NRMG Charged to Lead Battle Against Fake News, Reframe Nigeria’s Image
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, has challenged members of the Nigeria Reputation Management Group (NRMG) to take the lead in the national campaign against fake news and disinformation, while actively reshaping the narrative of Nigeria’s global image.
He spoke at a retreat organized by the NRMG in Abuja, on Tuesday.
Represented by his media aide, Mallam Alkasim Abdulkadir, the foreign affairs minister, hailed NRMG as a vanguard of public relations professionals whose work is crucial to managing Nigeria’s reputation and identity.
Tuggar urged them to go beyond institutional branding and embrace their role as strategic communicators of national interest.
“We live in an era where the information space is crowded, contested, and frequently manipulated,” he said.
“In such a context, your expertise becomes indispensable—not only in managing reputation but in framing the national narrative with clarity, integrity, and patriotic purpose.”
Describing the NRMG as uniquely positioned to drive a new wave of media diplomacy, Tuggar encouraged the professionals to tell Nigeria’s story in a dignified and compelling way, while promoting unity, innovation, and civic engagement.
He also emphasized the group’s role in countering foreign information manipulation and domestic disinformation.
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As the Tinubu administration intensifies efforts to reposition Nigeria on the global stage, the Minister said the work of the NRMG had become even more strategic.
He called for a unified communications strategy anchored on Nigeria’s foreign policy doctrine—the 4Ds framework—with emphasis on Diaspora and Development.
Tuggar outlined key outcomes expected from the NRMG retreat, including a refined messaging architecture, a coordinated response to reputational threats, and a code of ethical standards for digital and media engagement.
He also proposed actionable initiatives such as a national fact-checking hub, diaspora media outreach, and a shared digital asset library.
“Let this retreat deepen your sense of mission,” the Minister said, “and reaffirm your role as custodians of Nigeria’s image. In your hands lies the power to inspire confidence, elevate national pride, and strengthen civic trust.”
In his opening remarks, Dr. Ike Neliaku, President and Chairman of the Governing Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), noted that Nigeria’s reputation challenges do not stem from a lack of compelling stories, but from how poorly and infrequently we tell them—while often amplifying the narratives of others.
He said the time has come for Nigerians to take ownership of their story and shape the national narrative on their own terms. “We must never again allow outsiders to define who we are, or tell our story in ways that diminish us,” he stressed.
According to him, “People have programmed us to continually look down on ourselves—and sadly, we’ve unknowingly embraced that script.”
