Adetokunbo Modupe, a Public Relations Expert, has described reputation as the capital for a country, warning citizens against diminishing the country’s reputation through negative messages.
Modupe spoke as the Keynote Speaker on Thursday in Abeokuta at the 2025 Annual Colloquium of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the state chapter.
The colloquium has “Leadership and Reputation: The Role of Public Relations in Building Trust in Nigeria”, as its theme.
The keynote speaker explained that the perception of a country would reflect in the value placed on its citizen.
Modupe, who is the founder and chief consultant of TPT International Limited, insisted that building a reputation for Nigeria was a collective responsibility of both the leaders and citizens.
“Indeed, the perception of a country is reflected in the value placed on its citizens.
” If you want to know the reputation of your country, look at the value placed on you when you step out of Nigeria.
“We have data and if I present data to you all on how the world sees Nigeria today, you will feel very sorry for our country.
“However, it’s not all gloom and doom. We have the bad side and we have the great side,” he said.
Declaring the event open, the National President of NIPR, Dr Ike Neliaku , emphasized the critical roles of the PR in building trust in Nigeria.
Neliaku represented by Tope Adaramola, a council member, stressed his commitment to building NIPR as a formidable institution in Nigeria by putting in place strategies.
He noted that the strategies was towards ensuring that the institute becomes stronger than any individual “bearing in mind that the major deficit of our nation is that we have strong men and very weak institutions.”
The president also identified the key roles of PR in building trust, including authentic communication, consistent messaging, reputation management, crisis communication and storytelling.
“The role of PR in building trust in Nigeria cannot be more apt than now because of the disconnect that exists between the leadership and the lead,” he said.
In his address as the Chairman of the occasion, governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2023 election in Ogun State, Oladipupo Adebutu, identified reputation and leadership as co-travellers in the development of any nation.
The former House of Representatives member said he had remained in the opposition party because there was value for it.
“That’s why I remain in the party that I’m in because there’s value in the opposition.
“When there’s no opposition then you have no democracy, you have no checks and balances,” he said.
He called on the media practitioners to speak the truth to power in order to entrench democratic principles and for the greatness of Nigeria.
The State Chairman of NIPR, Mrs Seun Boye, said it was important to know that public relations build trust
through authentic and consistent communication, reputation management and strategic stakeholders’ engagement with the intent to foster positive relationships between organisations and the public.
The event featured award presentation to prominent Nigerian, including former Ogun state first lady, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, IGP Kayode Egbetokun .
