The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to re-constitute the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria to save practitioners from undue exposure and protect the country’s image.
The President of the council, Kayode Oluwasona, made the plea when he led a delegation of the association on a courtesy visit to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja on Friday.
Oluwasona told State House Correspondents after the meeting that the absence of APCON made it difficult for the country to achieve descent and progressive advertising.
He said: “Prime among the things we discussed with His Excellency is the need for us to have the APCON Council re-instated or reconstituted.
“It has been such a situation that in the last one year there hasn’t been a council in APCON Council and the implication of that is grave.
“Prior to the dissolution of the very last one we also had this kind of experience where for almost two years there was no council.
“And the council that was even dissolved lasted for barely four months.
“So you can imagine in the last three years APCON had barely had a council for longer than four months.
“And when the council is not there, our trade, our business, our industry actually suffers over exposure.
“And the kind of campaigns, communication that is responsible, decent, progressive advertising cannot be achieved because it is the council that is set up to drive it.”
The AAAN president said many of the unwholesome campaigns seen in the last national elections happened because there was no regulatory body to control political advertising.
Oluwasona also said the meeting delved into the strategy for government-people communication in Nigeria.
He said: “The way government to people communication is going these days, is becoming very sophisticated and we cannot continue to do it the way we have been doing it.
“We need professionals involved.
“We have offered to come in to support government so that we can have professional communication going out to the people.
“It is supposed to be strategic, have depth and be well targeted.”
Oluwasona expressed the hope that advertising could contribute more to national development if well managed.
On the nation’s economic challenges, he said advertising could play active role to uplift an ailing economy to enable consumers to take wise decisions during depression.
According to him, when the awareness is created, wise choices are made and more products come out which generate more employment.
He said: “The reflation of the economy may not come from injection of funds from external sources.
“It can start from within and be organic based on the type of decisions that people take and which advertising is there to help to achieve.”
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