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By Larry Mogbeyiteren and Chinenye Ezonfade

In a privileged encounter with Nigeria’s former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, GCFR, participants from Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC) visited him  after the maiden but highly incisive NIPR week-long conference at Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Saturday, April 27, 2024.

The former president accorded his visitors a warm reception with a call on them to to further expand the frontiers of the reputation management function of Public Relations practitioners in the country.

He called on PR practitioners to get fully involved at all stages of preparing an organisation or Government programme so that the end result will be credible and remarkable

Responding to the briefing by the team leader, Mrs. Chinenye Ezonfade and Head of the Department of Community Development and Public Enlightenment on the essence of the conference at Abeokuta, Chief Obasanjo in agreement,  said rather than being restricted to just projecting and managing the image and reputation of the organisation or nation, it makes more sense for PR practitioners to be directly and fully involved in the making and shaping the product in the first instance, given the burden of accountability yoked on them for effective image management.

Obasanjo said: “It does not make sense to just be confined to managing and positively projecting the image or reputation of an organisation or a country without more. I would rather suggest that the public relations practitioner should be fully involved in the actual preparation and manufacture of the product.

“You are aware that certain products can be very bad and unsellable. So, how do you market such products to the public and indeed the world?

“You must therefore get fully involved at all stages so that the end result will be credible and remarkable,” he said.

The brief outing was no doubt an eye opener, as the team had a photo session with the former president as well as went on a guided tour of the famous Presidential Library complex where some colleagues enjoyed a boat ride, even as others visited the wildlife area.

The team returned thereafter with a BOLDLY PUBLIC RELATIONS adrenalin to put sight and sound into active practice.

On the team:

– Mrs. Chinenye Ezonfade
– Larry Mogbeyiteren, Esq.
– Mr. Boniface Nzesi Ossai
– Mrs. Joyce Akpalikpo
– Mrs. Francisca Okoro

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