THE apex regulatory body in the nation’s advertising space, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), has assured practitioners and critical stakeholders in the nation’s integrated marketing communication space of its commitment to repositioning the industry and improving its value delivery.
Giving the assurance at the Graduation/Induction ceremony for new members, held in Lagos recently, the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of the agency, Dr. Lekan Fadolapo, stated that one of the way way the Council intends to achieve that is through its pending Bill in the national assembly, aimed at repealing and re-enacting the enabling Act for the Council for improved performance.
According to him, the Bill which was recently discussed on the floor of the national assembly, had become imperative, since there had been no major legislative action, since the promulgation of Decree No.55 of 1988.
He expressed the optimism that when signed into law, the Bill would go a long way in improving the Council’s mandates, functions and powers over advertising and marketing communications in the country.
Fadolapo added that the Council had also set up a Code Review Committee, with the aim of bringing the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice at par with what obtains, globally.
The APCON boss also expressed the determination of the agency to finally put to rest the issue of recurrent industry debt, which had continued to pose a serious challenge to practitioners and the practice.
To achieve that, he added, APCON had set up a committee, with a mandate to define a minimum standard, expected in any relationship by the parties playing in the industry’s field of business.
“The Standard of Practice Committee has since begun work and the outcome of the exercise is expected to be adopted and given the operational force of law. With this, we hope to curb the incessant debt claims and counter -claims between advertisers, agencies, and media houses while making our model the subject of emulation, globally,” he added.
While congratulating the inductees for taking the pains to go through the process of registering as members of the profession, Fadolapo also tendered the council’s unreserved apologies for the delay in holding the graduation ceremony earlier for some of the graduates. This, he attributed to the ‘transitory absence’ of a Governing Council for the agency.
In his Keynote Address, the Guest Speaker, Mr. Jimi Awosika noted that periodic admission of professional practitioners remains the mechanism on which the sustainability or decline of institutions hinge.
He also charged the apex regulatory body, APCON, on the need to position marketing communications to enable the practice play its role as a social contract, through conscious production and consumption of products and services.
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