This week is, without doubt, of huge importance to the nation’s marketing fraternity.
The institute, which regulates marketing practice in the country, the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), will be electing a new president, and two other council members, at its Annual Marketing Conference and Annual General Meeting scheduled for this week’s Thursday and Friday, May 27 and 28 respectively.
A general consensus within the marketing fraternity is that the outgoing president, Prince Tony Agenmonmen, in the last few years, had succeeded in pulling back the marketing institute from the precipice, as evident in the relative peace the hitherto highly- factionalised institute enjoyed throughout his stay in office.
Besides, not a few also believe that the incumbent had also succeeded in rebuilding the institute and repositioning it for the 21st century challenges.
For instance, one of such innovations is the introduction of its virtual voting, an electoral process that has made it possible, in the past one year, for all financially-active members to participate in the institute’s process of electing its officials, without such members having to be physically around to fulfill such obligations,
This, Agenmonmen explains, is to ensure that every eligible members of the institute are part of its decision-making processes.
Interestingly, one of the greatest legacies the incumbent will be leaving is the ability to enhance the institute’s membership base, and make it attractive to practitioners of repute.
For instance, on assumption of office, few years ago, Agenmommen had vowed to reduce the activities of quacks in the profession to the barest minimum. The administration’s decision to, therefore, institute legal actions against some marketing practitioners that refused to register with the institute, sometimes in 2019, was seen as a way of sending the administration’s no-business-as –usual message to erring marketing practitioners.
“If you practise marketing, without being a member of the institute, you are a quack, and if caught, you would be prosecuted,” he had said at one of his sessions with the media.
Another highlight of his tenure was the inauguration of the institute’s marketing tribunal and investigative panel, meant to order erring members of the institute.
Not a few believe the inauguration of the tribunal, few months ago, would go a long way in bringing sanity to the nation’s marketing space.
Another of his legacies is the launch of the institute’s mentoring programme, designed as a platform where the younger generation of marketers would have the opportunity to drink from the fountain of knowledge of the more experienced and accomplished marketing practitioners.
Agenmonmen had argued that the programme had become imperative if the dwindling fortunes of the profession were to be arrested.
Interestingly, Mr. Idonrenyen Enang, the man, highly favoured to take over from the incumbent, this week, has acknowledged some of these feats, and promised to further enhance professionalism among members, on assumption of office.
Though this highly accomplished marketing professional and Chief Executive of Corporate Sheperd is having Mrs. Ifeoma Sheila Emasiana-Dike, another fellow of the institute to contend with, many, within the marketing space, are of the opinion that his chances of clinching the institute’s most prestigious office, were further boosted recently at the Presidential Debate, organized for the two candidates, recently, when the other candidate beat a retreat, by simply refusing to show up for the event.
While his opponent, Ifeoma, was widely believed to have beaten a retreat, as evident in her decision to shun the highly-publicised and massively-attended virtual debate, it was however an opportunity for Idonrenyen to present his turnaround agenda to the participants.
For instance, the presidential hopeful had argued that, with the huge presence the marketing institute enjoys in different sectors of the nation’s economy, the time had come for it to take its pride of place in the comity of professional bodies in the country.
While commending the outgoing president of the institute, Mr. Tony Agenmonmen for his efforts at rebuilding the hitherto highly-factionalised institute, Idorenyen assured of his commitment to continue with the rebuilding process to enable him effectively reposition the institute.
According to him, one of the strategies he intends to adopt is to unleash the power in members, and make them actively involved in the affairs of the institute.
Besides, he assured that the institute, under his leadership, would strengthen its bond with the academia, to enable its vast human resources in the nation’s academic space contribute their own quota to the growth of the institute.
“One of the things I intend to do is to strengthen the bond between the institute and the marketing departments in the nation’s higher institutions. For instance, we need to make our professors of Marketing, contribute more to capacity development in the institute.
“We intend to have a huge bank of materials in the institute, and we can achieve that by asking marketing professors among us to give us highly -researched works which would be warehoused for the use of members,” he added.
The presidential hopeful also assured members of the institute of a quality leadership, on assumption of office, on May 28, this year.
Earlier, one of the candidates vying for one of the two vacant council seats, Mr. Chidi Nwakpa, promised to use his influence as a council member to enhance the quality of membership to the institute.
He also stated that establishing a strong and effective collaboration between the institute, the public sector and the academia would be given priority when he is sworn as one of the institute’s council members, on May 28, this year.
The results of the elections, which hold virtually, between May 21 and 28, this year, will be announced at the institute’s Annual General Meeting, scheduled for Lagos on Friday, May 28.
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