For not acknowledging the achievement of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration, the opposition in Nigeria is unserious and very disdainful of the truth, information minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said.
Besides, Mohammed also accused the opposition of deliberately perpetually blind to the monumental achievements of this Administration.
He spoke yesterday in Abuja at the inauguration of the Nigeria Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) governing council.
The minister noted that opposition has made the practice of government perception managers very difficult with the speed at which it spew out fake news.
He said: โIt is a tough time to be a public relations practitioner. I should know. At the Annual Conference and General Meeting of the NIPR in Ilorin in April 2017, I did say that for the Government Perception Manager, whether he or she is the Minister of Information, Commissioner for Information, Spokespersons for the President or Governor or for any government agency, it is an almost impossible task these days.
โToday, that observation is more valid than when I first made it in 2017 โ especially for the Government Perception Managers. This is because we have an opposition that is unserious, very disdainful of the truth, lacks ideas and believes that being in opposition means crying wolf where there is one and spewing out fake information at the speed of light! Where is the seriousness in an opposition party throwing out a spurious figure of 10 trillion as the amount of money that has been looted under the present administration? What is Nigeriaโs annual national budget?
โHow do you react to an opposition that is deliberately perpetually blind to the monumental achievements of this Administration?
He however noted that the current administration has recorded a number of unprecedented achievements, seen and acknowledged by Nigerians who have benefitted from them, even when opposition said they have not seen them.
โWhile naysayers say they have not seen all these achievements, Nigerians who are benefitting directly from them have testified to the reality of the successes. โ he said.
While also identifying the social media as another wedge to professionalism in the practice of public relations in the country, the minister however urged practitioners not to be tied of project ting the image of their establishment.
He said, โI said the challenges faced daily by the perception managers have been made tougher by the Social Media, that the challenges have defied everything the practitioner may have been taught about perception management, public relations and all, and that the government spokesperson, in order to succeed, must be a Cicero, a Socrates, an Albert Einstein and a Machiavelli all rolled into one.
โPublic relations practitioners, whether working for government or not, must never be tired of projecting the image of their establishments, even when some people decide to play the blind or the spoiler. They must never be discouraged or allow themselves to be disenchanted. Yes, it is a tough job, but if they donโt do it, no one else will.โ
In his remark, Mukhtar Sirajo, President and Chairman of the governing council want public and private sectors against appointing non-professionals as spokespersons.
โTherefore, only trained and certified public relations professionals are invited to deliver the needed quality service in this regard. Accordingly, the NIPR enabling law, which is an Act of the National Assembly, criminalizes the current practice where non-public relations professionals are appointed to discharge public relations duties in government offices and Organizations as spokespersons or communication managers,โ he said.
This Sirajo said will help check the dissemination of fake news and hate speeches.
He also decried the idea of engaging foreign public relations firms by political parties and candidates, a practice he said could jeopardize the security and stability of the country.
The newly elected president also hinted of NIPRโs idea of constituting the tribunal to check unwholesome activities of people practicing public relations.
