By Seyi Babalola
The Nigeria Airforce (NAF) has won the 2023 Golden World Awards (GWA) on Crisis Management instituted by the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) for outstanding PR campaigns.
The Nigeria Air Force bagged the award under ‘Crisis Management Category’ in partnership with the Image Merchants Promotion (IMPR) Limited, publishers of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential for providing enablement for independent media reports and third-party news narratives on counter-insurgency operations.
Speaking on the award, the Secretary-General of IPRA, Philip Sheppard, commended NAF and IMPR for the alternative narratives and independent reports on counterterrorism campaigns which were widely used in the media that boosted citizens’ confidence and the morale of the troops.
Similarly, AT3 Resources, the strategic communications partner of Meta in West Africa, won the ‘Technology Category’ award with its multi-pronged communication campaign, “#NoFalseNewsZone” in Nigeria and Ghana.
After receiving the award on Crisis Management from IPRA President Dr. Anne-gret Iturriaga Abarzua, the Chief of Administration of NAF, Air Vice Marshall Idi Sani, dedicated the glory to the men and women of the Force who are facing the fire and sacrificing everything to keep the country safe.
“This recognition means a lot to the men and women of the Nigerian Air Force who have continued to toil, day and night in finding lasting solutions to the security problems that currently plague our dear nation.
“The Nigerian Air Force, being a critical stakeholder in Nigeria’s security architecture, finds itself in the middle of this situation, hence the need to deploy its fleet in decimating these criminals. However, its achievements sometimes get drowned in doubts expressed by our citizens, especially when we are the source of the success story. The need to think outside the box thus gave birth to the utilisation of a third-party medium to tell our story.
“To our amazement, the acceptance level of our successes being told by a third party received overwhelming cheers from many Nigerians, hence the reason why we are stuck with this strategy. We therefore recommend this strategy, especially for military institutions who find it difficult to sell their own story.
“I must also state here that this strategy was implementable through the directive of our amiable Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Hasan Bala Abubakar, whose inspirational leadership style has taken us to where we are today,” he said.
Speaking on the award, the IMPR Board Chairman, Dr. Sule Yau Sule expressed delight that more PR agencies in Nigeria are supporting brands and organisations in achieving maximum results that are now being recognised on the global scene.
Sule, who is also the Chairman of Policy, Strategy and Media Partnership of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), noted that more PR firms in Nigeria are up to the task in reputation management, crisis communication and other tools of public relations.
He also added that the leadership of NIPR under its current President, Dr Ike Neliaku, has put in place innovative programmes and provided credible platforms for policy analysis, and public debate to ensure regular engagement of policymakers, legislators and other public officers and experts in order to improve good governance.
The Managing Director of IMPR, Yushau A. Shuaib, and of AT3 Resources Tosin Adefeko also received awards on behalf of their PR firms.
More than twenty countries were represented at the annual event, with 70 winners emerging in different categories.
A good number of the entries tackled emerging issues such as cryptocurrency, influencer management, and virtual reality.
The GWA jury of experts met in person for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic at a session at London’s Institute of Directors to assess the entries. The jury comprised judges from Austria, Bulgaria, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines, the USA, and the United Kingdom.
IPRA was established in 1955 and is the leading global network for PR professionals in their personal capacity. IPRA aims to advance trusted communication and the ethical practice of public relations. IPRA is the organiser of public relations’ annual global competition, the GWA.
IPRA’s services enable PR professionals to practice with a set of guidelines, ethics, and rules that do not mislead, disrupt, or destroy but add value to individual and organizational reputation.
