The Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN) has announced that the newly-elected President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Mallam Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo, will be the Chairman at its forth-coming Gold Medal Lecture.
The event is set to hold on Friday, May 4, 2018, at Radisson Blu Hotel, Isaac John Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos by 10am.
The 2018 PRCAN Gold Medal lecture will be delivered by Prof. Emevwo Anselm Biakolo, the founding Dean of the School of Media and Communications at the Pan-Atlantic University, Lagos. He will speak on “Communicating Effectively in the Era of Fake News, Alternative Facts and Post-Truth.”
According to PRCAN President, John Ehiguese, after the lecture, there will be a discussion panel to be moderated by Mr. Frank Aigbogun, Publisher of Businessday newspaper.
Prof. Biakolo earned his doctorate degree at the age of 31 with Culture and Communication as his areas of study. He had been a lecturer at his alma mater, the University of Ibadan and also at the University of Botswana.
A former member of the editorial board of The Guardian, Prof. Biakolo returned from Botwsana in 2007 to take up appointment as the Director of the Centre for Media and Communication at the Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos; and became the first Dean of the School of Media and Communications a year later.
Prof. Biakolo is a thought leader and highly respected voice in Communications.
Mallam Sirajo was elected NIPR President and Chairman of Council last week at the 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Institute held in Umuahia, the Abia State capital. He had been NIPR Vice President since 2013 and served seven different governors in Kaduna State as Chief Press Secretary, Special Adviser and Director-General (Media and Publicity) between 1992 and 2007.
The PRCAN Gold Medal Lecture was instituted in 2013 as a platform for sharing knowledge and ideas on issues that will enhance the political and economic development of Nigeria. The inaugural lecture was delivered by Dr Kayode Fayemi, the then Governor of Ekiti State. He spoke on: “The Imperative of Policy Communication in Deepening Democracy and Good Governance.”
PRCAN is legally chartered by a By-Law No. 3, 1993, of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), to cater to the interests of the consultancy side of PR practice in Nigeria. The sectoral body of public relations consultancy practice in Nigeria currently has a membership of over 50 firms who provide services across at least 21 PR practice areas.
