A conference of the National Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) in conjunction with the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) will in August examine workable solutions at influencing public policies to resolve post-election conflicts and ease pains of aggrieved persons.
NIPR partnering UNIPORT’s Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, will at the Special Conference and Workshop, billed for August 3rd and 4th, draw from the deliberations, resolutions to be presented to government to forge pathways for “socio-political inclusiveness and economic recovery.”
Harping on the expectations from the coming event yesterday at UNIPORT, Prof Walter Ihejirika, Interim Dean, Faculty of Communication and Media Studies, said, “We, citizens of Nigeria were all here prior, during and after the last elections. No doubt that there were frictions, areas of divisions evident either from the political angle, religious or even from regional angles.
“The rationale for this conference is basically to come up with some ideas we can now present to policy makers. Making social policies is the exclusive right of those in governance. We are only like pressure groups that can present ideas, like advocates who have to let those in governance know what the common man on the street is suffering.
“As public relations practitioners and professionals, as communications scholars, we know our expertise has to go towards healing frictions in the society, providing pathways for uniting society and that is what this conference aims at doing.
“We are hoping to gather our colleagues, the academia and students to come and brainstorm, present papers and the aim of those papers is to draw pathways for socio-political inclusiveness and economic recovery which we believe is very needed in our country today.”