Nigerian Women in PR (NGWIPR) over the weekend successfully delivered the fifth edition of its virtual Public Relations Students on Campus Summit which was held exclusively for students of the Lagos State University, Ojo. An initiative of the social impact organisation, the PR Students on Campus Summit is designed to provide an opportunity for undergraduates to interact and learn from young female public relations professionals, with the aim of providing practical and actionable information to help undergraduates make an informed career decision.
“We have eminent and experienced people in Public Relations. However, if we are not consciously opening up the profession and training people to come into the field, in the end, we will not find very capable hands to hand over the baton to. That is one of the reasons we came up with the PR summit”, said Tolulope Olorundero, founder of Nigerian Women in PR.
Speaking further on the significance of the event, Olorundero said, “with the #NGWIPRStudentSummit, we bring female practitioners with 3 to 5 years experience to share with undergraduates how they transitioned from student to professional, thereby inspiring them and demonstrating how viable a career in public relations can be. We have so far delivered the virtual Summit at the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, University of Uyo, and the Nigeria Institute of Journalism. For now, we are self-funding the Summits because we are determined to take the gospel of public relations to all tertiary institutions in Nigeria.”
Dr Ganiyat Tijani-Adenle, a gender researcher and lecturer in the School of Communications, LASU represented the Dean, Professor Sunday Alawode expressed her appreciation to the organisers for bringing the Summit to their school.
“We were quite excited to receive notice that Nigerian Women in PR was interested in delivering the Summit in our school. Many female undergraduates focus on PR during their undergraduate programs, but lose interest along the way due to lack of motivation and mentorship. I believe seeing young ladies like them who are thriving in the profession will encourage and motivate them not to give up.”
Dr Tijani-Adenle further commended the initiative, saying “We got the approval of the Vice Chancellor for this program. We definitely look forward to more opportunities to collaborate with the organisation, especially in the area of research for women in public relations.”
