The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris will swear in the new governing council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations on Tuesday.
The council, elected in August last year, will be inaugurated in Abuja, the President and chairman of the institute, Ike Neliaku told reporters at the weekend.
“The event will also include a special induction of new members and a dinner reception for NIPR members who have been appointed to various positions in the public and private sectors,” he said.
The dinner will be chaired by former Information Minister Jerry Gana, while the Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, will be the guest of honour, Neliaku said.
Institute to Regulate PR Practice
The institute, established by an act of parliament in 1990, regulates the practice of public relations in Nigeria and sets standards for its members.
Neliaku said “the institute is cracking down on quackery in the PR profession.”
He urged those who have been erroneously appointed as spokespersons to reqularise their membership before the end of March 2024, when the institute will begin to enforce the provisions of the act.
Summit to Boost PR Profession
The NIPR President also announced that the institute would host the National Spokespersons Summit and Awards and unveil the Young PR Professionals’ Hub in the first quarter of the year.
Neliaku said “these programmes aimed at moving PR forward and engaging youths in nation- building. The summit, scheduled for March 25-28, will educate spokespersons from various sectors and levels on the latest tools and ethical standards of public engagement,” he said.
The awards will recognise and celebrate exceptional spokespersons in at least 20 categories for their professionalism and excellence in PR practice.
The NIPR President said the institute is partnering with Image Merchants Promotion Limited, a multi-award-winning PR firm, to organise the summit and awards.
He said; “NIPR and IMPR are going to do it in a way that people and organisations will desire winning this award moving forward, making it the number one award in Africa for spokespersons.
“We want it to be a brand where these spokespersons can be looked up to; hence, we are combining the experience of IMPR with the institutional support of NIPR, and that is what partnership is all about.”
The NIPR President said the hub woud provide a platform for young and innovative PR practitioners to network and contribute to the institute’s activities.
“Secondly, we have the Young Professionals Hub, where young people come to play a role in moving the NIP forward. During the consultation, we heard people talk about the place of young people in PR practice, particularly the NIPR.
“We did a simple study and discovered so many young people doing well in PR are outside the institute. The question is, then, how do we encourage them to come in? Therefore, we set up a team under the chairmanship of Professor Chukwuemeka Odumegwu, VC Anambra State University, to champion this new initiative.
“It is a vital programme as we need to warehouse these young people who are brilliant, creative, energised and innovative, and transform them into tools for nation building,” he said.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
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