BY OLUWAGBENGA BANKOLE
It is certainly a new dawn in the Advertising Practitioners Council of
Nigeria (APCON). This is because there are strong indications that the
lingering controversy surrounding the chairmanship position of the council is
over with the appointment of the Group Managing Director of SO&U, Mr. Udeme
Ufot as the chairman.
In the beginning
Trouble started in 2013 when the tenure of the former chairman of the
council Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi expired. The chairmanship position has been vacant
since the founder of Prima Garnet Lolu Akinwunmi left the post.
APCON, the regulate agency of government was set up through Act 55 of
1988 and a revised code of 2013 with a mandate to regulate advertising
practices in all aspects in the country. It is stated clearly in one of its
rules that only an advertising professional can be appointed as the chairman of
the body.
The advertising industry was thrown in a big surprise when the presidency
announced the appointment of non advertising practitioner, Prince Ngozi Emioma
as the chairman of the body in 2013. The industry through its sectoral bodies
voiced its objection to the imposition of unregistered advertising practitioner
to be at the helm of affairs of APCON.
The council and the entire industry almost succeeded in its objection to
the appointment of Emioma when former Minister of Information, Mr. Labara Maku
was in office. As the supervising minister in charge of APCON and other
affiliated agencies of the federation, Maku was said to have invited the
embattled Emioma and told him his appointment was an error as he was said not
to be qualified for such position based on what the law says.
Unfortunately, the minister could not succeed in his move to reach out to
the president so that he can reverse the appointment of Emioma. This is because
the minister got under severe pressure arising from his open ambition for the
gubernatorial contest in Kaduna state which compelled him to throw in the towel
as the minister of information, thus rendering him from profiling solution to
APCON’s problem.
The good news
The advertising industry in Nigeria was thrown into jubilation when the
federal government announced the appointment of SO&U Group Managing
Director, Mr. Udeme Ufot as the new chairman of the council.
Udeme Ufot, a towering figure in the Nigeria’s marketing communication,
began his advertising career as the art director with Desmark Advertising. He
later joined Insight Communication where he became the deputy creative
director. He resigned to established SO&U in 1990.
The appointment of Ufot who is one of the three industry key figures
recently honoured with the title of Member of the order of Niger (MON) by
President Goodluck Jonathan has no doubt put an end to the crisis that had
engulfed the council. His appointment will indeed return satiny to the council.
Industry perspectives
on his appointment
The President of Association of
Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu has described the appointment of Mr. Ufot as a wise choice
given his antecedents as a senior practitioner who has always been passionate
about the growth and development of the advertising profession.
Nwosu
told BRAND INFO that; “given the state of flux before
now, Mr. Ufot’s appointment should restore normalcy, and continuity to the
Council. Secondly we should see a renewed impetus and agenda to drive to
full implementation the well articulated Advertising Reforms which since the
lapse in tenure of the previous Chairman has been experiencing a level neglect.
Speaking
further on the appointment, Nwosu noted that given Mr Ufots antecedents and
pedigree as a highly respected practitioner and a past president of the AAAN,
his appointment will be positively received by not just the advertising community,
but also the other sectoral groups representing media and marketing
professionals in country.
He
concluded by advising Ufot to forge concensus among the relevant
stakeholders and practitioners in general in order to successfully drive the
broad goals of the Council.
One of the Industry
expects Mr. Adewale Okoya also shares similar sentiments saying Ufot’s
appointment is the beginning of greater things to come into the advertising
industry in Nigeria.
The
former Marketing Edge editor told our correspondent that Ufot's appointment will finally bring to rest the lingering crises surrounding the chairmanship position of the council.
Udeme Ufot’s plan
The new APCON
chairman Udeme Ufot has promised to engage the stakeholders to chart a course
for the industry. Ufot who made this known last week said that ; “I come from
the advertising agency part of the business and APCON council comprises the
advertising industry, media buying, print media, broadcasting and advertisers,
and what I will do first and foremost is to engage with them to find out what
the issues are. It will be consulting first to form understanding as to what to
do.”
He stated that he feels extremely challenged by the confidence reposed on him by the industry to take on the responsibility, especially at this time the industry is going through the implementation of code of practice. I have the confidence that with the support of the industry, I will do my best to grow the industry.
One of the issues that will
confront Ufot as APCON chairman includes some provisions in the advertising
reform. While some players have endorsed the reform, others said some of the
provisions in the reform are counter productiveHe stated that he feels extremely challenged by the confidence reposed on him by the industry to take on the responsibility, especially at this time the industry is going through the implementation of code of practice. I have the confidence that with the support of the industry, I will do my best to grow the industry.
For instance, last year George Thorpe, the chairman of MediaReach OMD, among other stakeholders, believed that the clause that places a level of restriction on the practice of advertising and marketing by foreigners in Nigeria was not well defined.
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