TECHDIGEST – Again, IMPR Emerges Best PR Agency as Nollywood Stars, Public Officers Bag Thinkers Awards.

The multi-award-winning Image Merchants Promotion Limited, the publisher of PRNigeria and Economic Confidential has once again emerged as the best Public Relations Agency of the year.

At the annual awards of excellence hosted by Thinkers Magazine, outstanding individuals and corporate organisations including Nollywood actors were also honoured for excelling in their various fields of endeavour and contribution to national development.

The Presidential Spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu who presented the award to the Chief Executive Officer of IMPR, Mallam Yushau Shuaib commended the PR agency for making Nigerian proud at the global scene with its accomplishments in reputation management and crisis communication.

Image Merchants Promotion which was declared the most creative PR agency world in 2020, has series of awards from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), African Public Relations Association (APRA) and International Public Relations Association (IPRA),

Thinkers Honours IMPR, Top Public Office Nollywood and Kannywood actors were also honoured at the event.

Other recipients of awards of excellence included top entertainers in the Nigerian movie industry known as Nollywood and Kannywood. The awardees included Segun Arinze, Hadiza Gabon, Falalu Dorayi and Kate Henshaw.

Top public officers were also honoured. They are Governor Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa; Gov Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe; Ministers of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof Isah Ali Pantami and that of State, Agriculture, Alhaji Mustapha Baba Shehuri.

Corporate organisations that received awards at the event were the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Galaxy Backbone and TAJ Bank.

Speaking on the event, the Chairman of Thinkers Communication limited, Alhaji Auwal Mu’azu said the awards ceremony was a product of a rigorous, painstaking and highly competitive process conducted by a committee of experts and specialists in different sectors which spanned over six months before completion. He stated that each award is based on the specific and particular area of excellence by each awardee which serves as justification.

Muazu said: “despite numerous national challenges facing the Nigerian state, it is gratifying to note that some individuals and organisations have remained focused and resolute in their efforts at galvanizing resources to make Nigeria a better place, hence the need for us to celebrate them to serve as motivation and appreciation and also to challenge others to follow suit,” Alhaji Mu’azu stated.

Other dignitaries present at the event included the Former Head of Service of the Federation, Dr Danladi Kifasi, the Spokespersons to the Vice President, Mr. Laolu Akande, the elder statesman, Buba Galadima and Executive Chairman Wonderland Television, Mallam Ismail Sani

The post Thinkers Magazine Awards IMPR, Pantami, NITDA, Galaxy Backbone, others in Abuja appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The temporary suspension of Twitter is not just a response to the removal of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s post, claims the Presidency.

In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, he said there has been a litany of problems with the Twitter in Nigeria, ​​where misinformation and fake news spread through it have had real world violent consequences.

“All the while, the company has escaped accountability”, Shehu said.

Continuing, the SSA Media and Publicity to the President, said, “Nevertheless, the removal of President Buhari’s tweet was disappointing. The censoring seemed based on a misunderstanding of the challenges Nigeria faces today.

“The President in his address at the United Nations General Assembly, UNGA in 2019 said “the world was shocked and startled by the massacre in New Zealand by a lone gunman taking the lives of 50 worshippers.”

“This and similar crimes which have been fueled by social media networks risk seeping into the fabric of an emerging digital culture.

“Major tech companies must be alive to their responsibilities. They cannot be allowed to continue to facilitate the spread of religious, racist, xenophobic and false messages capable of inciting whole communities against each other, leading to loss of many lives. This could tear some countries apart.

“President Buhari has therefore been warning against social media’s disruptive and divisive influences and the government’s action is not a knee-jerk reaction to Twitter’s preposterous deletion of his tweet which should have been read in full”.

He added that the tweet was not a threat, but a statement of fact.

“A terrorist organisation (IPOB) poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens.

“When the President said that they will be treated “in a language they understand,” he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. It is a basic principle of security services response world over.

“This is not promotion of hate, but a pledge to uphold citizens’ right to freedom from harm. The government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists.

“IPOB is proscribed under Nigerian law. Its members murder innocent Nigerians. They kill policemen and set government property on fire. Now, they have amassed a substantial stockpile of weapons and bombs across the country.

“Twitter does not seem to appreciate the national trauma of our country’s civil war. This government shall not allow a recurrence of that tragedy”, he explained.

Meanwhile, a Civil Society Organisation, Paradigm Initiative, had said that

The CSO said that the directive by the Nigerian government’s action is at its core, an abuse of the rights of citizens not just to freedom of expression, but many other rights guaranteed in the Nigerian 1999 Constitution (as amended), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

“This suspension, which is a reaction of the Nigerian government to the company’s enforcement of its platform rules, is aimed at insulating the government from criticism, especially by Nigeria’s youth who are over 70% of the country’s population”, PIN Said.

The post Fake News Among Reasons For Suspending Twitter In Nigeria – Presidency appeared first on Tech Digest News.

TECH DIGEST – The government of President Muhammadu Buhari (Nigeria), has finally reacted to calls for the resignation or sack of the embattled member of the cabinet, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim (Pantami).

The administration declared support for the Minister, depicting the calls for his sack as not out of genuine concerns.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), Garba Shehu, made the position of the government known in a press statement this evening, Thursday, April 22, 2021.

The Presidency described the calls for Pantami’s sack “as unfortunate fashion in public discourse that makes leaders in politics, religion, and civil society liable in the present for every statement they have ever made in the past , no matter how long ago and even after they have later rejected them”.

“This insidious phenomenon seeks to cancel the careers of others on the basis of a thing they have said, regardless of when they said it.

The Presidency also said that the calls for Pantami’s sack are “cancel campaign” instigated by those who seek his removal.

“They do not really care what he may or may not have said some 20 years ago, that is merely the instrument they are using to attempt to “cancel” him but they will profit, should he be stopped from making decisions that improve the lives of everyday Nigerians.

“The Minister has, rightly, apologized for what he said in the early 2000s. The views were absolutely unacceptable then, and would be equally unacceptable today, were he to repeat them. But he will not repeat them, for he has publicly and permanently condemned his earlier utterances as wrong.

“In the 2000s, the Minister was a man in his twenties; next year he will be 50. Time has passed, and people and their opinions often rightly change.

“But all discerning Nigerians know this manufactured dispute is nothing to do with the Minister’s prior words, but solely concern his actions in the present.

“This Administration is committed to improving the lives of all Nigerians and that includes ensuring they are not over-charged or under-protected for those services on which modern life depends.

“The Minister has been leading the charge against illegal data deductions and pricing; he has revolutionized the government’s virtual public engagement to respond to COVID-19 and save taxpayers’ money; he has established ICT start-up centres to boost youth entrepreneurship and create jobs; he has changed policy to ensure locally produced ICT content is used by ministries, starting with his own; and he has deregistered some 9.2 million SIMs, ending the ability for criminals and terrorists to flagrantly use mobile networks undetected. In two short years, Minister Pantami has driven the contribution of the ICT sector to the GDP to more than 18 percent, making it one of the top two playing a critical role in the emergence of the economy from the COVID 19-induced recession.

“In putting people first, the Minister and this administration have made enemies. There are those in the opposition who see success and want it halted by any means. And there is now well-reported information that alleges newspaper editors rebuffed an attempt to financially induce them to run a smear campaign against the minister by some ICT companies, many of which do indeed stand to lose financially through lower prices and greater consumer protections. The government is now investigating the veracity behind these claims of attempted inducement, and should they be found to hold credence, police and judicial action must be expected.

“The Administration stands behind Minister Pantami and all Nigerian citizens to ensure they receive fair treatment, fair prices, and fair protection in ICT services.”

The post Buhari’s Administration Stands Behind Pantami – Presidency appeared first on Tech Digest News.