By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Information and National Orientation Minister Mohammed Idris has issued a pointed charge to senior public relations practitioners: pass on your knowledge or watch it retire with you, leaving the next generation to start from scratch.
Idris delivered the charge on Saturday, 29 August, 2026, in Kaduna at the maiden Bashir Adamu Chedi Annual Memorial Lecture and Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Kaduna State Chapter.
“Your experience should not retire with you,” he said. “One of the greatest measures of professional success is the number of people you help to become better.”
He described the memorial lecture as a fitting way to preserve the legacy of the late Mallam Bashir Adamu Chedi, FNIPR, whose influence he said far outlasted any position he held. “His greatest legacy was not the positions he occupied,” Idris said.
“It was the people he influenced, the younger practitioners he encouraged and the professional values he represented.”
He warned that no profession can survive if every generation is forced to start from the beginning.
“Experience must be transferred. Institutional memory must be preserved. Yesterday’s mistakes must become tomorrow’s lessons,” he said.
Idris acknowledged the distinct strengths each generation brings; young practitioners offer energy, creativity and knowledge of emerging technologies, while senior practitioners bring experience, judgement and professional wisdom.
He called on both sides to close the gap. “Young practitioners must not dismiss experience as outdated, and senior practitioners must not regard innovation as a threat,” he said. “Bridging generations means bringing these strengths together.”
He urged practitioners to uphold truth, credibility, integrity and responsibility as artificial intelligence and social media continue to reshape communication, stressing that the values Mallam Bashir Chedi represented remain as relevant today as ever.
The event was attended by the NIPR President and Chairman of Council, represented by Vice President Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura; PRCAN Chairman Dr. Nkechi Ali-Balogun; former NIPR Vice President Dr. Auwal Mohammed Haruna; NAN Managing Director Malam Ali M. Ali; NTA Director-General Malam Abdulhamid Dembos; FRCN Director-General Dr. Mohammed Bulama; VON Director-General Malam Jibrin Baba Ndace; NOCACO Managing Director Dr. Tunde Orija; Nigerian Defence Academy Commandant, represented by Director of Coordination Commodore M.S. Danjuma; Kaduna Police Commissioner, represented by ACP Abdulkadir Yahaya; and the family of the late Bashir Adamu Chedi, among other dignitaries.
