Stakeholders decry quackery in PR profession, call for reforms

Public Relations professionals have called for reforms in the industry as a way to eradicate quackery and reposition the image of the sector.

Mr. Israel Jaiye Opayemi has decried the quackery in the profession, saying it will no longer be business as usual for unqualified practitioners who are tarnishing the reputation of the profession with unwholesome practices.

Opayemi read the riot act to those practising public relations illegally in Nigeria that their days were numbered.

Opayemi said, unlike other professions, PR barriers to entry seem to be lower as “practically just anybody can wake up and call himself or herself a PR Consultant.

Let it be known, public relation is a profession regulated by an extant law in the form of the NIPR Decree 16 of 1990; now an Act of the Parliament. We will work for hand in hand with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to get that law amended, strengthen the sanctions for infringement and work with the Office of the Inspector General of Police to enforce that law,” he said.

He further assured that the profession’s ecosystem would be reformed so as to accord it its rightful place in the country.

Also, the immediate past president of the association, John Ehiguese, highlighted quackery and non-compliance with set standards as top among the challenges faced by the PR industry in Nigeria, stating that the onus is on professionals to come together to stem the tide.