The NIPSS experience, as recounted in this memoir, serves as a cautionary tale about what happens when leadership development becomes divorced from its foundational principles. An institute that cannot treat its participants — distinguished professionals in their own right — with respect and dignity cannot credibly claim to be developing leaders for the nation. When the pursuit of knowledge is subjugated to the exercise of petty authority, everyone loses.
I recently received two books by award-winning PR practitioner and PRNigeria publisher Yushau A. Shuaib – MNI Versus MNIPR in NIPSS: Tackling Institutional Bullying and AI in Crisis Communication in Nigeria. Of the two, the NIPSS memoir immediately stood out.
By the nature of his private business and the exorbitant course fee, Shuaib begins by acknowledging that he reluctantly accepted his nomination by the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) to attend Senior Executive Course 47 at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). The programme demanded a substantial financial commitment, including a ₦18.5 million fee, which he says he was only able to raise through the support of several institutions and high‑level offices.
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The early chapters offer an engaging account of learning and interaction at Nigeria’s foremost policy institute. But the narrative soon takes a troubling turn, becoming an account of what Shuaib describes as intimidation, humiliation and institutional bullying that ultimately led to his withdrawal from the programme.
At the centre of the most disturbing allegations is Rear Admiral AA Mustapha, a naval officer and directing staff member at the institute.
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According to Shuaib, the turning point came after PRNigeria published a report on NIPSS’ digital transformation. He maintains he neither wrote nor authorised the report and had formally disengaged from the management of his media organisation before joining the course.
Yet he recounts being summoned alongside his Study Group Chairman and allegedly ordered by Rear Admiral Mustapha to remain standing while being questioned over the publication. Shuaib, a civilian professional in his fifties, describes the encounter as his first experience of adult bullying.
This episode raises an uncomfortable question: should a senior military officer treat an accomplished civilian professional in an executive leadership programme as though he were a recruit undergoing military discipline?
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NIPSS is not a barracks. Its Senior Executive Course brings together military officers, public servants, academics and private sector professionals to exchange ideas and develop strategic leadership capacity. Discipline is essential, but discipline should never require the humiliation of participants.
The situation reportedly worsened when Shuaib received a formal query. He says his initial explanation — that he had no editorial responsibility for the PRNigeria report — was rejected for not being sufficiently apologetic. He was allegedly encouraged to rewrite his response in an acceptable “NIPSS style,” eventually adding an expression of regret after interventions by Professor Elias Wahab and fellow participant Dr. Samuel Osime, who was also a NIPSS staff member.
The memoir paints a picture of an institution where conformity is prized over critical thinking and where directing staff wield authority like weapons. Shuaib describes a disciplinary panel where he was allegedly not permitted to speak before receiving a “Final Warning” — despite never having received a prior warning. This is not leadership development; it is institutional bullying.
A conversation with Dr Osime — who had himself been queried for commending Governor Caleb Mutfwang during a courtesy visit — made Shuaib question whether earning the mni designation required conformity “akin to joining a cult.”
Shuaib further alleges that another query followed an opinion article he wrote on Nigeria’s Blue Economy, even though NIPSS was not mentioned. Most troubling, he claims NIPSS officials accessed his private email without authorisation, including a restricted PRNigeria editorial correspondence used during the disciplinary process. If true, this is not merely an institutional breach but a potential criminal act under Nigerian data protection laws.
That this serious allegation has reportedly been ignored by the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) — whom he petitioned more than a year ago — speaks to a broader failure of institutional accountability extending well beyond the gates of the Kuru campus.
Another incident during the Abuja tour — where a directing staff allegedly prevented a Permanent Secretary from engaging informally with participants — reinforces the image of a system obsessed with control. In another episode, a directing staff member allegedly insulted an elderly participant who raised concerns about staff behaviour outside the campus.
Rear Admiral Mustapha’s alleged behaviour reveals a troubling pattern of authoritarian excess. The uniform does not confer the right to treat civilians with contempt. Military professionalism is built on discipline, not domination. When military officers bring parade ground authoritarianism into intellectual spaces, they undermine both the institution and the values they claim to uphold.
Those who engage in such conduct would do well to remember that leadership in a democracy is about service, not domination. The civilian professionals who participate in these courses are not recruits to be broken down and remade in the image of their directing staff; they are experienced contributors to national development who deserve to be treated as such.
The NIPSS experience, as recounted in this memoir, serves as a cautionary tale about what happens when leadership development becomes divorced from its foundational principles. An institute that cannot treat its participants — distinguished professionals in their own right — with respect and dignity cannot credibly claim to be developing leaders for the nation. When the pursuit of knowledge is subjugated to the exercise of petty authority, everyone loses.
Nigeria cannot afford to have its premier leadership institution undermined by the culture of bullying and authoritarian control. The nation’s future depends on developing leaders who understand the difference between power and leadership — a distinction that, based on this account, some at NIPSS have tragically failed to grasp.
Nuhu Mohammed writes from the Nupe Centre, Bida. He can be reached at [email protected].
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