“When Applause Lies: Communication, Power, and the War Between Reputation and Perception in Nigeria”
The Vice Chancellor of Nasarawa State University, Keffi (NSUK), Prof. Sa’adatu Hassan Liman, has invited appropriate stakeholders to the 59th Inaugural Lecture of Nasarawa State University. The event, taking place on the 15th day of April 2026, will occur on the main campus in Keffi.
The lecture will be delivered by my friend and professional colleague, Professor Emmanuel Samu Dandaura, PhD, fnipr, Professor of Strategic and Development Communication; and Vice President of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) who concurrently serves as the Vice Chairman of the NIPR Council. A leading light of performance aesthetics, Dandaura is also a fellow of the Nigerian Academy of Letters (FNAL).
Activities marking this historic event will commence with a Command Performance in honour of Dandaura at the Theatre Arts Auditorium, NSUK, at 12 noon prompt. The performance is planned to “showcase creative expressions at the intersection of communication, culture and society”. At 2.00pm, the inaugural will start at the Assembly Hall of Nasarawa State University.
Ike Neliaku, PhD, fnipr, President and Chairman of Council of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, has emplaced a national planning committee at the Institute (where I feel honoured and delighted to serve) to liaise with NSUK to boost the organisation of a successful and befitting event all the way.
Dandaura, a fine but unassuming representation of the creative intellectual, is a perfect exemplar of Nigerian compatriots located at the juncture of scholarship and practice of public relations and communication management, and has been a professor for clearly two decades. He was a pioneer staff of the University of Abuja until 2009 when he was seconded to NSUK to set up the Department of Theatre and Cultural Studies where he served as head of the department until 2015.
A notable critic of cultural studies and performance, writer and producer of media offerings, Dandaura is also a distinctive festival curator and consultant to many international organisations, including the United Nations systems. He later became the foundation executive director of NSUK’s Institute of Strategic and Development Communication (ISDEVCOM). Last month, Dandaura formally handed over to his successor at ISDEVCOM, Dr. James Daniel Chikada. In August 2023, Dandaura was elected Vice President of NIPR and ipso facto the Vice Chairman of NIPR Council, a duty he has performed impressively.
I look forward very enthusiastically to participating in all the events, I extend heartfelt congratulations to Prof. E.S. Dandaura on this occasion, and I wish him the best outing.