NIPR reaffirms commitment to rebrand Nigeria
By Abimbola Mohammed
The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has reaffirmed its commitment toward rebranding the image of the country if it gets the much needed support from the Nigerian government.
Expressing their views on rebranding the country, the practitioners said they are ready and committed as it is their field and will do it effectively if the Nigerian government gives the institute needed support.
Responding to MARKETING EDGE’s inquiry on the government’s willingness to invest in public relations towards rebranding the country, Comfort Nwankwo, the Chairman of Lagos NIPR, noted that there is no collaboration between NIPR and the Nigeria government for now. She, however, revealed that the institute, on its part, is trying its best to work with the government and will not relent.
Samuel Ayetutu, the Assistant Chairman of Lagos NIPR, who stated that the NIPR is, by nature, positioned to create and deploy programmes capable of changing negative narratives about the country’s image, cited lack of deliberate attempt by the government to effectively harness the PR opportunity.
“So far, nothing suggests that PR practitioners have, in any way, been recognized as having a critical role to play in engendering a favourable image for the country as against other professional bodies. This should not be so,” he said.
The PR expert added that practitioners volunteer out of free will to create strategies that can help boost the nation’s economy but still hope to get support from the government.
“What has happened mainly is that PR practitioners, due to self motivation, go out of their ways to create strategies that can serve the nation’s socio-economic purposes and vigorously seek partnership from government and private sector organisations. However, the interface between government and PR practitioners is going on. One can only hope that it yields desirable results going forward,” Ayetutu said.
On her part, Eniola Mayowa, COO, Stepcraft Associates, said she is not aware of any investment from Nigeria government toward rebranding the image of the country.
She argued that, because PR is individually owned and practiced, the government doesn’t really understand what the profession is. She said that is why a number of government officials seek the services of journalists instead of public relations practitioners.
“Our institute needs to do more by pushing the practice into the faces of the government because sometimes when we talk about these things, at the end of the day, you find out that the push is not there. But the truth is that if you don’t push, nobody will push it for you,” Mayowa said.
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