There’s no doubting the fact that Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo led management team at Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, (APCON) has done an exemplary job since he was appointed as the substantive registrar/chief executive of the apex advertising regulatory body.
As soon as Dr. Fadolapo was appointed on August 26h , 2020, the former executive director of
Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, (AAAN) , swung into action by consulting different sectoral groups and relevant bodies within the integrated marketing communications industry in the country.
Firstly, the new APCON management sought the backing of the Ministry of Information and Culture through the minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, which it got. Thereafter, the new management began to breathe new life into APCON by way of revitalizing membership of the council at all levels.
Practitioners started showing greater interest and there was absolute confident in the regulatory body once more.
Secondly, the new registrar began to crisscross the landscape of the industry to seek the approval of the stakeholders such as Dr. Biodun Shobanjo, Sir Steve Omojafor, Chief Udeme Ufot, Mr. Enyi Odigbo, and several others.
According to reports, Dr. Fadolapo was very successful on that front. Then, he moved to engage the sectoral groups and other relevant bodies in the industry. Several memoranda of understanding were signed for collaborative efforts.
After these ground works have been done, the new registrar moved to achieve reform that has eluded the industry for like ever. It will be recalled that the former APCON chairman, Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi had tried without result to bequeath the industry a reform that would transform the advertising business, however, there were factors that never allowed that well intended initiative to see the light of day.
Since Dr. Fadolapo had been through those processes in the past, he understood what is needed to be done to achieve a reform; therefore, he moved to constitute all-encompassing committee with the support of the minister.
The committee was formed and chaired by Mr. Funmi Onabolu, Group Managing Director, COSSE Limited. The committee set out to achieve it aims and objectives and in short time, result was gotten, though there were some dissenting voices coming from members of the Advertisers Association of Nigeria, (ADVAN).
Although ADVAN seemingly rejected the outcome but that never stopped the overwhelming endorsement of the committee report by the influential figures in the industry. We now hear that ADVAN would be returning to the table for further discussions and eventual acceptance of the reform document.
Recently, the council broke the ice once more by inducting 63 fellows after 10 years it held such event last. It now looks like APCON is conveniently running its operations without council in place and no one is bothered anymore.
I am using the medium to call on all practitioners, especially the torchbearers in creative advertising, media, experiential marketing, Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria, (BON), outdoor advertising and other relevant organisations to rise and safe the industry from ridicule.
APCON is probably the only government parastatals/agency in the ministry of information and culture that its board and/or council is yet to be constituted in the last 7 years. We are better than this and therefore, it’s about time we force the hand of the government to do the right thing.
Constitute APCON council.
