FCT MINISTER CHARGES PR PRACTITIONERS ON PERCEPTION MANAGEMENT
By: Prudence Okonna
The FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello has charged Public Relations practitioners to devise means of ensuring positive public perception of the country.
Mallam Bello, who gave this charge when he received a delegation of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), led by its National President, Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo on a courtesy visit to the FCT Administration, said that such step will be in the overall interest of the nation.
The Minister while calling on the NIPR to be diligence in the continuous education of its members, emphasized the need to dedicate time toward curbing the excesses of non-members, who pose as PR practitioners and spread negativity.
His words: “The greatest service your Institute can do to the nation is to be able to find a way of reigning in on these people that are really now out there creating havoc. One negative news becomes viral and before you know it, it’s everywhere with its multiplier effect. It is very important for you to see how you can handle that”.
Earlier, the National President, Mallam Muktar Sirajo, had solicited the support of the FCT Administration for the successful hosting of the grand finale of the NIPR Citizens Summit of National Integration, Peace and Unity scheduled to take place in Abuja.
Mallam Sirajo, who attributed the root cause of Nigeria’s problems to the breakdown of positive relationships within the society described the Summit as “providing Nigerians with a platform to come together and talk with ourselves, rather than talk to ourselves because we have always found comfort in sitting at our comfort zones and hauling invectives at one another, everybody believing that they are the saints and the other party is the devil.
He thanked the Minister for the support the Institute has always enjoyed from the FCTA.