Work For National Unity, Minister Tasks NIPR
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
appealed to the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to use
its network to promote unity in the country, in the wake of discordant
voices threatening the peace and security of the country.
The Minister made the call on Thursday in his address at the Annual
General Meeting of NIPR in Bauchi on Thursday.
“I have decided to take up the (NIPR) President on this offer, by
appealing to the NIPR, which I consider a key stakeholder on national
issues, to use its powerful platform to work for the unity of this
country. That task has never been more urgent than now, against the
background of discordant voices in the country and growing calls for
separation.
“I see the NIPR as a capable partner in the government’s efforts to
douse the tension in the land and beat the drum of unity, rather than
the drum of war,” he said.
Alhaji Mohammed said while it is alright for citizens to call for
restructuring and true federalism, what is not acceptable is the call,
in certain quarters, for secession, stressing that whatever challenges
we face today, as a nation, can and will be surmounted.
“In fact, the Federal Government has set in motion the necessary
machinery to frontally tackle the challenge of insecurity. We should
therefore not allow today’s challenges, whether in the area of the
economy or security, to jeopardize our unity,” he said.
The Minister said without a country that is peaceful and secure, there
can be no development, adding: ”That’s why this administration is
doing everything possible to return peace and security across the
country.”
He also sought the partnership of NIPR in the fight against fake news
and misinformation, which he described as a clear and present danger
to the peace, security and development of any nation.
“Another area in which I want to task the NIPR is the Federal
Government’s fight against fake news and misinformation. The NIPR can
and should leverage its powerful platform to ensure that the menace of
fake news and misinformation is confronted squarely. This is because
this twin evil is a clear and present danger to the peace, security
and development of any nation,” Alhaji Mohammed said.
He urged NIPR to assist the government by ensuring that members of the
Institute do not become accessories to the spread of fake news and
misinformation.
“I say this because some of your members have been found waiting in
this regard, as they have placed pecuniary interests and motives above
professional ethics and patriotism.
”If you recall the sad incident of the P&ID saga, it was a member of
this Institute, a firm of Public Relations Consultants, that was hired
to give the impression to the world that Nigeria indeed entered into
an agreement with P&ID and actually reneged, and as such Nigeria
should pay over US$9 billion.
”It took this Ministry and others to go to the UK to debunk the
misinformation and change the narrative. I
have no doubt that NIPR can prevent a recurrence of this kind of
behaviour on the part of its members,” the Minister said.
Segun Adeyemi
Special Assistant To The President (Media)
Office of the Minister of Information and Culture
Abuja
20 May 2021