Lolu Akinwunmi was Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) fifth Chairman; Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) 14th President, and pioneer Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Rebranding Project under the late former Information and Communication Minister, Dora Akunyili.
He talks to journalists, including Senior Correspondent, Goddie Ofose, about his career, achievements of APCON during his tenure, the fifth reform of the code, the economy, politics and governance, and the challenges of advertising.
Experience as APCON chairman
Before I was appointed by President Goodluck Jonathan in 2010 for a single three year tenure, I had been advised by one or two very senior practitioners that I should simply concentrate on the traditional role of vetting adverts, and avoid potentially troublesome issues like the constant disagreements between the two major breweries, among others.
I, however, disagreed because I felt the economy and the industry were at a stage where we needed to strongly intervene and strengthen the structures of APCON, so that the federal regulator would be further empowered to play its role more effectively, and do more than just vetting and setting syllabuses for higher institutions.
This led us to embark on the review of the fourth code, which culminated in the fourth code. The work on the code demanded a lot of tact, diplomacy, political adroitness, and the need to manage many interests.
Smooth sail?
Far from it. From when we started, foreign interests that did not want it attacked us ferociously. They imagined that if we were able to put the reform in place, it would stop them from taking over the Nigerian advertising business.
At some point, I was reported to the National Assembly that I was using my position in APCON to stop certain foreign interests from operating in Nigeria. I had to appear at the Senate to clear this.
Then they reported me to the then Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, who investigated the allegation and found it to be untrue.
Then they went to the Nigerian Investment Promotions Commission (NIPC) with the untruth that I was stopping foreign investors from coming into Nigeria. We showed the commission proof that this was also not true.
Then they went to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) with the same lie and we dispelled it. Finally, they reached the Villa and the matter was directed to Maku again.
Of course they used the media massively against APCON and me, sadly using Nigerian professionals in the odious campaign. They even recruited their friends in one of the telcos and one of the breweries, all in an attempt to derail the reform. It was an intense battle.
At some point, it took [Maku] hosting an all-parties meeting in Abuja, where they were warned to desist from the campaign of calumny against APCON and me.
Industry support
Thankfully, I received uncommon support from the AAAN, ADVAN, OAAN, MIPAN and the other sectorial groups.
It was overwhelming because they all knew that what was at stake was the soul and the future of the Nigerian advertising profession.
But for their support, concluding the assignment would have been very challenging indeed.
Foreign, local competition
Traditionally, Nigerian Breweries and Guinness have always been very fierce competitors, even though at some point in their history in Nigeria, they were related through their overseas and local owners.
I should know because in my days in Lintas in the 80s, I worked as an account manager on Star, Maltina, FES (Guinness Stout) and Harp. Over time, their friendly disposition towards each other became more competitive.
Apart from the battles in the market, APCON also became a veritable theatre of war.
How?
Over many years, and especially with the introduction of the regime of supervised exposure of alcoholic ads in the media, each brewery was quick to report the other to APCON if it saw or perceived any infraction by its competitor.
Indeed, when I was appointed chairman, one of my predecessors quietly counseled me to avoid this potential pitfall, and be very careful in managing it. The conflict had gone on for many years, but I was determined to resolve it during my tenure; so I chose not to take the advice.
At some point, one of the breweries’ CEO wrote a very strong memo to APCON strongly hinting at complicity against us. I immediately saw a very serious situation, if it was not well and quickly managed.
So, rather than have the APCON secretariat follow the usual procedure to attend to the matter, I took it up, did a reply to the CEO, assuring him we would promptly look into the matter.
I immediately set up an investigative committee to do this, instead of using the APCON committee, and appointed a fellow and council member as the chairman. If I waited for the APCON process, there might have been delays, but the matter required that we acted with dispatch and wisdom.
For good measure I put [Maku] in the copy. I deliberately did this so he would have fore knowledge in case anyone wanted to go to him for malicious reasons.
The committee invited the two breweries and their lawyers, spoke with APCON, the ASP, et cetera, and at the end of the day, it turned out the allegation was not only untrue, the brewery that made the complaint repudiated it.
For me, though, the very sad part was that the accusing brewery went to town in the media, running a vicious campaign against APCON, the ASP and its chairman. One got the distinct impression that the main reason was to make enough noise so that the government would move against some key people in APCON.
At the end of the day, we sent our report to [Maku] and he studied it. He later sent a letter commending us on how the matter was handled, and advised that all the materials from our investigation be carefully preserved as historical documents.
International cooperation, capacity building
During my tenure, APCON was invited by the Ghana Advertising Association (GAA) to advise and help them set up their own regulatory body.
We had an opportunity to meet and present to members of the Ghanaian Parliament with oversight function for communication, as well as a large group of Ghanaian practitioners and business people.
Support for government policies
APCON also continued to actively interact with the office of the minister of information, offering the support of council and our members for government policies and activities.
On our own initiative, our members in AAAN developed messages that supported some key government policies, thereby identifying with the government’s plan to administer effectively.
I am happy to report that the relationship with the office of the minister of information is very cordial.
I use this opportunity to thank Labaran Maku and other senior officials of the ministry for their support for APCON.
Traditional medicine advertisements
President Goodluck Jonathan called on APCON to ensure compliance. APCON and the NBC organised a conference a few months ago during which I addressed all the traditional herbal medicine practitioners, sensitising them to be ready to work closely with APCON and the NBC.
The response was very good and encouraging. I am also hopeful that the new council will take this up.
We understand that foreign agencies are not too happy with the reform, as in their opinion APCON is trying to stop them from operating in Nigeria, and that they plan to work against the implementation of the reform and even take APCON to court.
Only those with selfish agenda belong to this group. We have been speaking with some of them who want to know what they need to do to comply. And I am not sure anyone who has read the current edition of the Code of Advertising Practice would say that.
APCON does not have the power to stop any qualified Nigerian or foreigner from practising, as long as they do all that the law requires. We are like the Nigerian Medical Council and the Council of Legal Education.
APCON has worked and continues to work with Anthony Idigbe, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who is also a Fellow of APCON. We have been instructed on all the lawful things to do.
Your successor, Ufot
He is a thoroughbred professional, otherwise he would not be one of the fellows recommended to the minister. He has had very active professional practice and has also been the president of AAAN.
He is very active in many professional capacities and was recently awarded the national award of MFR. I have no doubt that under him, APCON will continue in the fine tradition of delivering value as expected by the government and the people.
Ufot and reform
He is a thoroughbred professional and was once the president of AAAN. He understands what the reform is about and he will be well advised by the council.
He is an entrepreneur who manages a group of successful agencies that was once affiliated to a big global group. He understands the intricacies of this matter and certainly knows what to do.
And at any rate, no chairman acts alone or in isolation. Built into the council structure are also checks and balances that every chairman must respect. I should know.
The reform status is definite, has been gazetted and presented to the president-in-council in Abuja. We don’t foresee any challenges with the new chairman and council.
Relevance of rebranding project
Unfortunately many Nigerians believed it was all about advertisement because of the “rebranding” nomenclature. They simply imagined it was the same as the previous similar projects. But ours was different; it was more of a social mobilisation programme.
We found out at the ad hoc level that if we did not put in place a programme that would change the way Nigerians think, then all the money spent on advertising locally and abroad would amount to a waste.
We agreed a social mobilisation programme that would affect and influence teachings from primary school, et cetera. It was a great programme. And it was structured to run over a long span, not some six months’ campaign.
Is it still relevant? Of course. It will always be, for as long as we need to go through a social reengineering programme.