Nigeria’s Omoniyi Ibietan, Elected Secretary-General of APRA

Nigeria’s Omoniyi Ibietan, Elected Secretary-General of APRA

Maryam Aminu

The Head of Media Relations Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Omoniyi Ibietan, has been elected as the secretary-general of the African Public Relations Association (APRA)

Ibietan was elected at the ongoing 35th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday.

Ibietan was elected into a three-man Executive Council. The other two members are Arik Karani (Kenya), President, and Dr. Michele Mekeme (Cameroon), Vice President.

Reiterating dedication, Ibietan, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and APRA, promised to work with other members of the Executive Council to continue the trajectory of reforms in APRA, expand the democratic space by encouraging greater participation of national public relations institutions on the continent.

He reiterated his readiness and commitment to work more closely with the African Union Commission and Council of Ministers to put public relations at the heart of policy, programmes, and project implementation.

Ibietan, a journalist, writer, and author works with the NCC where he oversees aspects of the public communication strategy of the national regulatory authority for telecommunication in Nigeria.

Earlier in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, he was Special Media Advisor to the Federal Minister of Information and Communication and has over 20 years of experience in media and communication scholarship and practice, spanning journalism, academia, policy discourse, communication strategy, regulation, and stakeholder relations.

Ibietan 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.

He had earlier obtained a diploma in journalism with distinction from the Moscow-Based International Institute of Journalism and also holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the North-West University in South Africa, with specialisation in political communication.

Ibietan, who is a IP3 certified regulation specialist and holds a mini MBA in telecommunications from NEOTELIS in Paris, is also a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa) and member of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), the world’s only policy debating platform for the converged communications industry.

As a scholar, Ibietan 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 as well as facilitates learning to students in the Master of Corporate Communication programme at RBS.

APRA, the successor to the Federation of African Public Relations Association (FAPRA), instituted in Nairobi in 1975, exists to foster unity of Africans and their global allies through interactions and exchange of meaning. 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 eight edition of the Innovation Summit (IN2SUMMIT) and included the seventh edition of the SABRE Awards Africa, holding tonight. The APRA secretariat is in Nigeria, and the body maintains an observer status with the African Union.

Maryam Aminu

The Head of Media Relations Management at the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Omoniyi Ibietan, has been elected as the secretary-general of the African Public Relations Association (APRA)

Ibietan was elected at the ongoing 35th Annual Conference and Annual General Meeting in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire on Thursday.

Ibietan was elected into a three-man Executive Council. The other two members are Arik Karani (Kenya), President, and Dr. Michele Mekeme (Cameroon), Vice President.

Reiterating dedication, Ibietan, a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and APRA, promised to work with other members of the Executive Council to continue the trajectory of reforms in APRA, expand the democratic space by encouraging greater participation of national public relations institutions on the continent.

He reiterated his readiness and commitment to work more closely with the African Union Commission and Council of Ministers to put public relations at the heart of policy, programmes, and project implementation.

Ibietan, a journalist, writer, and author works with the NCC where he oversees aspects of the public communication strategy of the national regulatory authority for telecommunication in Nigeria.

Earlier in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic, he was Special Media Advisor to the Federal Minister of Information and Communication and has over 20 years of experience in media and communication scholarship and practice, spanning journalism, academia, policy discourse, communication strategy, regulation, and stakeholder relations.

Ibietan 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.

He had earlier obtained a diploma in journalism with distinction from the Moscow-Based International Institute of Journalism and also holds a Ph.D. in Communication from the North-West University in South Africa, with specialisation in political communication.

Ibietan, who is a IP3 certified regulation specialist and holds a mini MBA in telecommunications from NEOTELIS in Paris, is also a member of the African Council for Communication Education (ACCE), an Associate Registered Practitioner of Advertising (arpa) and member of the International Institute of Communications (IIC), the world’s only policy debating platform for the converged communications industry.

As a scholar, Ibietan 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 as well as facilitates learning to students in the Master of Corporate Communication programme at RBS.

APRA, the successor to the Federation of African Public Relations Association (FAPRA), instituted in Nairobi in 1975, exists to foster unity of Africans and their global allies through interactions and exchange of meaning. 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 eight edition of the Innovation Summit (IN2SUMMIT) and included the seventh edition of the SABRE Awards Africa, holding tonight. The APRA secretariat is in Nigeria, and the body maintains an observer status with the African Union.