By Princewill Ekwujuru & Nnamdi Ojiego

Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and Marketing communications practitioners  in Nigeria have resolved that the sector will continue to face regulatory challenges unless the practitioners apply responsibility and self-discipline in their practice to foster value in the industry.

They believed that in spite of some regulatory laws and codes which have remained weak on the advertising practice in Nigeria, self regulation, self restraint and adherence to morals would complement necessary laws and ensure best practices in the marketing communications industry. The forum was the  2011 advertising stakeholders forum organized in Lagos  by Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and attended by practitioners in the media and advertising industry who deliberated on a number of issues on how to improve on compliance, promote responsible advertising practice and make all concerned more responsible to codes and regulations guiding the practice.

Speaking at the forum, APCON Chairman, Lolu Akinwunmi lent credence to the views when he said that  to effectively take the best advantage of advertising for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders, a high level of discipline is required in the operation and practice of the profession.

According to him, this is referred to as best practice anywhere in the world. “Since advertising has influence and effect on the receiving audience, it is expected that it must be legal, decent, honest, truthful and mindful of Nigeria’s culture in its operation and practice”

He said that it is therefore in the interest of all those in the advertising industry whether as advertisers, media independent agencies or the media houses to ensure that advertising follows a set of rules that enables it to embrace the best practice principles.

Akinwunmi further said that the industry is on the path of a major reform and to achieve the stated aspirations, APCON needs the co_operation of sectoral groups through compliance.
In his paper entitled “Compliance issues in marketing communication regulation, the Publisher of BusinessDay, Frank Aigbogun believes that self regulation is the effective approach to enthroning best practices in the industry.

He said the more independent a regulatory body is, the more credible it becomes in the discharge of its duties.
Aigbogun expressed worry that in spite of the existing laws, the industry is dealing with the challenges of compliance. The publisher who frowned at regular breaches of the advertising code by practitioners therefore described the laws as weak.

According to him, if the industry could control who practices, codes can be enforced because a law is a law only to the extent of its compliance. Explaining that regulation is important in order to avoid arbitrariness, Aigbogun noted that regulation and self regulation has become necessary as Nigeria’s market continues to expand.