Secession not an option, says NIPR President

President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) Malam Mukhtar Sirajo has said it would not be in the interest of the country to secede.

He said the current agitation for secession in some parts of the country has been worsened by the failure of the government to acknowledge the role of proper communication in dousing ethnic tension, which is the core duty of the NIPR.

The NIPR President, who spoke with our correspondent on the sidelines of the combined Sixth Convocation Ceremony for the graduands of NIPR Professional Certificate and Diploma Programmes held in Lagos, said relationship in Nigeria has become “frail.”

No fewer than 259 graduands were churned out in the two programmes with a charge on them to project the integrity of the profession and be good ambassadors of the country.

Similarly, the NIPR inducted 56 new members who have now become professional PR practitioners in addition to the 122 inducted virtually on Thursday March 25.

The President said the agitation for secession would have been nipped in the bud if the government had engaged the services of NIPR to communicate effectively to all ethnic nationalities.

He advocated for a more united country, saying secession would not be in the interest of anybody.

Provost of the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NIJ), Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, who chaired the convocation ceremony, said the present moment calls for intelligent, skilled, strategic thinkers as professional perception managers in public and private sectors to confront the challenges of nation building.