Author Urges Young Communicators to Build PR Beyond Publicity
Author of Aren’t We All PR People?, Ahmed Balarabe Sa’id, has challenged young communication professionals to rethink public relations and prepare for a profession increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence, ethics and cultural sensitivity.
Sa’id gave the charge on recently while speaking virtually to members of the 2026 PRNigeria Fellowship Ilorin Cohort, where he discussed lessons from his recently published book and the changing dynamics of the communications industry.
The 315-page book, authored by the PR and communications professional, was unveiled in Kaduna on August 28, 2026, with the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, writing the foreword.
Speaking on the growing influence of artificial intelligence, Sa’id said the technology was inevitable, but stressed that communicators must determine how responsibly it is deployed.
“And then it is ours to inject the necessary values in our AI use. It is ours to cultivate the necessary ethics in our AI use. So it’s inevitable, we can’t get rid of it,” he said.
He urged young professionals to pay particular attention to cultural context when using AI, arguing that technology would only be truly relevant when its application reflected the nuances of the society it serves.
According to him, “AI has to be culturally nuanced to be relevant,” warning that technology devoid of cultural understanding could undermine effective communication.
Sa’id also raised questions around originality, credibility and professional accountability, urging practitioners to consider how much of their work should depend on AI and whether they could defend such work when challenged.
“How much of your work should rely on AI, for example? How much of it can you defend when you’re called to defend it? How much of integrity is at stake for you in your use or deployment of AI?” he asked.
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He noted that although regulation of AI would likely become more prominent, communicators could not wait for formal regulations before confronting the ethical questions surrounding its use.
“These are very, very critical questions. Even before regulation comes, they are already an ethical issue,” he said.
The author also addressed the future of professional bodies, particularly the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), saying the institute would remain relevant but would need to continually reinvent itself in response to changes in the profession.
Sa’id described it as a “fantastic time” to belong to the community of PR professionals, while acknowledging the challenges that came with the changing professional landscape.
He urged communication professionals to take responsibility for protecting the dignity and welfare of practitioners and the reputation of the profession.
“As we continue in scaling up the professional practice of public relations, we should remain mindful of protecting not just the welfare, but the dignity of our members,” he said.
Sa’id linked the issue to recent experiences within the profession, PRNigeria publisher Yushau Shuaib and NIPSS, noting that individual practitioners also had a responsibility to build enough credibility to defend themselves and speak for the profession.
He challenged the fellows to see the various issues confronting public relations—including technology, ethics, professionalisation and institutional responsibility—as interconnected rather than isolated concerns.
“My challenge to all of us is we should find a way to weave all of them together so that they can make meaningful experiences in our understanding of what public relations is and could be as a better profession for all of us,” he said.
The engagement later moved into an interactive session, with fellows asking questions about AI, social media, traditional media gatekeeping and how young communication professionals could prepare for a rapidly changing industry.
By PRNigeria
