By Tunde Oso

The Federal Government has urged media practitioners to remain vigilant about issues like data privacy, cybersecurity and the spread of misinformation and fake news.

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris, who made this call at the just-concluded 2024 National Advertising Conference in Abuja, said, “Technology is a powerful tool, but one that requires ethical responsibility,” adding, “As a government, we are committed to promoting policies that protect both consumers and businesses, thereby ensuring a digital ecosystem that promotes trust, transparency, and accountability.

According to Idris, “Advertising reflects and, in many ways, shapes culture. As our society becomes increasingly interconnected and diverse, advertisers face the challenge of creating messages that resonate across a broad spectrum of demographics, languages, and values.

“Today’s Nigerian audience is young, dynamic, and incredibly discerning. They demand representation, authenticity, and social responsibility from the brands they choose to support. This calls for a new level of sensitivity and awareness in advertising.

“At the Ministry of Information and Nationality Orientation, we are dedicated to fostering an environment where Nigerian creatives and content producers can thrive, strengthening our cultural identity and enabling the stories of Nigeria to reach global audiences.”
“To remain competitive, advertising agencies and media companies need to be agile and open to experimentation. This means embracing partnerships, investing in continuous learning, and adapting strategies to stay relevant in a changing marketplace. The government, for our part, is committed to supporting a regulatory framework that encourages innovation, protects intellectual property, and provides an enabling environment for all players in this sector.
“As we stand at the intersection of these shifts, the government’s role is clear. We must work in partnership with industry stakeholders to create policies that support innovation, safeguard consumer interests, and encourage the growth of a robust advertising sector that contributes meaningfully to our national economy.
“The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), and other regulatory bodies have been actively engaged in setting standards that ensure fairness, transparency, and ethical practices in the industry. These policies are designed not to stifle creativity but to provide a framework where businesses can innovate responsibly.
“We are also actively promoting initiatives that encourage local content development, skill acquisition, and digital literacy within the advertising and creative industries. By building capacity and fostering an ecosystem where talent can flourish, we aim to position Nigeria as a leading hub for advertising and media in Africa and beyond.”
In his address, the Director General of ARCON, Dr Olalekan Fadolapo said new era of advertising calls for adaptability, as emerging technologies like IoT, Big Data, AI, Augmented realities, Robotics and others have triumphed new landscape to reach advertising audience in a more meaningful ways.
He said advertisers can no longer afford to do business in the old model and expect to remain relevant but prepare to shift to new era of advertising and adopt new models driven by emerging technologies.
Delivering his keynote speech on the State of Nigerian Economy, CEO of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Dr. Tayo Aduloju said, “our journey in terms of economic trajectory has been defined by choices that business and political elite make since Nigeria came back to democracy in 1999.
“The current state of Nigerian economy was not created in the last one year but over the last decades of successive maladministrations. I think in the last one year, everyone was ready to shake their head and say we’ve gone on an interesting route.
He said, “However, the last one year was not created one year ago. And our future will depend on the consensus in those choices. Nigeria prosecuted a decade of transformative growth in the first decade of our independence. In fact, the world brought us into a group called the Mint Group.