The month of June holds its significance for practitioners in the nation’s marketing ecosystem. Every year, during the period, marketing professionals, under the aegis of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN), converge to hold one of the most important events on the institute’s calendar, the Annual Marketing Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Year 2025 is not going to be different. The institute’s leadership, at a media briefing, held recently in Lagos, said it had concluded arrangements to hold this year’s edition of the events between June 19 and 21 in Uyo, the capital city of Akwa Ibom.
Besides being seen as offering the opportunities of a yearly congregation for marketing discourse, stakeholders in the nation’s marketing space see this year’s AGM as unique for reasons beyond the aforementioned.
“It is an election AGM, an opportunity for us to elect a new set of leadership and, perhaps right whatever wrong we must have made in our leadership choice in the past. That is why we are all looking forward to it,” said a practitioner, who would not want his name in print, while stressing the importance of the 2025 AGM.
But, besides this, many believe this year’s AGM may end up being a history-making one for the institute, and the nation’s marketing ecosystem. Those holding on to this line of thought argued that the possibility of the institute producing its first female president, at the polls has never been this close.
The gladiators…
With the incumbent president, Idorenyen Enang, gradually winding down on his tenure, the institute’s First Vice President, Bolajoko Bayo-Ajayi and the Second Vice President, Okafor Walter Kenechukwu, the duo, elected unopposed at the institute’s AGM held on June 22, 2024, in Ibadan, Oyo State, initially signified their intention to occupy the exalted office.
Brands & Marketing however learnt that despite making it look like a two-horse race, Bolajoko is likely to emerge unopposed. Her opponent, Walter, was said to have dropped his ambition after due consultations with some high-ranking members of the institute and the nation’s marketing ecosystem.
“While there would still be an election on that day, only Bolajoko’s name will be on the ballot paper,” the source stated.
The tasks ahead
But while the coast seems clear for the Principal Consultant of Purple Pearl Consulting Ltd to make history as the institute’s first president of the feminine gender, not a few, however, believe the tasks ahead of her, or whoever becomes the next president of the marketing institute, are humongous.
For instance, a major challenge waiting for the new president is the issue of accommodation for the institute.
In another few weeks, Brands & Marketing learned, the institute will be quitting the Adekunle Fajuyi, Ikeja GRA Head Office, commissioned with pomp and pageantry by the then Tony Agenmonmen-led administration, some years back.
The institute was said to have been given a notice to quit, few months ago, and the ejection exercise may be effected in another few months. The new person at the helm of affairs may find it difficult settling down if this issue is not quickly sorted.
The issue of membership also continues to haunt the institute. It is an open secret that despite the huge number of professionals, eking their living on the nation’s marketing space, the institute has not been able to find the right strategy at ensuring they are part and parcel of the institute.
The closest to achieving that was during Agenmonmen’s administration, when the Nigerian Breweries Plc man took some marketing executives to court for occupying juicy marketing offices, without being part of the institute. This, to a large extent, succeeded in whipping some recalcitrant members into line. But very little was said to have been achieved after his exit
The Marketing Tribunal is another issue a new helmsman must be ready to look into and make functional. At the twilight of Agenmonmen’s tenure, the Tribunal, headed by a fellow of the institute, Dr. Ify Uriah, was launched. But since its launch, more than four years ago, not much has been heard of this highly desirable marketing court.
The issue of capacity building for members and the institute’s workforce is another grey area the new president must look into to enable the institute to take its pride of place in the comity of professional institutions.
Interestingly, Bolajoko, a certified personal Performance Coach, many believe, has what it takes to reverse those ugly trends. Making her the president of the institute will avail her the opportunity of helping members and the institute apply relevant marketing principles to build their personal and corporate brands, as promised in her manifesto.
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