The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, has said that President Bola Tinubu’ mandated him to bring back trust and honesty to public communication.
Idris stated this in Abuja at the 60th Anniversary celebration of the National Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), with the theme “Public Relations; Value Re-Orientation and Economic Transformation”.
I have the blessing and approval of my principal, President Bola Tinubu, who appointed me, to say it as it is, but in a palatable manner.
“He directed that trust must be returned to public communication.
“That is the only way people or citizens will respect and always want to listen to the government.
“We will keep doing that till the end of my job here,” Idris said.
According to the Minister, it is better to always tell the people the truth and for them to also recognise that you are telling them the truth.
“Trust and honesty must be restored in public communication.
“That is why, if I don’t have information about something, I will rather keep my mouth shut, than to reproduce ignorance,” he stressed.
The immediate past Vice President of the Republic of Liberia, Dr Jewel Taylor in her Keynote address narrated her journey through stigma, criticism and ability to change the narrative and people’s negative perception of her.
Taylor commended NIPR, adding that the life of politicians revolves around crisis management, and therefore public relations remains an effective tool to address the challenges.
She added that public relations has been an activity in African society, even before the coming of the colonial masters where drums of different categories were used to communicate to the people.
Welcoming guests at the event, Dr Ike Neliaku, the President and Chairman of the Council of NIPR, said, to mark the anniversary celebration, the institute planted 60 trees in each of the 36 states of the federation to address climate change.
According to Neliaku, public relations is very important for value re-orientation and economic transformation. He emphasised the Institute’s commitment to creating a positive narrative for Nigeria.
Also speaking, the pioneer chairman of NIPR, Mazi Okereke said the cause of some crises in the country was the breakdown of communication between the government and the governed.
“Nigerian Government needs to put public relations on the driving seat. We are delighted that one of us is now Minister of Information and National Orientation”.
In his goodwill message, the Chief Executive Officer of Ben TV from the UK, Alistair Soyode called on NIPR to set up its branches in other countries to take care of Nigerians and Africans in the diaspora.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the event attracted stakeholders from home and abroad while a panel of notable figures discussed the topic, of “leveraging public relations for economic growth”.
NAN also reports that the students of African International School, Asokoro performed a unity song by Timi Dakolo at the event.