Quackery: GOCOP, NIPR strikes accord to stamp out the trend

In a bid to fight and stamp out quacks, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) is set to collaborate to take the bulls by the horn.

The decision was taken on Monday when Executive members of NIPR led by its President, Dr Ike Neliaku, paid a courtesy visit to the leadership of the GOCOP in Abuja.

President of GOCOP, Maureen Chigbo, was represented on the occasion by GOCOP Deputy President, Danlami Nmodu, mni.

Speaking why the courtesy visit was necessary, Neliaku said that “whatever we set out to do, we will be guided by the NIPR Act.  For anybody to hold out as a professional of Public Relations (whether as press secretary, special adviser or assistant on communication, etc), if the person is not registered with the NIPR, he is a quack and carrier of fake identity.

“Such a person can be sued, then fined or jailed or even both sanctions could be combined.  Besides, the organization that employed that person is also liable to sanction.”

He said that people who were employed to speak for organisations were taught to do it very well, pointing out that the NIPR had set up a Compliance and Enforcement Team to ensure this was achieved.

The NIPR president stated that the Institute had received a plethora of complaints from organisations about impostors who paraded as professionals, stressing that it was high time both NIPR and GOCP collaborated to stem this negative tide and smoke out quacks from both public relations and journalism professions.

Read him: “Our targets are your enemies out there who are also our enemies (referring to fake journalists in the online media space and in the traditional print and broadcast media).Neliaku, who said the NIPR was excited about the partnership with GOCOP, said

“we consider your online media constituency as an important aspect of nation-building, and you are a strategic partner to the NIPR.”

He said that the courtesy call was to underscore the importance the NIPR attached to “the work you are doing and the work of GOCOP has been speaking for GOCOP.  We are here because we have recognized your contribution and we sincerely consider you a strategic partner.”

The NIPR boss took the opportunity to inform GOCOP of its forthcoming National Spokespersons’ Award ceremony holding in Abuja from March 25 to 28, 2024.

He said that spokespersons played significant roles in communication and information dissemination because, according to hm, “what we say commands a lot of attention within and outside Nigeria.”

According to him, “the award will help us to build a framework for spokespersons in Nigeria.”He also disclosed that the NIPR was on another initiative christened: REBIRTH Nigeria, which he explained was anchored on four pillars of value reorientation, citizen education, service excellence and promotion of made-in-Nigeria products.

As part of the consummation of the NIPR-GOCOP partnership, Neliaku said that the Governing Council of the Institute had decided to give two members of GOCOP waivers to attend the award ceremony, pointing out that the waiver had taken care of the sum of N800,000 that GOCOP would ordinarily have paid for the two slots.

He also indicated the Institute’s plan to seamlessly induct two members of GOCOP into the membership of the NIPR, and encouraged the exco of GOCOP to collaborate with it to make this happen ahead of the next induction.

Neliaku had earlier commended the idea of setting up GOCOP to sanitise the online media space, along the lines of professionalism, regulation and control “so that people do not do things that are questionable in the name of GOCOP.”He rounded off with a passionate appeal:

“Let us work together to protect journalism and our profession.”Danlami Nmodu, who represented the GOCOP president, described the courtesy visit as signposting one of GOCOP’s best days.

According to him: “we have fortified partnership with a strategic institution.  We accept the offer of partnership and membership into the NIPR.  I will communicate the outcomes of this visit to the President of GOCOP.”

GOCOP nembers present during the visit were Tom Chiahemen, Tajudeen Kareem, Sufuyan Ojeifo, Kemi Yesufu, Max Amuchie, Celestine Okafor, and Olumide Bajulaiye, among others.On the side of NIPR were, among others Prof Okey Okechukwu, Mohammed Kudu Abubakar, Prof Emma Dandaura, Yushai Shaibu, and Chinwe Ogbukwe.