As part of efforts to rid the marketing and communications industry of quackery, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), and the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote professionalism in the industry.
The MoU, signed by the President and Chairman of Council of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku, the Director General of ARCON, Olalekan Fadolapo, and President of NIMN, Idorenyen Enang is also aimed at promoting ethical standards and best practices in the industry.
Speaking at the event held at the ARCON headquarters in Abuja on Friday, Neliaku said the MoU is a significant step towards sanitizing the industry and protecting the public from the activities of quacks and unscrupulous practitioners.
The NIRR president noted that the decision to partner with NIMN and ARCON would have a positive impact on the industry and would benefit all members.
He disclosed that associate members of NIPR can now seamlessly transition to NIMN and ARCON membership without undergoing a lengthy process and vice versa.
He said instead they would attend a specialized program covering four modules to grasp the fundamentals.
Neliaku said: “What this means is that when we make a decision in the interest of the industry, it will affect everybody. For instance, an associate member of NIPR can actually apply to NIMN to be a member directly and literally. You don’t have to go through all the rigorous processes anymore.
“You’ll only attend what we now call a special program based on about four modules, just for you to know the rudiments. So, for instance, if an NIPR member wants to also join ARCON, you will do basic courses in advertising. If it is marketing, the same thing.
“If it is an AFCON member that wants to join NIPR, you just do basic, just for you to know public relations, to be strong enough to now and practice it. We are saying that our profession is virtually the same. It’s just that we have individual specializations and we are now coming together.
“We are coming together to work so that we can help to build the industry. And then the second aspect of it is that as partners, what affects one affects the other two. And because of that, we have to work strongly to ensure that we look out for each other.
The NIPR boss maintained that the partnership would simplify the regulatory process for practitioners, saying “if you are already regulated by ARCON, you won’t need to undergo separate regulation by NIPR.
“Instead, a certification or letter from ARCON confirming your membership will grant you access to benefits and privileges under both NIPR and NIMN and it is vice versa”, he said.
Fadolapo, on his part, stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation among industry stakeholders to promote ethical standards and best practices.
He said” This event is very important for the professional bodies because we work cooperatively in the marketing and communication system. Before we arrived at this MoU signing, we’ve done a series of discussions.
“We’ve had discussions with NIPR. We’ve looked at areas of interest. It is very important that professional institutions that share ideas and within the same overlapping functions can work together. We believe strongly that this MoU will strengthen both the regulatory framework of NIPR and marketing.”
Speaking, the President of NIMN noted that the MoU would also facilitate the sharing of knowledge, expertise, and resources among the three organisations, and would also lead to improved professional development.
