When NIPR fails its own: Rethinking MNI and MNIPR at NIPSS, By Haroon Aremu

Veteran public relations practitioner Yushau A. Shuaib has released a new memoir, 'MNI Versus MNIPR in NIPSS: Tackling Institutional Bullying,' which delves into his institutional and personal conflicts. The 205-page book, published by Image Merchants Promotion Limited (IMPR), examines Shuaib's experiences and the principles of public relations in the context of organizational disputes.

While much of the public discourse has centered on Shuaib's legal and institutional conflict with the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), the memoir presents a broader narrative. It explores the intersection of institutional discipline, professional loyalty, constitutional rights, and the human impact of organizational disagreements. Shuaib, who is also the CEO of IMPR, publishers of PRNigeria and Spokespersons Digest, uses his personal story to reflect on these complex issues.

A particularly poignant section of the memoir is the chapter titled 'The NIPR Betrayal.' Here, Shuaib shifts focus from his issues with NIPSS to what he describes as the more painful experience of feeling let down by his own professional organization, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), under its current President, Dr. Ike Neliaku. He contrasts the professional challenges of the NIPSS proceedings with the emotional toll of his own professional body's response.

Shuaib recounts that despite personally funding his participation in a senior executive course at NIPSS with ₦18.5 million after being nominated by the NIPR without financial sponsorship, he expected moral support. Instead, he received an invitation to appear before an NIPR Investigating Panel shortly after withdrawing from the NIPSS program. The memoir highlights Shuaib's long-standing relationship with the NIPR, suggesting that the perceived lack of support from an institution he had served for over three decades was particularly difficult to endure.

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If the episode with NIPSS was turbulent, what followed with my own professional body was even more emotionally complex.