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NIPSS suspends participant over articles backing Tinubu’s reforms

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<p><&excl;-- BEGIN THEIA POST SLIDER --><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<div align&equals;"left">&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">A Nigerian public relations professional&comma; Yushau A&period; Shuaib&comma; has petitioned President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over what he described as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;unjust&comma; humiliating&comma; and deeply distressing” treatment at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies &lpar;NIPSS&rpar;&comma; Kuru&comma; where he was suspended from the Senior Executive Course &lpar;SEC&rpar; 47 allegedly over harmless articles supporting the President’s Digital and Blue Economy agenda after paying a fee of N18 million&period;<&sol;p><div class&equals;"JBGEv0D2" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The participant stated this in a detailed petition&comma; titled&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Unjust Treatment at NIPSS Over Articles Supporting Digital and Blue Economy Reforms&period;”<&sol;p><div class&equals;"quT50wn3" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- TV --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"4399361195" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto" &NewLine; data-full-width-responsive&equals;"true"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">In it Shuaib&comma; founder of PRNigeria and a Golden World Award recipient of the International Public Relations Association &lpar;IPRA&rpar;&comma; accused the institute of harassment&comma; cyberbullying&comma; and professional ostracisation despite his full compliance with institutional guidelines and ethical publishing practices&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">He revealed that following his suspension on May 2&comma; 2025&comma; he was asked to vacate the NIPSS premises immediately&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The abrupt action shocked his family and colleagues&comma; who were left to speculate on the rationale&comma; especially since all other participants remained in the programme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5" id&equals;"quads-ad5" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div class&equals;"mnDf1kQZ" style&equals;"clear&colon;both&semi;float&colon;left&semi;width&colon;100&percnt;&semi;margin&colon;0 0 20px 0&semi;"><script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"6550225277"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">This petition sets the record straight and seeks to prevent false insinuations that could damage my reputation&comma;” he stated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Shuaib recounted that on October 28&comma; 2024&comma; shortly after receiving an international award in Belgrade&comma; he was nominated by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations &lpar;NIPR&rpar; to participate in the prestigious SEC 47 course&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">He disengaged from his company&comma; Image Merchants Promotion Limited&comma; and joined the course in good faith&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">However&comma; on March 21&comma; 2025&comma; PRNigeria published a story&comma; titled&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;NIPSS Goes Digital&comma;” which Shuaib neither authored nor edited&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad1" id&equals;"quads-ad1" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The article commended the institute’s transition to a paperless system and highlighted its alignment with the Tinubu digital transformation agenda&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Despite this positive coverage&comma; Shuaib was issued a query by Nima Salman Mann&comma; the Acting Director of Studies&comma; and was subsequently pressured by Rear Admiral A&period; A&period; Mustapha a Directing Staff&comma; to discard his initial written defence and submit a revised version dictated by them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">On April 7&comma; 2025&comma; Shuaib was summoned before a disciplinary panel&comma; but was denied the opportunity to speak or present his case&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The panel relied exclusively on the rewritten response imposed by Rear Admiral Mustapha&comma; rather than the original defence he had prepared&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">He was then issued a perplexing final warning letter&comma; his first and only formal warning since the commencement of the programme&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Other participants also reportedly faced disproportionate sanctions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">One was queried for commending the initiatives of Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State during a vote of thanks at the Government House&comma; Jos&semi; another for arriving late after a family emergency&semi; and a third for representing NIPSS positively in an external engagement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">On April 28&comma; Shuaib received another query&comma; less than two months after the first&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">This time&comma; the NIPSS cited a restricted internal PRNigeria editorial email dated April 25&comma; 2025&comma; titled&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Understanding the &OpenCurlyQuote;Blue’ in the Blue Economy&colon; A PR Perspective&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The unauthorised interception of this internal correspondence constituted a serious breach of digital privacy and can rightly be described as cyberbullying and cybercrime&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Shuaib said&colon; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The article&comma; which I authored and later published in the media&comma; provided insights into the government’s Marine and Blue Economy agenda from a Public Relations standpoint and did not refer to NIPSS whatsoever&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Shockingly&comma; the institute had accessed the email before it reached its intended editorial recipient—a clear act of unwarranted surveillance and professional misconduct&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;This act was not just a violation of privacy—it amounted to cyberbullying and professional misconduct&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">The mental strain from the ordeal reportedly led to a hypertension diagnosis at the NIPSS clinic&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">According to Shuaib&comma; an official directive later barred other participants from interacting with him&comma; leaving him completely isolated&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">In addition to his suspension and exclusion from all official communication platforms&comma; Shuaib was denied participation in the SEC 47 international study tours&comma; despite having paid the full N18&period;2 million fee&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">All other participants were granted travel privileges and Estacodes for official tours across Africa and other continents&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p dir&equals;"ltr">Eagle<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;-- END THEIA POST SLIDER -->&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad3" id&equals;"quads-ad3" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"autorelaxed" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-4403533287178375" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"1004305389"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 2&period;0&period;95 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad4" id&equals;"quads-ad4" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px&semi;">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;

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