…as new council members emerge

The National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) has launched a new draft code of Professional Marketing Practice in the country.

The code which was adopted at the first Virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Institute will come into effect August 1 and will help to promote standards of professional conduct, ethical norms and values for marketers.

The NIMN is empowered by an Act of parliament, Act 25 of 2003, to make rules and regulations for guidance of professional practice and conduct by marketing professionals in Nigeria.

Speaking during the AGM, the Institute’s president, Tony Agenmonmen, also disclosed that the Council of the Institute is considering an amendment to NIMN Act 25 of 2003.

He said since 2003 when the Act came into effect, there have been many developments in the marketing profession

He said, “The Council therefore desires to initiate the process of amending the Act to reflect current realities and bring it in line with best practice. Amending an Act of the National Assembly invariably involves the

National Assembly and the Presidency. Therefore, the process will take some time for it to be completed. We are hopeful and determined that the amendments will be achieved.”

While giving account of his stewardship of the Institute in the last one year, Mr Agenmonmen said the equity of the NIMN brand is growing stronger every day.

According to him, the Council under his leadership has consolidated the fundamental restructuring and changes that started implementing in the past few years. He however, admitted that there is still much work in progress.

He said the continuing difficult economic challenges in the year under review had some telling effects on members of the Institute and quite a few struggled to pay their subscriptions.

He said despite the challenging environment, the Council however grew revenue from N114.3 million in 2018 to N129.9 million in 2019.

He said, “As a result of stricter controls, we were able to manage our costs to be almost in line with 2018. Because of the rising profile of the Institute and our enforcement drive, we were able to grow revenue from members from N72.4 million in 2018 to N91.7 million in 2019.

READ ALSO: Fuel price hike: Oil marketers condemn planned protest, shutdown

This is comprised of revenues from direct membership programme, Fellowship awards and membership upgrade.”

He expressed concern that 2020 has been and will continue to be a very difficult year in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, whose direction is still very uncertain.

He said, “We expect a significant impact on our activities and revenue. To mitigate this impact, the Secretariat has been mandated to utilize existing technologies to drive some of our programmes.

They also have a Council directive to ensure that costs are managed down significantly in the face of lower revenue expectations.”

He said, “In line with the mandate of the Institute as contained in the enabling Act and following our earlier indications, we have now moved a step further in our efforts to ensure that all those practicing

marketing illegally obey the law by registering with the Institute as required.

“Our enforcement drive has yielded significant results with the all-time record of induction of more than 100 fellows

at the last Fellows Dinner and Awards Night. In order to drive enforcement further and push our our message home, 5 practitioners who refused to respond to our lawyer’s request for compliance have already had their cases filed in court.

They will be having their day in court as soon as the courts resume their normal sessions post COVID-19.”

Meanwhile, winners for the new council members and position of first and second vice president of the Institute were announced and inaugurated during the AGM.

VANGUARD