of action which is underpinned by insightful theoretical framework in order to serve both the organization's and the public interest.