The Managing Director (MD) of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Ali Mohammed Ali, has tasked the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to lead the campaign for a new Nigeria.
Ali gave the charge on Monday when he hosted the president and members of NIPR in his office in Abuja.
He said it was imperative to change the narratives about the country using PR strategies given the Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government’s efforts to create an enabling environment for investors.
According to him, NAN will partner with the NIPR to change the narratives about the country.
“It is important that we begin to change the narratives about Nigeria.
“Incidentally, in NAN, we don’t see the cup as half empty, we see it as half full. NAN is part of NIPR.”
The NAN MD said that Public Relations practitioners must take up the responsibility to manage the country’s reputation.
He wondered why spokespersons or information officers should take the back seat when information management and PR were supposed to be management functions.
“Most of the great PR people who speak for the government across the globe, especially in America and Europe, are well grounded and that is why I am honoured to be part of NIPR even as a journalist.
“How you present yourself is how other people will see you and unless we begin to change our disposition, we will never get it right.
“Elsewhere, PR people or those in the theatre change a lot of things; but in Nigeria, theatre is all about witchcraft, voodoo and vengeance and we must begin to change some of these things.
“Spokespersons are better placed to do that; by picking the right PR or information officer with the right background and knowledge, we can begin to change this narrative.”
He commended the NIPR for being resilient over the years and also for ensuring that quacks were not allowed to manage information for the government.
According to him, the time has come to reboot Nigeria.
He also assured the institute of NAN’s cooperation and partnership in all its activities.
“You have a willing partner in NAN; whatever NIPR will do, we are giving our support 100 per cent in terms of publicity,” Ali said.
Earlier, Dr Ike Neliaku, President of NIPR listed the institute’s programmes for the year and called for the support of NAN.
Neliaku said his team’s visit to NAN headquarters was to seek partnership with the agency and also to physically congratulate the MD on his appointment as head of the foremost news agency in Africa.
He noted that NAN had continued to carry out its PR role for the government and the country and urged it not to relent for the peace and security of the nation.
“We have designed a number of programmes we want to run and we want to anchor and identify with our family, which NAN is part of, within the information sector.
“NIPR attained 60 years in 2023 and we are celebrating our diamond jubilee in June; it will be celebrated from June 1 to June 30.
“We also have the National Spokespersons Summit to reinvent the narrative that drives the society.
“We discovered that we all speak from our different perspectives rather than from the perspective of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; there must be a definite message for the country.
“The challenge of leadership and failure to market our country are the major challenges we have in Nigeria.
“We always talk down on our country.
“We want to get together, all spokespersons, in a way that they will adopt non violent ways of communication to promote the nation through the instrumentality of development communications.”
He said other programmes like ‘Rebirth Nigeria Initiative’ and lecture series had been designed to unify the country.
The NIPR president said the proposed Rebirth Nigeria Initiative, planned in collaboration with the National Orientation Agency and the Ministry of Information and National Orientation, aimed to reinvent the beauty, resourcefulness and traditional heritage of Nigeria.
Neliaku also said that the initiative was anchored on four pillars of Citizen Education, Values Reorientation, Made-in-Nigeria goods and the pillar of Service Excellence.