A foremost public relations guru, Malam Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, has been elected the President of Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR).
Sirajo, who served as Vice President of the Institute from 2013 to 2018, was elected President at the end of the Institute’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Umuahia, Abia State.
Also elected is Comptroller of Customs, Wale Adeniyi, as Vice President alongside 15 other members of the Governing Council of the Institute.
The Institute is run by a 22-member Governing Council made up of 17 elected members and five nominees of the Federal Government. The tenure is two years.
A public relations Czar, Sirajo served seven governors of Kaduna State, both military and civilian as Chief Press Secretary (CPS) and Special Adviser & Director-General (Media & Publicity) between 1992 and 2007. After the election, Sirajo thanked members for finding him worthy to lead them.
Unveiling his agenda, he vowed that the fight against quackery would be sustained.
While committing to ensuring a strict and professional compliance with the provisions of Decree 16 of 1990, which criminalises the practice of Public Relations (both corporate and individual) without certification by the Institute, he also declared that the Institute would ensure the production of comprehensive membership register as well as proper placement of PR practitioners in the Public service, among others.
He appealed to practitioners to intensify efforts at exposing themselves to further trainings “given the dynamic nature of the profession in this fast changing world”. The NIPR President also called on Nigerians to “employ the culture of constant constructive engagement rather than the mistrust and suspicion that seem to drive some aspects of our national life”.
He assured that the Institute was prepared to partner with governments at all levels as well as non-governmental outfits, in efforts aimed at solidifying the unity of the country, hinting that the Institute will spearhead the convoking of a reputation summit at which such issues and others could be subjected to robust and objective analyses with a view to engendering an atmosphere of peace “without which no development can take place”.
