NIPR holds Dr Sam Epelle memorial lecture in Delta, honours Gov Okowa

The Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) is set to hold its Dr Sam Epelle Memorial Gold Paper lecture today, Monday, at Asaba, capital of Delta State.

Addressing newsmen after an assessment of some legacy projects of Governor Okowa across the state, the institute’s President and Chairman of Council, Mallam Mukhtar Sirajo hinted of its plans to convoke a summit on security, peace and national integration, as the institute honours Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for purposeful leadership today.

He said that the proposed summit was to strengthen mutual relationships and build trust among the nation’s component parts of the country.

‘’We want to bring back a Nigeria where we will use our diversity for what it was meant by God; as a blessing and opportunity for all of us to come together and bring our individual and collective endowments to the table for the general good of the whole.

According to Sirajo, who was accompanied by Special Adviser to the Governor on Neighbourhood Watch, Emma Ogidi, ‘’This is why it is important to bring Nigerians together for us to talk among ourselves rather than sit in our comfort zones and hauling blames at one another.

‘’So, the Citizens’ Summit on National Integration, Peace and Security is meant to bring the country back to the path of sanity to find out what the problem of the country is.

‘’This will be a journey towards finding genuine solutions to our problems as a people and we believe that communication is a crucial part that we cannot afford to ignore.

‘’We believe that the proposed summit is different from every other conference convoked before now because, NIPR being a profession premised on building, developing and mending relationships, is such that it is suitably placed as a profession that can provide a neutral platform for looking at the relationship problems of this country.

‘’This proposed summit is a citizen-driven initiative; it will not just be done by the NIPR. Although we are driving the process, we are doing so in conjunction with about 60 other organizations, associations and all Nigerians of goodwill who believe that this country has the potential to be great again’’ he said.

Impressed by some of the legacy projects visited, Mallam Sirajo said that Governor Okowa will be invested as a patron of the institute in a Memorial lecture to honour its founding member, Sam Epelle.

Earlier the Obi of Owa, HRM Emmanuel Efeizomor stressed that Nigeria was passing through a phase of its history while recommending the adoption of public relations to addressing the country’s challenges and restoring it to its glory days.

‘’Nigeria should build a new attitudinal projection, work towards the development of human relations. I cannot think of anybody telling me that Nigeria should break; if we break, where do we go to? Countries that have broken, at one point, still seek to come back together’’ the monarch said.

The projects visited include the State Central Secretariat, the Asaba Specialist Hospital (ASH), the storm drainages and the Film Village located in the state capital, and the Teachers Professional Development Centre (TPDC) as well as Federal Road Safety Training School in Owa-Aler