NIPR holds 40th anniversary, inducts newexco he Nigerian Institute of Public Relatio - (NIPR), Chapter has T held its 40th anniversary with the indue tion of new executive members to pilot the af. fairs of the Institute for the next two years. Performing the inauguration, Chairman of the occasion and distinguished fellow of the In stitute, Semllo Bobo Sotiri Brown charged thJ new executive to be pragmatic in ensuring tha public relations practitioners and organisa· tions observe tenets of public relations in areas of human endeavours. Brown said the practice has come a long wa: in Cross River State, and indeed , tha \nore and more persons are realising the pJac, of public relations in the growth of organisa­ Celebration of media excellence, tions, governments at all levels and the society: He said with this awareness, public and pri­ vate organisations are recording successes as NMMA returns to their services to the people, in terms of outpt increased patronage and favourable feedbacks. I be graced by His ExcelleDCl! Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola He called on. those yet to identifY SToRies: lEoNARo OKAcHIE of and other governors from the South-western zone ,Institu.te Jn:the state, whether In the of Nigeria as well as chief executives of both private and public ~- or- Spcmsorshlp,. to ta11 tap :-or·bie i)Iatrorm. ·as · tile govel-n"IIKmt e grand presentation of award ceremony of the annual organisations fureign diplomats, merua veterans and practitio­ igeria Merna Merit Award (NMMA) is set to hold ori ners in attendance. The industry host is MallamLabaranMaku, Senator has created will December 8, 2ll12 at the prestigious Eko Hotel and Suites, honourable Minister of Information and Communication. vironment and demonstrated the to Ti the Institute support it requires Victoria Island, Lagos. The NMMA is the most anticipated me­ According to the Project CoordinatDl; M!: Dayo Adetukasi, the to his remarks, host of the rna event that celebrates and rewards distinguished meWa prac- the NMMA scheme, which was inaugurated by veteran merua I In Cross Commissioner for - _titioners and organisations that have been ou1standing in the practitionersledbythe~ofN~~~~~~ River State -- -past yeru: mail Babatunde Jose, over 2ll years ago as a not.for-profit merua tion, Chief Akin Ricketts recalled the relationship the Ministry has been With over 1, llXl entries received fur NMMA 2ll12 award, win­ development institution, will continue to consistently fuster the lrtic with the Institute in the since ners will be unveiled from the 51 categories of awards during growth and development of merua practice in Nigeria through mg state ,?fhen active the grand presentation programme renowned as the largest the various developmental programmes r:L the award scheme. the'NIPR"begmrwith contribu~ ObcJDg gathering of practitioners, veterans and stakeholders of the Ni­ The NMMA event have been hosted across the six geo-politi­ tioDs of late- A.R Akpan, late MI: Obollg do and Chief geria merua inl:lustijl The NMMA Panel of Assessors (POA), led cal zones mNigeria, including the Federal Capi1al Territory un­ ~ - lUa; • ~ate a.wu der the erstwhile Chairman d the NMMA Board of Trustees, "Y\:Jsuf: by the Acting Chairman, Prc:t"essor RalphAkinfeleye, noted that said: "The Nl&erian: Institute ,.,...... there is a growing competition amongmerua writers and an in­ Albaji Alade Odunewu fuge, fcja, OFR, to promote merua excel­ crease in the involvement in the award scheme by practitioners lence and national development in Nlgeria. I ReiatioDs (NJPR)._m in the electronic media The maiden edition of the NMMA event was held in La­ According to Prot: Akinfeleye, there is still much to be done gos in 1992 with the attendance of the then President of Ni­ by practitioners in Radio and Television organisations in order geria and first Grand Patron of NMMA, General Ibrahim to meet global best merua practice_ HoweY~!!; other members of Badamosi Babangida(GCFR) and was consistently held in the NMMA POA lamented the mediocrity by some media prac­ Lagos until2002, after which the event was hosted in Abuja titioners and lack of indepth knowledge an toPical issues they in 2003 by the then FCT Ministei; Mallam Nasir El-Rufai wock an and the seemingly lack of creativity and investigative Other hosts were Port Harcourt () in 2004 by journalism amimg practitioners toda.J[ The POA rommends the the then Governor Peter Odili, Bauchi () in dexterity of this :year's awardees to be unvei1ed an December 8, . 2005 by the then Governor Adamu Muazu, Dorin (Kwara 2ll12 despite the various challenges bedeviling the Nigeria me­ State) in 2006 by the then Governor., Osog­ rna industr)l bo () in 'JJKfl by the then Governor Olagunsoye The~ of the NMMA 2ll12 evert 'MlUid be the JB'I!SI!Il­ Oyinlola, Kano () in 2008 by the then Governor tatiooof the.Lili!timeAchiiM!mentAwardir MediaEm!lleDce , () in 2009 by Gov­ to Alhaji Maitama"SUie, Pa Sam Amuka-Pemu and Chief AJi-" ernor SUllivan Chime and Lagos (Lagos State) m2010 and bola Ogunsbola fir their distinctive roles and"CDJtribul:kns to Akure () in :zoit by Governor · the media industry and NJgerla as a wboJe_ and now in 2012, the cemtre oC excellence Is ready to host Tbis :year's grand award }nSeUtatioo in Lap Is expecll!d.to the NMMA Awards for Media Excellence again_ --0-Wortd Bank tasks media on statistical literacy particularly in getting inirmatlon of such d3ta to TCLAAicNMM be~ A8UJA E!ld users and getting theirfeedbadL Gaugris, wbo noted that it 'MlUid be bllhardy fir any coun­ World Bank has charged Nigerian journalists towock try to expect~ without giving due CODSideration to clalelywith sfal!pholcJen inwlvl!d in enhancing the qual­ p:oductlm and deiNely of statistical data, lamented that in tbe TIIty of the natim's statistical system, as a strategic step years befure the oogoing TransliJnnatim Agenda, Nigeria had tuwardseducatingusers of atl'lcialstatistlcS and by imp!icatim, paid little «r 110 attention 1D atl'lcial statistics development with achieving the broad policy oiJjectiws of thli Vlsim 20::ml Eco­ the attendant negative implirati

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