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Tag: NIPR

  • A guru takes the baton at NIPR

    A guru takes the baton at NIPR

    It’s a new dawn as Dr. Rotimi Oladele, former Managing Director, Nigerian Tribune and Managing Director/Chief Executive of Megavons West Africa Limited becomes president of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN profiles on the man.

    One needs no binocular to realise that his frame would quake under a 20-kilogramme load. But, to those who know the consummate technocrat and inspiring study in management cum human capital development, the same figure appears the encapsulation of the features of the proverbial Trojan horse. Meet Public Relations (PR) icon Rotimi Oladele!   An emerging multi-talented leader in Nigeria and West African sub-region, he brought to bear his managerial adroitness during his tenure as Managing Director/Chief Executive of the African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc, publishers of the Tribune titles. Even as Salesman and Relationship Manager at both Longman Nig. Plc and Academy Press Plc at various times, he proved to be a lesson in exemplary diligence.

    Liken him to the palm tree, Oladele has many parts. He is a teacher, an author, a marketer, public relations practitioner and a management/entrepreneurship consultant of no mean order. Yet, the implacable workaholic, who sees challenges as tonic for work, remains the Managing Director/Chief Executive of a frontline transnational empire, Megavons West Africa Limited, which spreads across West Africa.

    Apart from excellently coordinating the home front as well as his religious commitments with no iota of compromise, Oladele drives with other, professional ,including: NIPR, Institute of Directors; Institute of Entrepreneurs; Certified Institute of Marketing Communications; Nigerian Institute of Management and National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria – each of where he is a Fellow. Besides, he is Member, Chartered Institute of Marketing, London; Member, Chartered Institute of Public Relations, London; past Chairman, Publications Committee, Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce; Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and Past Chairman, Publications Committee, Institute of Directors.

    Amid all these, he engages in voluntary services as Executive Secretary, Institute of Entrepreneur. Currently, he is also a senior part-time lecturer at both Lagos State University (MBA Programme) and Babcock University Post Graduate School, besides being the PR & Media Adviser to various non-governmental international bodies and corporate outfits.

    A popular TV security analyst and seasoned journalist, Oladele’s marriage to books, today stands him out as a holder of MSc Public Relations, MSc Corporate Governance; Masters, Business Administration (MBA) and Ph.D, Business Administration, among several others.

    Isn’t it, therefore, incontestable that many a lazy doll would marvel at the fact that on the shoulders of the same man fell, the heavy mantle of running the affairs of the (NIPR), after a fair poll a fortnight ago?

    Perhaps Dr Mande Ismaila, National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Lagos, said it all in his pre-election endorsement of Oladele, a die-hard philanthropist. He had affirmed: “Dr. Rotimi Oladele has all its takes as a professional leader and a team driver to coordinate the business of NIPR in all ramifications.”

    In the same vein, Obiajulu A. Emejulu, a Fellow, NIPR, of Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), said: “I have worked with Rotimi Oladele in the last eight months as a member of the Education Advisory Board of the institute. I have had a rare peep into his keen innovative mind and institution building mien, fed by a voracious appetite for work. I feel we need him now more than he needs us!”

    Many would wonder: Why would this man strain his already burdened neck with NIPR work? How does he rest his overworked nerves? These he squeezed out a few minutes to explain when this reporter visited him at his desk at Megavons Somolu, Lagos office in the week.

    “Did you mention rest? Work is my rest or better put, God has the best answer for that. Even when I sleep, I work,” he said with enthralling emphasis, while at the same time churning out instructions to his subordinates.

    Asked to mention a few of his past contributions to the institute and the profession, Oladele said humbly: “I’m not given to self-praise, but God has enabled me to offer my meagre contributions.”

    Some of them, according to a close source, include: Facilitation of employment for 24 members of the NIPR in different organisations; facilitation of appointment of two NIPR members into the Editorial Board of the Nigerian Tribune and one as a columnist; provision of nine pages of free advertorials for NIPR Chapters/National Secretariat Programmes in the Nigerian Tribune titles and publication of 16 NIPR State Chapter releases within the last 12 months of his tenure as CEO of the newspaper; sponsoring of chapter members to the 1999 National AGM/Conference in Abuja; creation of PR Library at LASU Post Graduate School; facilitation of PR as a course at MBA level in the university; facilitation of the Lagos Centre of Imo State University MBA PR and sponsoring of NIPR-LSC/LASU MBA PR seminar on Pope John Paul’s visit to Nigeria.

    Others, it was learnt, include: Sponsorship of PR Retreat in February 1999 on Managing Corporate Image and Customer Relations; sponsorship of PR Retreat on the Place of PR in Corporate Governance (May 2000); staging of Reputation ’99 in honour of corporate organisations for their PR Consciousness Support.”

    Maintaining that God had endowed him with “sufficient grace” to be on top of his game at the helm of NIPR affairs, Oladele said his charter of service in the council includes: Installing administrative structure that will drive professionalism, competitiveness, development and internally generated revenue; recognition of dead and living professional doyens, veterans and active players; design and marketing of sound global and national programme brands to strengthen the institute for mega financial rewards; team building, role-assignment and effective coordination all over the geopolitical zones; membership drive and sound educational programmes that will breed institutionalised platforms such as monotechnic, study centres and examination centres all over the country; effective collaboration with tertiary institutions and educational regulators on critical areas of benefits to NIPR; international collaboration and global repositioning of NIPR; review of constitution and bye laws, and acquisition of befitting physical/corporate assets including own-built secretariat, automobiles, information technology gadgets, business outfits and subsidiaries.”

    As he was treating some of the files before him while attending to visitors, he, on another breath, was on phone, handling crucial issues suspected to be about his new “baby” – the NIPR.

    Smiling, he intoned: “My brother, service is my life. We will have to … we will have to …” naturally signaling the end of the encounter.

  • NIPR: Need for paradigm shift

    NIPR: Need for paradigm shift

    The emergence of the practice of Public Relations in Nigeria dates back the years following the end of the Second World War. That was when the spirit of nationalism began to flourish. Colonialism and its attendant subjugation of the people’s will was becoming louder and louder and the colonial powers found it expedient to begin to control the damage of misrules as much as possible. This gave rise to the application of public relations strategies through the massive use of information techniques.

    In 1963 some young Nigerians, notably, the late Sam Epelle, Ikaz Yakubu, Tony William, Late H.K. Offonry and Bob Ogbuagu formed Public Relations Association of Nigeria in Lagos. Gradually, this association spread Enugu and Ibadan.

    Then, a substantial number of other practitioners came in by the sheer nature of their functions hence they learnt it on the job.

    As the profession began to be widely accepted and membership expanded, the name was changed to Nigerian Institute of Public Relations.

    From 1963 to 1990 when the profession was officially given a legal status, it was that of cumulative efforts resulting in tremendous growth of the profession. It was during that period that when the pioneering leaders, particularly Alex Akinyele and Mike Okereke, did everything to ensure that the profession was given its right of place within the nation’s socio-economic and political life.

    Achievements then included the growth in membership, the streamlining of the admission of members, the granting of fellowship, the classification of membership into student, affiliate, associate, member and fellow. Two chairs were also established at the University of Nigeria and Ibadan offering Masters of Art Degree in Public Relations, Master of Science Degree in Public Relations.

    Although each of the national presidents of the institute made contributions towards its growth and development, it was during the tenure of Okereke that some major achievements were accomplished. These include; the granting of legal recognition to the institute in what is now known as Decree 16, of 1990 which recognized the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations as the sole authority to regulate practice of Public Relations in Nigeria. Although it began during the regime of Akinyele who gave a vital push before the end of his tenure, Okereke, capitalizing on his experience as a top functionary of the United African Company, UAC, was well placed to diversify the profession and the institute.

    One of his major achievements was to secure the granting of government subvention as an arm of the Federal Ministry of Information. Apart from the formalization of entry requirements, regular seminars and workshops were organized by the institute from which it receives a substantial sum of money and establishment of Sam Epelle annual lecture. Besides, most of the public and private corporate bodies were persuaded to employ only registered members of the institute as their public relations staff. It will not be an exaggeration to say that Okereke’s era was the golden era of the institute. Public relations began to be highly recognized, respected and factored into high echelon of management of several organizations. The PR practitioner was seen as no longer a man who carries portfolio or a glorious messenger, but as a well cultured, groomed and admired corporate officer or manager.

    However, things began to take a gradual decline from the tenure of Sabo Mohammed, particularly in the area of proliferation of fellowship and admission of sometimes not so qualified members. Things had in fact gotten bad when Mohammed left.

    When Jibade Oyekan came in as President, things were no longer in good shape. Oyekan’s regime lasted for only two years. At the AGM of 2001 in Owerri, Oyekan, who, in my mind would have done better if he had been given enough chance, was voted out.

    It must be mentioned that Bobo Brown’s era saw a serious effort to collectively give the Nigerian nation a new reputation among the comity of nations. However, his era which stretched from 2001 to 2005 was characterized by belligerence which invariably alienated some senior leaders of the institute and government officials particularly in the Ministry of Information. His support for the highly respected scholar and marketing professional, Prof. Ike Nwosu to take over from him did not go down well with many members who had thought that the Presidency should have gone to the South-West. His emergence would dampen the professional spirit of many members.

    Another sour issue was the enthronement of Frank Tamuno Coco as chairman of Board of Fellows in which he has remained till this day for more than 12 years running. Unfortunately, he used the position to ensure that only those who would support any presidential candidate anointed by him and Bobo. That was why Nwosu replaced Bobo and that was how Abdullah Mohammed emerged to replace Nwosu. By this arrangement, mediocrity was installed over meritocracy and the fortunes of the institute began to decline. Nwosu helped in no small measure to rectify the anomalies in the appointment of fellows and in addition to ensuring the setting up of Education Board which has done very well to sanitize admission.

    Thus, the new paradigm shift which a new council is expected to embrace among other things must ensure that the “near perpetuity” of the chairmanship of Board of Fellows is changed and made only for the person to serve four years; appointment of Fellows through examination is not achieving its objectives because some fellow appointed through the so-called examination process between 2004 till date did not write the submitted projects themselves. They simply got some more qualified members or even their staff to write them for them. A more decent and or transparent method must be fashioned out beginning with the rule that nobody can become a Fellow, unless he has been on the membership status for 10 years. This rule has been grossly abused. Besides, venue for holding AGM must not be left at the whims and caprices of the President who would always set the date and venue to serve his parochial interest; the current council members to certain extent have not honestly asserted their authority. The administrative and secretarial matters must be streamlined in which case Registrar must be allowed to help make inputs into certain decision and not as a mere “party” scribe. This must go with the complete auditing of the past finances of the institute.

    The 2013 AGM should ensure that the next President come from the South-west to ensure equity. Unfortunately, the institute has not responded to the yearning that women should be carried along in many issue of national concern. No female has ever served as the President or even Vice President of the Institute. The paradigm shift must include this.

    • Osuji, OON, FNIPR writes from Owerri, Imo State

  • NIPR praises strides

    The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Ondo State chapter, has praised Prof. Femi Mimiko’s achievements recorded at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State since becoming Vice-Chancellor nearly four years ago.

    Chairman of the institute, Mr Gbenga Abimbola, spoke when a delegation from the Ondo State chapter of the institute visited Prof Mimiko.

    Abimbola said: “Your achievements as the chief executive in the last few years speak for themselves. There is no gainsaying the fact that you have within a short period repositioned the university for a better and effective service delivery, as both academic and non-academic staff are now more alive to their responsibility.”

    While congratulating AAUA on its 14th Founder’s Day anniversary, Mr. Abimbola, who also lectures in the Mass Communication Department of the university, noted that the institution has made its mark among its competitors in Nigeria and beyond.

    Responding, the Vice Chancellor, thanked the NIPR delegation for the visit and for acknowledging the modest efforts being made by his administration.

     

     

  • NIPR gets students chapter

    The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Plateau State chapter, has inaugurated a students’ section of the institute at the University of Jos (UNIJOS).

    At the induction held in Law auditorium, chairman of the chapter said the idea was to enable students have a better understanding of what the profession entails in the global environment.

    The Vice-Chancellor, Prof Hayward Mafuyai, praised NIPR for preparing the students for the challenges ahead.

    The guest speaker, Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo, a member of NIPR Governing Council, spoke on Stepping Into the world of PR: The benefits and responsibilities. He outlined various attributes of a public relations practitioner to include integrity, reputation, creativity and law-abiding.

    He said public relations practitioners have the responsibility of portraying the image of an individual, organisation and government in good light and to maintain positive client relationship, develop media contacts, write and issue press releases periodically, plan appearances and events as well as ensure that the organisation added value to the lives of the citizens they serve.

    NIPR national president Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi, said UNIJOS students were the first to benefit from such a gesture. He added that public relation is about truth and courage.

    The event also featured the presentation of certificates of membership to the new members.

  • NIPR inaugurates Education Board

    NIPR inaugurates Education Board

    The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) has inaugurated its Education Advisory Board. It is chaired by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Megavons West Africa Limited, Dr Rotimi Oladele.

    Inaugurating the Board at the National Secretariat, Abuja, the institute’s President and Chairman, Governing Council, Alhaji Mohammed Abdullahi gave the board’s mandate as including harmonisation of training programmes of the NIPR National Secretariat and the various state chapters, building professional standards in terms of quality individual membership; credible practice and licensing standards; reliable internally-generated revenue (IGR) to prosecute infrastructural, operational and vital projects expenses.

    Others include extensive and symbiotic networks with education stakeholders by putting in place a powerful team for accrediting public relations courses in tertiary institutions and partnership for mass membership through streamlined curriculum strategy among the NIPR School, NIPR Certificate/Diploma Examination and other educational institutions with public relations sequences.

    Abdullahi said: “By the Council’s resolution as endorsed by the last annual general meeting in Akure, no state chapter is authorised to hold any training programme outside its area of jurisdiction or enter into any partnership for training programmes outside Nigeria without due recourse to the NIPR Education Advisory Board.”

    The Board members at the event included: Dr Mustapha Malam, Bayero University Kano; Dr Tyotom Keghku, Benue State University, Makurdi; Dr Andee Iheme, Abubarkar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi; Dr Alfred Edema, Western Delta University, Oghara; Hajia Lantana Ahmed, Nasarawa State University, Keffi; and Dr Stephen Adebayo, NIPR Registrar/Secretary.

    Other co-opted members include Prof Lai Osho, Lagos State University, Ojo; Prof Obiajulu Emejulu, Federal University of Technology, Owerri; Prof Emmanuel Dandaura, Nasarawa State University, Keffi; Sir Joseph Ari, Industrial Training Fund, Jos; Willy Ogbidi, NIPR School, Lagos; Mr Mukhtar Sirajo, NIPR Council Member, Kaduna; Mallam Sule Tau Sule, Kano State Chapter, and Mrs Comfort Ukwela, NTA, Makurdi, among others.