NIPR Lagos unveils 17 award categories for LAPRIGA 2026
By Amechi Obiakpu
Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, Lagos State Chapter has unveiled 17 award categories for the 2026 edition of Lagos Public Relations Industry Gala Awards (LAPRIGA), scheduled to hold on Friday, December 11, 2026, at the MUSON Centre, Onikan, Lagos.
LAPRIGA, is one of NIPR Lagos’ leading platforms that brings PR practitioners in the state together to reward excellence and create networking opportunities among members.
This year’s edition which is the 11th is with the theme: “Refining Innovation & Influence”.
Speaking at a media briefing held on Thursday at the chapter’s secretariat, Chairman, Selection Committee, Dr. Dare Ogunyombo noted that the award number was restructured to give room for stronger categories.
According to him, his committee have tried to harmonize the award categories to make them stronger and impactful.
“Going from what we had last year, there are some categories that we have collapsed to bring out a stronger category that we arrived at,” Dr. Ogunyombo said.
For the regular categories, he listed them to be 15 and two honourary categories. “For this year’s event, what we are also trying to do is to act direct and precise so we don’t want to provide an award night where People will feel the weight of what we are pushing out. “
Dr. Ogunyombo listed the award categories to include: Public service PR campaign of the year; Brand PR campaign of the year; PR residents, which is a crisis management of the year and PR professional of the year, a category dedicated to young PR professional under the age of 30.
Other categories are: Excellence in entertainment PR; Innovative technology deployment; Most influential PR professional of the year; Best workplace development PR and the PR agency of the year, which is the cap of the award.
“For the two honorary categories, we have that of the Lagos PR personality of the year, where we want to celebrate an individual that we know are driving a lot in terms of what PR practice stands for and the lifetime PR contribution award for the year” Ogunyombo added.
Speaking on the uniqueness of this year’s event, Chairman Planning and Fundraising Committee, Tope Akande said this year’s experience at LAPRIGA will be different.
“At the Planning and Fundraising Committee, our work is to ensure that everybody that will be attending LAGRIGA this year will have a different experience. We want to give an experience and not just an event. In doing this, we have reached out to most of our sponsors, partners, media organizations to give our prayer the essence it deserves.
“For us, LAPRIGA is our Oscar. It is our Grammy. It is what, and how we recognize excellence in our profession. So we are going to be celebrating innovation, impact, and influence,” Akande added.
Reiterating Akande’s position, Chairman, NIPR Lagos, Dr. Samuel Ayetutu stressed that, this year’s LAPRIGA is particularly significant because it comes at a time when the communication industry is undergoing profound transformation. The boundaries between public relations, advertising, digital communication, content creation, technology and brand management are becoming increasingly fluid.
According to him, It is against this backdrop that the chapter chose the theme, “Redefining Innovation and Influence.”
Speaking during his remark, Dr. Ayetutu said: “For us at Lagos NIPR, innovation is no longer simply about doing something new. It is about doing something differently, intelligently and meaningfully, in ways that solve problems, create value and deliver measurable impact. Influence, in today’s communication environment, is no longer determined merely by the size of an organisation’s media budget or the number of traditional media appearances it secures”.
Influence, Ayetutu said is increasingly earned through credibility, relevance, authenticity, engagement and the ability to shape conversations. As communicators, we must therefore continually redefine what it means to create influence.
“Recognition matters. When we recognise excellence, we encourage excellence. When we celebrate innovation, we inspire others to innovate. And when we honour practitioners who create genuine value for their organisations, clients and society, we strengthen the entire profession. LAPRIGA is therefore not simply an awards ceremony; it is an affirmation of the talent, creativity, professionalism and ingenuity that exist within our industry”.
*Photo shows (L-R): Dr. Dare Ogunyombo, Chairman, Selection Committee; Dr. Samuel Ayetutu, Chairman NIPR Lagos and Tope Akande, Chairman, Planning and Fund raising Committee, LAPRIGA 2026 at Thursday’s media briefing in Lagos.
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