VP Shettima to Open “National Spokespersons’ Summit-Awards”
Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima is expected to declare open the maiden National Spokespersons’ Summit in Abuja, on Tuesday March 26th, 2024.
The summit will also feature National Spokespersons Awards (NSAwards) to honour most outstanding Communicators in Nigeria on Wednesday March 27th 2024.
The summit which Shettima will serve as the “Special Guest of Honour”, is organized by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation.
It is themed: Change Narratives, Change Society.
At a press briefing ahead of the August summit, Dr. Ike Neliaku, the President and Chairman of the NIPR Governing Council, explained that the summit is to help the Institute strengthen the capacities of spokespersons in the public, private and civil society organisations.
His words: “The essence of the Summit is to highlight the need for a national consensus on what should shape the nation’s narratives and enhance competences of spokespersons, through the acquisition of relevant skill sets, understanding of global trends and best practices, and knowledge of modern techniques that would enable them for craft effective and attractive messages, create acceptable contents and manage expectations of their principals, organisations and more importantly, the society for the citizens”.
Dr Neliaku also said that the institute will no longer tolerate situations where quacks manage information in both government and private organisations in the country.
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According to him, quacks cannot be handling information anywhere in the country when the NIPR is working hard to ensure proper information management.
Neliaku noted that most of the crisis and challenges the country faced was majorly caused by bad PR managers who were either quacks or lacked citizens engagement skills.
“Citizens engagement is a powerful tool in PR and spokespersons who refuse to speak to the public about issues concerning their organisations are either mischievous persons or their chief executive is challenged by public communication.”
He said that enforcement would commence in earnest after the summit in order to rid the PR profession of quacks.
“The enforcement committee has been given the mandate to ensure advocacy and sensitisation from now till the end of the summit, and from April 1, there will be enforcement and we will begin to ‘bite’ and begin to apply the relevant laws in our Act.
Chairman of the Summit Planning Committee, Dr. Sule Yau Sule, said the activities of quacks in NIPR contributed in the worsening situation in the country due to violent communications.
“This summit will bring experts of none violent communication and experts in communication management to speak to us.
“If participants deplore the skills they are going to acquire, certainly we are going to have different spokespersons,” Sule said.
Moji Makanjuola, Chairperson, Summit Media Committee, urged journalists to desist from writing things that could set the country on fire.
“Journalists are crisis managers and we have to see ourselves in that toga; say the fact but don’t say it to set the country on fire.
“While reporting the facts, don’t fuel the situation because what works in other climes may not work here.
“Let us strive for a better Nigeria by always balancing our stories,” she said.
By PRNigeria
