The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations NIPR is seeking to place traditional institutions at the centre of global conversations on responsible communication, with plans to incorporate their role in promoting peace, community relations and national cohesion into the proposed Abuja Declaration.
The initiative, announced by NIPR President, Dr. Ike Neliaku, at the October monthly meeting of the Institute’s FCT Chapter, is part of efforts to expand the frontiers of professional public relations beyond conventional institutional communication.
The Institute believes royal fathers have an important role in shaping public understanding, promoting responsible engagement and strengthening relationships between communities and institutions.
Forty-eight years after the 1978 Mexico Statement on Public Relations, Nigeria is preparing to give the world another declaration on the profession.
But this time, the NIPR wants the voices and experiences of traditional rulers reflected in the global framework. Dr. Neliaku, says a special session for traditional rulers has been introduced at the forthcoming World Public Relations Forum in Abuja, to examine how responsible communication can strengthen grassroots peace, community relations and social cohesion.
For the guest lecturer at the monthly meeting, Olusola Odumosu, this responsibility has become even more critical in an era where misinformation spreads rapidly and institutional silence can undermine public confidence.
Odumosu, who examined responsible communication in Nigeria’s security sector, stressed that timely information must go hand in hand with accuracy, transparency and sensitivity.
The Etsu Kwali, His Royal Highness Luka Ayedoo Nizassan III, drawing from his previous experience as a public relations officer in the Nigerian Correctional Service, says traditional institutions serve as important communication bridges between government and the people.
As Nigeria prepares to host the World Public Relations Forum, WPRF, in Abuja, the call from the NIPR FCT Chapter meeting is for communication to become more than the exchange of information, but a strategic instrument for building public trust, strengthening institutions and sustaining national cohesion.
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Editor: Terverr Tyav
