A Bigger National
A Bigger National PR Awards Coming- NIPR President
Sirajo
Mallam Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo is the President of the Nigerian
Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). A graduate of mass
communication, he had served as the spokesperson to six governors
in Kaduna State. The Managing Director of Amax Media, a reputable
PR outfit speaks to the Isah Ismail of the Spokesperson Digest
(https://spokespersonsdigest.com/) in this interview. Excerpts:
How do you intend to reposition NIPR?
My dream was to see the institute compete on an even scale with
other sister institutes across the globe. A lot of effort has gone
into repositioning it. I have done a lot into repositioning it even
before I became president and I have been part of the repositioning
process both as a member of the governing council and subsequently,
as vice president. By time I became president, I was already
familiar with the processes that led to laying of the foundation
for the repositioning process. So, I am just trying to see how I
can contribute my quota by laying the blocks on the already built
foundation. By so doing, we want to see improvement and better NIPR
than we met and inherited. As we are working towards that, by the
grace of God, we will achieve it.
What are you doing towards ensuring that professional
and certified PR persons are involved in image
management?
Well, we are bringing the institute back to the consciousness of
the country by giving the public relations profession more
visibility to make it more respected. We are also ensuring that due
processes are being applied using silent and not so silent
advocacy- in both public and private sectors of our economy. This
will ensure that, only qualified public relations professionals are
assigned with public relations responsibilities. PR is not and
oldcomers job. We have tried to encourage and remind employers both
in the public and private sectors of the legal provision which
criminalize the practice of the profession without required
licensing by the institute which we have been making modest
progress in respect to this. But it is not something we can do
overnight. It’s something that requires time, patience and a lot of
consistencies. But we are assuring that, this institute is on a
higher level now than where we found it.
What is the membership of NIPR?
Well, I can’t give you a precise figure now because we are
currently undergoing a recertification process. But of course, we
are in our hundreds of thousands if not millions and people are
recertifying by the day. Part of the mandate by the law which gave
birth to the council gives us the power to ensure the production of
the membership register which, unfortunately, had not been done in
a very long while. Notwithstanding, we are trying to ensure that it
is created before we leave office. By then, every member of the
institute will have their names in the registers of members very
soon.
Do you have relationships with higher institutions of
learning in promoting the study of PR?
Firstly, we are reviving our collaborations with several
institutions in running public relations courses leading to awards
of certificate ranging from normal certificate, diploma, degrees up
to post-graduate levels. Part of the revival process is the
professional endowment in some higher institutions. Right now, we
have reached out to Bayero University kano, to revive the Muhammad
Sabo Prize for the best graduating public relations student.
Similarly, we are also talking to other institutions of learning
with whom we have collaborations so that we can also institute
prizes to encourage the study of public relations in higher
institutions.
We learnt that you intend to revive the annual PR Awards
at the national level. When will it take place?
I don’t want to give a timeline but, the objective is to
recognize excellence, to encourage people to strive for excellence
not necessarily in the field of PR. The award is a PR award but not
only meant for PR professionals, but the effort is to identify
individuals and organizations who have excelled in various areas of
endeavor. The award in different categories is to reward
excellence, professionalism and outstanding contributions to PR
practice and national development. It’s not going to be like other
regional awards in other countries. The NIPR National Awards will
be better and bigger than what is seen in other climes.
How do you intend to deal with unregistered members and
charlatans claiming to be PR people?
We as an institute don’t have the power to prosecute. The law
says it is a criminal offence to practice the profession without
being a member of the institute. firstly, what we are doing is
trying as much as possible to enlighten the people about the
existence of the law and give them the opportunity to come and
register with the institute if they are qualified. But if they are
not qualified, we will put them through the processes which will
qualify them for membership. The essence is not to punish or
embarrass people; the essence is to make people comply with the
law. If they can do that without ruffling feathers, they do it but,
that does not mean that if ruffling feathers becomes necessary,
they will not do it! Secondly, we intend to take the advocacy
program to the office of the Attorney General of the Federation who
is mandated by the law to establish the institute, to establish a
tribunal to trial those found practicing without being certified.
There are fraudsters who scam and run programs in the name of the
institute, but with all intent and purposes we don’t even know
them. But we are carrying out our intelligence gathering and right
now, we are in court with those we have caught purportedly running
our training programs.
What is your advice to PR Practitioners?
Brace up for a very challenging but exciting profession which is
premised on excellence and truth. This is a profession that
involves relationship building and as well concerned about
reputation building, and reputation is the totality of an
individual: when you don’t have it, your existence too is in
question. They should prepare their minds and be themselves, they
should be honest and see things from a broader perspective because
as a PR professional, you are to deal with different perspective
and the only way to succeed is to be versatile.
Interview conducted by Isah Ismail