Experts hails Nigeria Women in PR at Book Lunch

Speakers and participants at the Experiencing Public Relations book launch hosted by Nigerian Women in PR over the weekend have applauded the impressive initiative. The two-hour virtual experiential event and book launch, well attended by industry professionals, students and business executives from several countries including India, Ireland, Ghana, United Arab Emirates and Nigeria, featured knowledge sharing, practical strategy discussion, entertainment, and networking sessions.

The event commenced with a book reading from the Experiencing Public Relations book by Oluwatoni Oluwasanya, a 300L Mass Communications student from the University of Lagos who is also a Student Ambassador for Nigerian Women in Public Relations.

The Keynote Speaker and Chief Launcher, Omotola Oyebanjo – Head, Corporate Affairs and Communications, Africa and Middle East, Upfield, went on to deliver an unforgettable paper as she chronicled her journey in PR and lessons learnt along the way. “An organisation can lose its brand equity and reputation when public relations professionals don’t work. As PR professionals, we are image builders and we need to build the reputation of the industry and our reputation as people who do good work”, she said.

Oyebanjo also commended the Experiencing Public relations book on five key points: the resource, the range of professionals who contributed to the book, the quality of content as well as the spread and relevance of the topics for modern day public relations professionals.

The event progressed with the panel session moderated by Chineze Amanfo, Lead, Public Relations at 9Mobile. The discussion focused on the impact of public relations in businesses and the society. Co-founder and CEO of MAX.ng, Adetayo Bamiduro, said “many people think that only large organisations need PR.

PR is critical to help build credibility and trust across board; with government, clients and others. We have seen that it is critical to open the lines of communications with all our key stakeholders”. Another panelist, Co-founder and CEO of Purple, Laide Abgoola, shared that “we have been able to keep our occupancy level to 75% in all the Purple outlets, as well as sell over 90% of the Nano despite launching during the COVID-19 pandemic due to our communications and data”. Other panelists were Martha Okpeke, Associate Director at Medicraft Associates Limited and Efeturi Doghudje, Head Marketing and Corporate Communications at VFD Group Plc. “It is important for communication efforts to start internally. Staff are your internal ambassadors; when they are aware of innovations in the organisation, they will be the first to shout it to everyone externally“, said Doghudje.

The organisation also received public commendations for the book launch as participants took to their social media handles to share their highlights of the event. “The entire event has been totally amazing. I congratulate the host of this initiative; I know it is to commemorate Women’s week but as a man I am glad to be here”, said Randy Haniel, participant at the Experiencing PR event.

In commemoration of the International Women’s Day celebration, the founder of Nigerian Women in PR, Tolulope Olorundero, said “we established the organisation to celebrate, provide information and guidance for PR women, especially mid-level professionals, to overcome barriers and challenges that hinder their progress as Public Relations women. We were concerned about the statistics that less than 30% PR women are c-suites in their organisations or leading PR agencies despite that between 65%-80% entry level PR professionals are women”.

The Nigerian Women in PR team also celebrated PR Women all over the world through spoken word performance by Oludolapo Adewale that highlighted renowned women who have challenged biases and overcome barriers in their journeys.

1. Meanwhile, Olorundero, who is a seasoned PR Consultant, reiterated that Nigerian Women in PR is an independent social impact organisation which fully supports and advocates for membership of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR). She, therefore, urged every participant who practises PR in Nigeria to become members of the governing body.

Nigerian Women in PR, established in 2019, is an independent social impact organisation created to build a robust network of practising and aspiring female public relations professionals of Nigerian descent. Its aim is to support, inspire and empower these professionals while improving access to career advancing opportunities. With its robust programs including #PRin30Seconds, Campus Students’ Summit and #ThrivethruPR, the organisation is determined to support female professionals get and retain a seat at the table where far-reaching decisions are made.