By Blessing Bature-Akpakpan 

The president, Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Mukhtar Zubairu Sirajo has said the Institute has identified trust as a key element in nation-building and the role of dialogue in societal well-being and development, hence the   decision to take up the challenge.

The president, who spoke at the Citizens Summit for National Integration, peace and security in Abuja on Tuesday, disclosed that “We need not to look far to see that relationships amongst our people have broken down, resulting in mutual suspicion and diverse forms of antagonism, and driven by ethno-religious and other primordial differences that have become the face of our common heritage.

Sirajo said, realising that at the core of the mandate of the Public Relations profession is the birthing and sustenance of mutually beneficial relationships and mending them where they crack or even break down, Institute came to the conclusion that Nigeria needed more than a shot in the arm in this regard.

“No nation thrives and progresses in an atmosphere of hatred and distrust,” he stated in a speech at the opening ceremony of the Summit. 

According to him, seeming rapid loss of hope in our nationhood by the youth calls for a new approach, based on citizens -participation that is solution- driven.

“It is said that “every society should discover its dream; either to betray or fulfil it.” Hence, Nigerians as a people should constantly re-assess the focus of our dream, x-ray the dynamics in the system, for the continuous evolution of a better way forward to our glorious destination, since nation building is always a work in progress.

“Our nation, no doubt has witnessed some serious challenges in the past few decades in the process of our social evolution and democratic consolidation. In the midst of these contradictions have been the seeming rapid loss of hope by many, especially  the youth, in the promise of our nationhood; challenging economic realities, social distrust, exclusion, weakening of social cohesion, and presently the challenge of insecurity in different parts of the country.

“We therefore, cannot continue to fold our arms and watch as these ugly trends keep unfolding. Something has to be done urgently.

“As a professional and patriotic body, part of whose mandate and area of expertise is relationship building and mending, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations understands the enormous task incumbent on it in playing strategic roles in achieving national development through objective scanning of the environment, identifying challenges, and constructively engaging all relevant stakeholders to try to reverse this ugly trend.

With this in mind, the NIPR with the support of our esteemed partners came up with the idea of this Citizens Summit for National Integration, Peace and Security, which has as its theme: “Reopen Conversation , Rebuild Trust.”

Chairman of Access Bank, Dr. Ajoritesere Awosika, who spoke at the occasion said there were a plethora of issues that have bred the slow disintegration of the Nation, pertinent among which he said was the lack of communication and trust deficit on the side of government and its citizens and amongst individuals.

“A quick glance at the current situation of the nation tells an all too familiar tale; the vigorous campaigning of politicians for political offices amidst the heavy siege of kidnappers over the people, while the economy declines even further into an abysmal situation shows the dire situation of things. 

“We need to leverage every tool and every sector to foster national integration. The crucial role of the economy, for one, in fostering national integration has been thoroughly undermined. In a country where the economic resources are scattered across the various regions, there is a dearth of regulations and regulatory bodies that will aid the movement of goods and services”. 

“The overriding goal of national dialogue processes is to promote peace, unity, reconciliation and a shared sense of identity – all critical elements of sustainable peace, but all in short supply in the Horn of Africa. Having wide-ranging mandates including political reforms, constitution making and peacebuilding, national dialogues are political processes that aim to reach a new social contract between interest groups and communities in a country”.

“In Nigeria, however, national dialogues have not always been well implemented; and at other times citizens have wanted them, but governments haven’t recognized their importance. In instances where their importance has been recognised, the resolutions or promises haven’t been followed through

“This has to change, and it starts with us – holding each other accountable and challenging the status quo” he stresed.