NIPR President Charges Leaders on Fundamental Values to Impact Society 

• Stanley Ogadigbo, fnipr
• 1 month ago
• News feed
• 2 minute read

The President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Dr. Ike Neliaku has urged leaders across the country to acquire fundamental values that will stand them out and position them as solution to various challenges facing the society. 

He made this call on Thursday, November 21 during the 2024 Corporate Charisma Conference of the Institute of Personality Development & Customer Relationship Management (IPDCRM), which took place at International Conference Centre (ICC), Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo state. 

Represented by the Institute's Vice President and Vice Chairman of Council, Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, Dr. Neliaku while speaking on the topic,  “Building Leadership and Personality Development for Economic Recovery” emphasised that leaders should arm themselves with new skills that will help them adapt to the continously evolving trends in the society. 

While underlining that learning is very crucial for leaders to effectively influence their followers, the NIPR boss challenged those in positions of authority to pay attention to technology, learn, unlearn, relearn and drop old habits that do not fit into the new culture. 

“Even at the traditional and African levels, if we look at attributes that define a leader, we will see that there are some values that are fundamental. These are issues of integrity; issues of honesty; issues of defending one’s family name and honour so that nothing stains the name. 

"Those are values that define leadership in Africa, and they are still relevant. So, we must try to regain those things by training ourselves to maintain a competitive lead", he stated. 

While expressing dissatisfaction that core leadership values are missing in the country's political leadership, Dr. Neliaku called on political office holders to imbibe ethical consciousness, sound norms and honesty to protect their names even long after they have left offices. 

In his remarks, the Special Adviser on International Cooperation to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Dapo Oyewole, harped on the need for competent leadership across the African continent. 

He said that good leadership inspires young ones, noting that “Leadership is about taking decisions, comportment and actions that affect the society and institutions positively. Leaders must be able to listen to their people. They need to care about the people they lead and take on that responsibility like His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu”.

While charging the youths to be alive to their personality development, investing their time, talent, and intelligence in building their capacity to contribute meaningfully to society, Oyewole commended the conference organisers, saying that the topic was timely and expedient for the country.

In his remarks, the IPDCRM President, Dr. Ayobami Owolabi called on leaders to learn to groom youths for leadership roles so that they will have competent successor generation in the future.