The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has urged senior public relations practitioners to pass on their knowledge and professional experience to younger colleagues.
The minister gave the advice in a statement issued by his Media Aide, Rabiu Ibrahim, in Abuja on Saturday.
He spoke on Saturday in Kaduna at the maiden Bashir Adamu Chedi Annual Memorial Lecture and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Kaduna State Chapter.
“Your experience should not retire with you. One of the greatest measures of professional success is the number of people you help to become better,” the minister said.
He said that the memorial lecture should serve as an enduring platform for mentorship and a fitting way to preserve the legacy of the late Malam Bashir Adamu Chedi.
“His greatest legacy was not the positions he occupied. It was the people he influenced, the younger practitioners he encouraged and the professional values he represented,” he said.
Idris said no profession could endure if every generation was forced to start from the beginning, stressing the need to transfer experience and preserve institutional memory.
“Experience must be transferred. Institutional memory must be preserved. Yesterday’s mistakes must become tomorrow’s lessons.
“While young practitioners bring energy, creativity and knowledge of emerging technologies, senior practitioners bring experience, judgement and professional wisdom.
“Young practitioners must not dismiss experience as outdated, and senior practitioners must not regard innovation as a threat. Bridging generations means bringing these strengths together,” Idris said.
The minister urged practitioners to uphold truth, credibility, integrity and responsibility, particularly as artificial intelligence and social media continue to transform communication.
He said Chedi’s life should remind professionals that their most enduring legacy lies not only in personal achievements, but in the knowledge and values they pass on to others.
Present at the event was the President and Chairman of Council, NIPR, represented by the Vice President, Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura.
Also present were the Chairman, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), Dr Nkechi Ali-Balogun, and the former Vice President of NIPR, Dr Auwal Mohammed Haruna.
Others were the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, Ali M. Ali; the Director General of NTA, Malam Abdulhamid Dembos; and the Director-General of FRCN, Dr Mohammed Bulama.
