The International Public Relations Association (IPRA), London has announced the counter- insurgency campaigns by PRNigeria as the winner of this year’s Golden World Award (GWA) on Crisis Management Category.

The campaigns were carried out by PRNigeria for the Nigeria military and other security forces at a very critical period in the nation’s war against terrorism.

The IPRA is the world’s highest PR body. Its members include public relations bodies across the world. The Golden World Awards, often dubbed the 'Oscars of PR' are the world’s most prestigious PR awards. An email to the Publisher of PRNigeria from Member Services Manager of IPRA, Janice Hills states: “I am delighted to inform you that your entry on ‘Managing Security Information on War on Terror in Nigeria’ in the Crisis Management Category is a winner in the 2016 IPRA GWA Awards… Please make a note in the diary for Saturday 5 November 2016 for the IPRA GWA Gala Awards ceremony in Doha, Qatar.”

Through its parent body, Image Merchants Promotions Limited, PRNigeria has been actively engaged in changing the media narratives from Boko Haram propaganda to PR approach strategies of security agencies in Nigeria. It has also remained the major source of official information from military, security, intelligence and response agencies.

The nomination for the award which was screened and judged by a panel of Communication scholars and top PR practitioners in Brussel, Belgium at the weekend, considered PRNigeria’s campaigns as one of the most unique innovation in collaborative efforts in crisis management.

Reacting to the award in Abuja, the Founder and Publisher of PRNigeria, Yushau Abdulhameed Shuaib, disclosed that the award could not have been possible without the excellent relationship established and sustained between spokespersons of major security agencies and the media in Nigeria.

Shuaib said: “To us this is not an individual or personal award but an award for all participants in a project that reports Nigeria positively to local and international audiences … It is an award for exemplary leadership qualities and inter-agency collaborations of 17 agencies that form the Forum of Spokespersons of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) which gives birth to Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC). It is an award in recognition of the defeat of inter-agency rivalry by speaking with one voice in timely and responsible manner on counterterrorism campaigns and security consciousness in the country

“It is indeed an award for the overwhelming cooperation from traditional and online media for supporting the campaign at the most critical period of insurgency in Nigeria

“That strategic synergy between the security agencies and the media is the genesis for the global award. Therefore, the award is for all the participants in the critical sector of crisis communication in Nigeria.

“Though in an emotional moment like this, we have realised that an employee can be discarded with right hand and yet recruited with left hand to serve the same employer to the best of his ability. We are glad to have humbly and professionally served the system outside the system in the past three years.”

As the operator of most popular Press Release platform in Nigeria, PRNigeria has over 300 top media executives in its unique mailing list and has issued over 2000 Press Releases on behalf of its clients since its inception in 2013. (PRNigeria)

•Photo shows PRNigeria Founder and Publisher, Yushau Shuaib.