***As NIPR holds 2nd Nigeria Spokespersons Summit
By Harry Awurumibe, ABUJA
Information and National Orientation Minister, Mallam Mohammed Idris is insisting that Nigeria is one of the countries where free speech is tolerated just as he re-emphasized the commitment of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration to free speech and responsible creative expression.
This is even as the President of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku has overjoyed about the quality attendance of the 2nd Nigeria Spokespersons Summit (NSS), a platform that brings together Spokespersons, communication experts, public and corporate affairs personnel, perception managers, reputation builders, public
communication professionals, from the public, private,
and the civil society to exchange ideas, share
experiences, foster collaboration, sharpen knowledge, dissect new trends, learn new tools, and acquire new skills, for their practice.
Speaking at the opening of the event holding at Abuja Continent Hotel, Wuse, the Minister who was the Chief Host said the present administration will continue to work to broaden the nation’s vibrant media ecosystem, and grow the economic and investment opportunities within it no matter the challenges.
According to him media is the freest in Nigeria as citizens are at liberty to speak their minds without any fear of intimidation but said it is incumbent on those who express their views to do it within the ambit of the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Idris who is a Fellow of NIPR however praised the the leadership of the Institute for organising the Spokespersons Summit, stressing the important of professionals handling information dissemination in order to avoid the spread of fake news which can cause untold havoc to the society.
Said he: “As Minister of Information and National Orientation, I try to lead the way in sieving information and critically watching and analyzing before I leap.
Steeped in the practice of public relations, one of the first things I did following my appointment was to create a set of five pillars to guide the delivery of this national mandate assigned to me by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
It is no coincidence that the first of those five pillars – the restoration of public trust in government communications – overlaps extensively with the primary objectives of media and information literacy”
The Minister however said that as part of hi efforts to deepen professional practice and improve the quality of engagement in the delivery of public communication, the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation, last year, succeeded in the caderisation of Public Relations in the Federal Civil Service.
“What this means is that Public Relations has now been designated as a standalone cadre in the Federal Civil Service, with effect from December 2023, and that, what used to be known as the Information Officer Cadre has now been re-designated to ‘Information and Public Relations Officer Cadre’, and ‘Executive Officer (Information and Public Relations)”.
He has also advocated for media literacy practices, revealing that for this reason, plans have reached an advanced stage towards the take-off of the UNESCO Media Information Literacy (MIL) Institute-the first of its kind in the world-which will be sited in Abuja, in the precincts of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN).
Meanwhile, NIPR President Dr. Ike Neliaku in his Welcome Remarks said he felt excited to welcome an array of spokespersons of the Nigerian government both past and present who gathered from different
parts of the nation to be part of history, some at short notice, yet they found time to join to celebrate an important sectoral group of not just the public relations profession, but essential component of nation building the Spokespersons.
Said he: “This second edition of NSS is unique in a number of ways. First, we are using it to confer Fellowship of the Institute on deserving and outstanding Nigerians. I must emphasise that Fellowship of NIP, be it professional or honorary, is strictly on merit and outstanding performance.
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The reason is simple, a Fellow of the Institute is considered a reputation icon in many respects. This explains why we do not hesitate to withdraw the honour once the honouree becomes a liability, instead of a highly valued asset.”
Among those who were conferred with the Fellowship title of the Institute are Speaker of Nigeria’s Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abbas; Dr. John Momoh, Chairman of Channels Media Group in recognition of his immense contribution to the field of communication in the past 4 decades and Chief John Nnia Nwodo, Nigeria’s former Minister of Information for a distinguished and meritorious services to his country.
In attendance at the event are Chief Segun Osoba, former governor of Ogun state and Keynote Speaker; many past Information Ministers including Professor Jerry Gana; Chief Nnia Nwodo, Labaran Maku, Frank Nweke (Jnr.) and Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Mr. Gilbert Morton, Spokesperson (Press Attachè), Embassy of the United States of America in Nigeria who in his Goodwill Message expressed his joy to attend the auspicious event.
