The Nigeria Institute of Public Relation (NIPR) held its annual Directors’ Conference in fulfilment of its statutory function designed for Directors and Heads of Public Relations to provide industry-led interactive platform where practitioners in the private and public sectors meet to cross-fertilize ideas, and engage in trending discussions that further enrich practitioners not just to deliver value but also equip them with new skills that enables them be effective in communication responsibilities and responses; etc.
The 2023 edition, which is the eight edition (8.0) in the series had as theme: “The Future of Public Relations: Navigating Digital Innovations.” It is also the first Directors Conference and Retreat to hold since the election of the incumbent President and Chairman of Council NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku, fnipr, and his team of executives.
NewsBits learnt that the key objective of the annual conference, retreat and training was to foster corporate statesmanship and also provide a platform for a shared conversation in the best way among members of the institute.
Known for its tradition of featuring some of the best brains in the industry as faculties, the 2023 edition did not disappoint as it had facilitators both physical and virtual presentations. They include Mr Adetokunbo Modupe, Founder/Chief Consultant, TPT Intl. Ltd; Dr Ike Neliaku fnipr, President & Chairman of Council NIPR; Adaoha Njemanze, Principal Consultant, NOVA Media & Communications; and Yemi Orimolade, Senior Business Program Manager, Microsoft.
There were also Mr Robert Gabor, the Spokesperson, American Embassy, Abuja who virtually presented his goodwill message, while Mr Basil Agboarumi, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Skyway Aviation Handling Company Limited (SHACO) was on hand to kickstart a new addition to the Directors’ Conference and Retreat tagged ‘Best Practice Model,’ which was moderated by Prof. Emmanuel S. Dandaura fnipr, the Vice President and Vice Chairman of Council as well as Chairman, Education Advisory Board of the institute.
The 2023 edition featured other interesting events including a guided tour of some of the historical sites that are scattered across the state including the house where Sir Lord Laggard and his wife, Flora lived to rule over Nigeria and the dilapidated office building from where he declared the amalgamation of the Northern and Southern protectorate, which became the modern-day Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The participants also visited and walked on the road that leads to the jetty where the last shipment of slaves from Nigeria were forced into dungeons at the jetty and loaded in the ships on a journey of no return to Europe and America.
Mr Ubong Ekpe, a tourism enthusiast who led the NIPR participants on the guided tour harped on the millions the state of Akwa Ibom was losing annually due to the inability to maintain and preserve the historical and tourism sites for the much-needed foreign income that they can generate for the state. The 2023 edition of the conference held at the famous Ibom Icon Hotel and Gold Resort, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.