The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) FCT Chapter has organised a one-day capacity building in advancement of its Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability (CSR&S) programme for its internal public, aimed at enhancing their capacity in carrying out their daily routine as reputation managers in their respective organisations.
The training programme on Saturday in Abuja tagged, PR Solution Spotlight exposed participants to practical solutions to assist them in navigating through in the dynamic communications landscape. It is also part of activities ushering in the 35th anniversary of the Chapter.
The Guest Speaker, Brig. Gen. Sani Kukasheka Usman (Rtd) a former Director, Army Public Relations in his presentation titled, “Strengthening Professional Reputation, Influence and Impact in an Era of Disruption” shared experience-driven insights on how the army deployed public relations as a tool to gain public support in the war against insurgency.
“Even when we lost an Army’s Chief of Training at a point, we were forthright with the media and other critical stakeholders. That honesty helped build a long-term reputation,” he said.
He therefore urged the gathering, made up of public relations professionals from government and private agencies to always imbibe transparency which he said is not weakness but a strategic strength that aligns with NIPR’s core value of professionalism, anchored on truth, ethics, and accountability.
He further tasked the participants to always carry out research to enable them understand their operating environment and deploy appropriately PR measures.
“Our research showed that for many communities in the North-East, radio, not social media, was the most trusted and accessible medium. We launched a radio station and dedicated radio programmes in Hausa, Kanuri and Fulfulde to counter misinformation and rebuild community trust. That was our ‘Ground War’, human, local, authentic, and credible”, he stated.
Gen. Usman (Rtd), a Fellow of NIPR called on public relations professionals to be forthright, grounded, hybrid – a blend of innovation with integrity as well as credible in order to stand tall in the discharge of their duties.
Earlier in her remarks, the Chairman of NIPR-FCT @35 Planning Committee, Hajiya Lami Tumaka noted that the gathering a prelude to the celebration was deliberately designed for public relations professionals to engage, brainstorm, and proffer practical solutions to the challenges in carrying out their daily assignments to their employers, clients and the society.
“This initiative is part of the deliberate efforts by the leadership of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) FCT Chapter to deepen professionalism within our fold, ensuring that members are not only well-grounded in the ethics and standards of the profession but are also adequately equipped to upscale their performance in an ever-evolving communication landscape”, she said.
In his remarks, Chairman of NIPR-FCT, Mr. Stanley Ogadigo said the Chapter understands the need to empower its internal publics as against focusing only on external, underlining that the training equips PR professionals in FCT and beyond to adequately defend the course of the country in their communication patterns.
“The whole idea is, this programme is a way of giving back to them. Whatever thing we have achieved as an administration is because of the support of our members we have enjoyed. We deemed it necessary to create an opportunity for them to benefit through knowledge, which we see as power. It is this knowledge that stands them out in the field”, he stated.
He therefore appealed to organisations to always make their Directors of Public Relations and Heads of Corporate Communications available for such trainings in order to boost their performances.
