In 1978, the Public Relations professionals across the globe gathered in Mexico to among other aims chart a course, and stir the ship of public relations practice. The gathering proposed and adopted a highly influential definition of public relation which it tagged; The Mexican statement.It says; “Public relations practice is the art and social science of analyzing trends, predicting their consequences, counseling organization leaders and implementing planned programmes of action which will serve both organization’s and the public interest. Ii has since become the most acceptable definition of public relations and assumed a guiding compass for image makers/spokespersons across the…
Author: JEROME-MARIO UTOMI
Since the past two decades when democracy re-emerged on the nation’s political space, the country has in the face of varying challenges matched successfully as a democratic nation. Considering this long duration, it will not be an overstatement to conclude that the nation has finally and permanently terminated military rule in the country. However, despite this achievement, there is one major ill that democracy has not been able to terminate. Its name is corruption. Corruption, according to Wikipedia, is a form of dishonesty or criminal offense undertaken by a person or organization entrusted with a position of authority, to acquire…
Prior to 2017, when The federal government during one of the federal executive council meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari decided to stop Nigeria’s membership of 90 international organisations, as a result of a backlog of $120 million in membership dues and other financial commitments, the nation reportedly belonged to about 310 international organizations. These organizations include; Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Permanent Court of Arbitration, United Nations Organization (HNO), United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), United Nations High Commissioner for…
In the words of Justin Merkins, a world acclaimed management consultant, there are clear thinkers, muddled thinkers and people that fall in between. Clear thinkers -are the ones that can cull everything down into the right points-are very hard to find. But if you get yourself a team of clear thinkers, the possibilities are endless. These are men who see tomorrow, trailblazers and high level executives, but most often misunderstood by some fellow countrymen still stuck in the old normal of yesterday. From the above outlined attributes of clear thinkers, it will not be considered an overstatement to conclude that…
Prior to the recent ‘youths revolt’ in the country which got the young Nigerians once described as ‘lazy’ busy on and off the social media platforms and led to alignment and realignment of opinions as well as resulted in the proliferation of leadership related associations, I have had the opportunity to read with rapt attention about the danger of building a nation without the youths, written by some prominent and well foresighted Nigerians on one hands and relatively controversial citizens as well. It was against this backdrop that this piece stems to among other aims examine and weaves together the spiraling counter,…
In the month of December 2019, an opinion article entitled; Sowore, And Silence from Unusual Quarters’’ by this author appeared in some national dailies. It precisely focussed on the protracted roller-coaster relationship that existed between the Nigerian Department of Security Services (DSS) and Omoyele Sowore, a Nigerian human rights activist, pro-democracy campaigner, former presidential candidate, and founder of an online news agency Sahara Reporters, whos was arrested by the DSS on August 3, 2019, after calling for a protest tagged Revolution-Now. Essentially, despite the fact that at that time, the executive was accused by Nigerians with critical minds of abridgement of…
With the prevailing harsh economic situation in the country, a state of depression (or is it a recession) that has been designed by yet to be established architects, coupled with the EndSARS protest by the youth which locked the nation’s socioeconomic activities for close to two weeks but enjoyed the support from wide spectrum of well-meaning Nigerians of diverse background, profession, religion and tribe, is there any evidence left untendered to convince uncritical minds that Nigeria as a nation is faced with political and socio-economic challenges? Again, recognizing the nation’s present federal structure which stands in an inverted pyramid shape…
A peripheral look at the list of actions so far taken by the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration to quail the raging youth unemployment challenge in the country, will flash a feel that all is well with the Nigerian youths in the areas of employment and economic well being. But contrary to this believe the mind eyes of Nigerians upon objective assessment need not pause before disagreeing with the above assertion. This particular contradiction becomes more evident when one looks at available reports/ data from Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which reveals that Nigeria’s second-quarter unemployment rate among young people (15-34 years old) was 34.9%, up…
Viewed subjectively, experience is the best teacher. But in an applied sense, experience is not the best teacher. Rather, it is what you do with what happens that teaches. The usefulness of experience essentially manifests in the development of the capacity to escape the guilt of the past and anxiety for the future. This ability to learn from past deeds coupled with the ability to centrally plan over a period of time, spelling out for both normal and contingency conditions in such a way that create positive impacts on the lives of citizens, are but the attributes that makes a…
Back in 2005, I read the sage underline that; argument is one thing you will never win. If you win, you lose; if you lose, you lose. If you win an argument but lose a good job, customer, friend, position or marriage, what kind of victory is it? Argument is like fighting a foolish battle. Even if one wins, the cost may be more than the victory is worth. Emotional battles leave a residual ill will even if you win. The best way to win an argument is to avoid it. Indeed, an admirable position, but, today, it is instructive…
There was a torrent of commendation and glowing tributes for teachers across the globe during this year’s World Teachers’ Day celebration, which had as theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future”, held on Monday 5th October 2020, To shed light on the above, World Teachers’ Day which holds annually on the 5th of October commemorates the anniversary of the adoption of the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Status of Teachers. This Recommendation sets benchmarks regarding the rights and responsibilities of teachers and standards for their initial preparation and further education, recruitment, employment, and teaching and learning conditions. This year’s celebration…
Without going into specific concepts or approaches contained in the performance index of the programme, available records/reports show that the majority of the countries including Nigeria performed below average in the United Nations introduced Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, which lasted between the year 2000 and 2015. And was among other intentions aimed at eradicating extreme poverty and hunger as well as achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health among others. And, It was this reality and other related concerns that conjoined to bring about 2030 sustainable agenda- a United Nation initiative and successor programme…
If there are two events in recent times that reinforce King Solomon’s warnings thousands of years ago that when there is no vision, people perish, it is President Muhammadu Buhari led administration’s reintroduction of a Bill which was rejected in 2018 by the outgone 8th National Assembly (NASS, entitled “National Water Resources Bill, 2020,” on Thursday, July 23, 2020. The second is the questionable decision by the Femi Gbajabiamila led House of Representatives to reconsider this Bill presented by the House Chairman on Rules and Business, Fulata-which in 2018 enjoyed more burden than goodwill. Also qualifying the episode as not…
He is neither the first politician from Ika nation, nor in Delta North Senatorial zone to be favoured with a political appointment by the Delta state governor, Dr. (Senator) Ifeanyi Ekwueme Arthur Okowa, the first Anioma son to assume the governorship of the state after he was sworn in the 29th May, 2015. Yet, the people of Ika nation have great reason to be proud of Hilary Ibegbulem, the Principal Secretary to the state Governor. As exciting as the above observation is, it still –in more ways than one attracts further explanation that will offer a roadmap for understanding what…
Many of the top business leaders, according to Justin Menkes, the author of the book; Executive Intelligence, may have attended elite academic institutions, and this education can serve as a good foundation-[developing] the ability to think critically and understand concepts. So a doctorate can be an indication of intellectual horsepower. But in a business setting, you must be able to not only generate ideas but translate those ideas into results. That is the hardest thing and requires abilities that go beyond academic skills. Each time I ponder over how Gbaramatu Voice, a monthly tabloid based in Warri, Delta, published by…
From recent reports by development practitioners, sustainable development and the related notion of sustainability are becoming increasingly important policy objectives for the government at different levels as well as in the private sector. They suggest that there is a growing need to strengthen the conceptual understanding of different notions of sustainability and their implications. In particular, there is a need to design effective policies that aim to achieve sustainability objectives, and more importantly, to analyze the implications of the proposed policies. In line with the above argument, there is no doubt that successive administrations in Lagos State, south-west, Nigeria, may…
If there is any statement in recent times that portrayed President Muhammadu Buhari as a leader with the understanding that ‘public order, personal and national security, economic and social programmes, and prosperity is not the natural order of things but depends on the ceaseless efforts and attention from an honest and effective government that the people elect’, it is his declaration during an interview with The Signature 50 magazine, that he would only feel better as a president when lives of citizens improve. Buhari in that interview among other things noted that looking back at his five years in office…
There are in the words of the sage, important limits to human relations, knowledge, awareness, and technological state, economic and financial resource availability, social and cultural exposures. Political and Socioeconomic problems which are the product of human actions and reactions are not static. They change with time and place. What is a social or political problem in one society may be the norm in another. And what is rejected or frowned at today may be accepted tomorrow. But, often always, inability to manage such differences and changing times by nations have at different times and places led to obstacle in relationships; misconceptions…
It is globally recognized that every citizen of a modern nation is a subject of the state, and once a state is formed, the citizens formulate ethical principles or virtues to be pursued, vices to be avoided and values to be cherished-for the good conduct of the citizens. These values are in most cases put in, or in some cases left in an uncodified form and transmitted from one generation to the next via a well-formulated/structured process called constitution. This thought may have informed our forebears like their counterparts abroad, to come up at different times and places with constitutions…
There will be no end to the embarrassing unemployment and underemployment challenges in the country until all the ill-conceived approaches/solutions to unemployment in the country are addressed. The reason for this assertion is not far fetched. The first has to do with the fact that the nation has had its head stuck in the unemployment mud because successive administrations failed to think about the big issues of goals, strategy and capabilities. The second reason is that the present administration that promised Nigerians change is presently tackling the unemployment challenge without asking tough questions about where they want to go and…
As a background, this piece stems from a questionnaire sent to one professionally trained librarian and Researcher, pious, soft-spoken, intelligent, and self-contained and quietly influential Nigerian that divine intervention brought us together. The questionnaire centred on the political, socio-economic situation in Nigeria as well as recent developments within the international circle. Essentially, the respondent aside coming from a very conservative family where discipline is the second nature of their behaviour and life was also traditional and living enjoyable, he explained how he was influenced by love for reading. As his father had love for reading the newspapers and often subscribed for…
Adversity comes in many forms-acute, cyclical, long-term, and systemic. It sometimes affects individuals or single firms; other times it cuts across a wide swath of entities. However, its pathology is consistent: Adversity constrains a key resource, which then depresses demand, supply, or both. That gives rise to unmet needs and releases other resources that become redundant. Unarguably, the above words by Bhaskar Chakravorti, a distinguished scholar at MIT’s Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship, made a whole lot of sense. But one distinction to make is that while some afflictions are natural, many are self-inflicted and the rests are inflicted…
Among other efforts in the past to create a liveable world that both protect the rights and opportunities of coming generations and contributes to compatible approaches on the environment, world leaders on Friday 5th June 2020, during the World Environment Day celebration co-hosted by Colombia and Germany and streamed live online from Bogotá, agreed to create a liveable world through the promotion of actions that combat the accelerating species loss and degradation of the natural world. Essentially, they called “on all governments around the world to retain our precious intact ecosystems and wilderness, to preserve and effectively manage at least…
On Tuesday, July 7th, 2020, Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila led House of Representatives; going by reports introduced consolidated two bills that among other provisions, seeks to penalize law enforcement bodies that fail to arrest and compel the appearance of Ministers and Heads of Agencies who fail to honour summons of the National Assembly. To add context to the discourse, the two Bills are entitled; A Bill for an Act to Amend the Legislative Houses(Power And Privileges) Act 2917 to Prescribe the Offence and Punishment for Contempt of Legislative Houses, to Provide Punishment on the Police or any other Law Enforcement Agent…
Similar to history which has a way of repeating itself, the sudden wave of the ultimatum issued to the Federal Government in a space of one week by two oil-producing communities in Delta state, another by two Niger Delta region agitators should be to all a reality to worry about. These communities are; the Omadino Federated Communities, an umbrella body for Itsekiri communities in Delta state. And the Gbaramatu Kingdom, a major contributor to the economy of the nation and one of the prominent Kingdoms among the Ijaw people in the Niger Delta, located in Warri South-West Local Government Area of…
‘I was not optimistic about Africa. In less than 10 years after independence, Nigeria had had a coup and Ghana a failed coup. I thought their tribal loyalties were stronger than their sense of common nationhood. This was especially so in Nigeria, where there was a deep cleavage between the Muslim Hausa northerners and the Christian and pagan southerners. As in Malaysia, the British handed power, especially the army and police, to the Muslims. In Ghana, without this north-south divide, the problem was less acute, but there were still clear tribal divisions. Unlike India, Ghana did not have long years…
‘For a nation to move forward both politically and socio-economically, the leaders must demonstrate esteem for talents, actively encouraging able men, and honouring those who excel in their profession. And encourage their citizens so that they can go peaceably about their business, whether it is trade, agriculture or any other human occupation’- Anonymous It is general knowledge that Nigeria is a vast country with vast problems that disrupt its progress- corruption, insecurity, unemployment, and lack of energy. But one need not pause to know that the most pernicious of all these challenges is youth’s unemployment as a large army of unemployed youths often…
The current crisis rocking the national leadership of the All Progressive Congress (APC), and underlying suspicion or is it animosity within the party in Edo state that recently culminated in the defection of Godwin Obaseki, the state Governor, his deputy, nine members of the Edo state House of Assembly and all the chairmen of Local governments, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has again exposed two separate but related sets of beliefs. First, it has confirmed as factual the words of AL-Gore, a former Vice President in the United States of America (USA)’, who among other things noted that education alone, however, is…
In the words of Dr. Denis Taylor, a British leading scientist in the electronics field and former Chief UNESCO Advisor at the University College, Nairobi, Kenya, who was also among the British scientists that developed radar during the Second World War, One thing that is very apparent to all is that developing countries must concern themselves first and foremost with their natural resources. This does not, however, mean selling these natural resources abroad as raw products. No, to get the maximum benefit, the raw products must be turned, if possible, into manufactured products and then exported. I believe this is…
‘Among the many frustrations in development, perhaps none looms larger than the “resource curse.” Perversely, the worst development outcomes–measured in poverty, inequality, and deprivation–are often found in those countries with the greatest natural resource endowments. Rather than contributing to freedom, broadly shared growth, and social peace, rich deposits of oil and minerals have often brought tyranny, misery, and insecurity to these nations’ – Terra Lawson-Remer, an economist, environmental attorney, community organizer, and educator, who served as Senior Advisor in the Obama Administration developing environmental policies to cut pollution from oil drilling and mining Aside the above comment, two other big helping…
