From Olukayode Idowu, Defence Correspondent
For the second successive year, the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has won the prestigious International Public Relations Association (IPRA) Golden World Award (GWA) for Excellence in Crisis Communication Management. In the same vein, the NAF is also among the major winners of the 2020 African Public Relations Association (APRA) Public Sector/Government Category Awards, which recognize Superior Achievement in Branding Reputation and Engagement (SABRE). The 2 awards were as a result of NAF’s campaign through the documentary, “Women of War”, which highlights the NAF’s ongoing initiatives to empower women in roles hitherto considered to be beyond them due to certain cultural misconceptions.
The 2020 GWA, which was announced by the Member Services Manager of IPRA, Janice Hill in a message to the Image Merchants, Promotion Limited, which spearheaded the campaigns, stated that the selection of finalists and winners was done online this year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. The President of IPRA and Chairman of the Jury, Swetlana Stavreva, stated that the entries were evaluated by multiple judges to ensure balanced assessment. According to her, “we had expected the competition this year to be tough as budgets were cut and people worked from home. So we were proud to see the PR industry fight back determined to tell the world about its best campaigns”, she said. The jury for the selection of the 2020 GWA winners comprised judges from various countries worldwide, including Austria, Bulgaria, Japan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the Philippines, the United States of America and the United Kingdom.