NCC’s Omoniyi Ibietan emerges Secretary-General of APRA

In a remarkable achievement, Omoniyi Ibietan, a distinguished Nigerian communications expert, has been elected Secretary-General of the African Public Relations Association (APRA) at the 35th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

Ibietan, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and APRA, has an impressive track record in media relations, communication strategy, and policy discourse.

He has over 20 years of experience in the field and has worked with top organizations, including the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Ministry of Information and Communication.

As Secretary-General, Ibietan has pledged to continue APRA’s reforms, expand democratic space, and work closely with the African Union Commission and Council of Ministers to put public relations at the heart of policy implementation. He will work alongside Arik Karani (Kenya), President, and Dr. Michele Mekeme (Cameroon), Vice President, to achieve these goals.

Ibietan’s election is a testament to Nigeria’s leadership in the field of public relations and communications. His expertise and experience will undoubtedly elevate APRA’s mission to foster unity and excellence in public relations across Africa, ITPulse Reports

He earned BA and MA in Communication Arts and Communication & Language Arts from the Universities of Uyo and Ibadan in Nigeria, respectively, graduating atop his classes. Earlier, he obtained a diploma in journalism with distinction from the Moscow-Based International Institute of Journalism. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the North-West University in South Africa, with specialisation in political communication. He is a IP3 certified regulation specialist and holds a mini MBA in telecommunications from NEOTELIS in Paris.

He is also a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa) and a member of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), the world’s only policy debating platform for the converged communications industry.

As a scholar, he focuses on patterns of political communication through new media; media and culture studies; and theoretical & normative foundations of communication in relation to democracy and freedom. He is on the faculty of the Nigerian campus of Italy-based Rome Business School (RBS), where he teaches doctoral students PR & Advertising and Media Management & Communication Strategy. He also facilitates learning to students in the Master of Corporate Communication programme at RBS.

His first book, SOCIAL MEDIA, SOCIAL DEMOGRAPHY, AND VOTING BEHAVIOUR IN NIGERIA, was published by Premium Times Books in Washington in May 2023.

He has traveled extensively in Africa, North America, Europe, and Asia.

He is married, has children, plays tennis and Scrabble, loves reading and writing, and loves meeting people, especially people from other cultures.

At the ongoing conference, Ibietan presented the first paper at the commencement of business sessions. The title of his paper is DIGITAL INCLUSION AS ARBITER OF ACCESSIBLE PUBLIC RELATIONS: A CASE OF NIGERIAN COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION.

Using Castells’ Theory of the Network Society and the Knowledge Gap Theory, and based on the actions of the Nigerian government through the activities of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Ibietan advanced a thesis that digital inclusion is the arbiter of digital public relations.

Through the implementation of laws, policies, guidelines, developmental regulation, collaborative partnerships, social investments, operational efficiency and ancillary actions that are consequential and quantifiable, and using copious pictorial evidence, Omoniyi discoursed a perspective that NCC’s digital inclusion programmes, projects and activities are foundational to the digital economy because investment in and coordination of expansion of digital infrastructure, demonstrating their affordances and enhancing people’s access to such resources, constitute the building blocks and raison d’être of the digital economy and inherently digital public relations.

APRA, the successor to the Federation of African Public Relations Association (FAPRA), instituted in Nairobi in 1975, exists to foster the unity of Africans and their global allies through interactions and exchange of meaning. Pivoted on standardisation of public relations practice and scholarship on the Continent to enhance its relevance to the African reality, APRA member states and individuals meet annually at a location in any of its regional centres (East, North, South, West, Central, Indian Ocean Islands, and Francophone) to have a conversation with a thematic focus on any of its key intervention areas (Health & Education, Economic Integration, Good Governance, Tourism & Leisure, and Infrastructure Development). This year’s theme is ‘ONE AFRICA, ONE VOICE: BRIDGING AFRICA’S COMMUNICATION DIVIDE’.

APRA Côte d’Ivoire 2024 is endorsed by the Government of Côte d’Ivoire, the Holding Opinion & Public (THOP), and major global PR associations, namely the International Public Relations Association (IPRA), The International Communications

Consultancy Organisation (ICCO), the Global Alliance for Public Relations and Communication Management (GA), the African Union Commission (AUC), and PR national associations across the continent.

Additionally, the conference featured the eighth edition of the Innovation Summit (IN2SUMMIT) and includes the seventh edition of the SABRE Awards Africa, held tonight.

The APRA secretariat is in Nigeria, and the body maintains an observer status with the African Union.

The Obinja Media Communications, Publisher of The Legend News Congratulate Dr. Omoniyi Ibietan on this well-deserved achievement. We wish him success in his new role and look forward to seeing the impact of his leadership on the continent.