APCON AT 20 AND BEYOND
Being the Text of a Lecture Delivered By Mr. Ayo Owoborode, frpa, on November 13, 2009, at The Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, on the occasion of the 2009 Advertising Day organised by The Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).
PROTOCOLS observed.
Preamble:
I feel highly privileged to be the guest lecturer on this very special occasion of the twentieth year anniversary of the existence of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). I therefore thank the APCON Council for extending to me this honour to speak to this assembly of very eminent Nigerians - senior government functionaries, public policy makers, captains of the private sector, distinguished Advertising practitioners and practitioners from across the marketing communications divides.
All glory must be credited to our Creator who has spared our lives to witness this historic occasion. At this point I recall today the conspicuous absence of some of our eminent colleagues who were there with us at the beginning of the APCON journey. I recall Chief Olu Adekoya, Mr. Banjo Solaru, Mr. Akin Davies, Mr. Eddie Falaye, Chief Supo Olagbaju, Chief Sam Oluwadare, Ms. Tola Olujobi, Mr. Dupe Ayinde, Mr. Jide Lopez, Mrs Dorothy Ovbiagele and a few others. These eminent Ad Practitioners are currently resting in eternity. They all played one significant role or the other in the making of APCON. Mr. Chairman, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, may we all please rise to honour these fallen colleagues of ours with one solemn minute of silence.
May their souls continue to rest in perfect peace. Amen. Thank you.
Congratulations
Moving away from that sombre note, I would like to congratulate heartily the current APCON Chairman, Mr. Chris Doghudje,frpa, the Registrar/CEO, Alhaji Garba Kankarofi, frpa, the entire current APCON Council members, staff and management of APCON for the twentieth anniversary celebration of APCON that kicked off on a very historic and exciting note yesterday. For successfully steering the wheels of the Advertising profession and practice you all deserve applause. And all of the 2,101 currently registered practitioners have every reason also to be proud of their profession which has consistently impacted positively on our economy, our lifestyle and the total well-being of our people. For all users of advertising (advertisers) I say congratulations because you have kept faith with a profession and practice that have added real steam to your marketing strategies in building your numerous successful brands. In year 2008 advertisers invested an estimated N65billion in media advertising and other marketing communications tools in efforts to add value to consumers and our national GDP. I also wish to congratulate the media and all other partners in the marketing communications industry - AAAN, ADVAN, OAAN, BON, MIPAN, NPAN.
One must not, at this point, discountenance the seriousness with which our governments at different levels have availed themselves of the services of Advertising in recent times. The Hon. Minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili, has interfaced very positively with our profession and practitioners. It is hoped that this trend will continue and be heightened in order to nourish our economy and the well-being of our people.
In twenty years APCON has experienced four Chairpersons of Council. They are Mr. I. Sylvester Moemeke, the first Chairman; Chief Olu Falomo, Dr. May Nzeribe, and Mr. Christopher Doghudje. I wish to appreciate these distinguished practitioners for their pioneering efforts in building the APCON structure. I wish to particularly single out the first Chairman, Mr. I. S. Moemeke, who was the longest serving Chairman and who steered the affairs of APCON with stoic maturity and total spirit of professionalism during his tenure.
I wish to recall also the four distinguished practitioners who have served as Registrar/CEO of APCON. Our appreciation go to Dr. Charles Okigbo, the first Registrar/CEO, Dr. Josef Bel-Molokwu, Mr. Bola Agboola (in acting capacity) and finally the current Registrar/CEO, our own amiable Alh. Garba Kankarofi. Mr. Bola Agboola, held fort, as Ag. Registrar, on many occasions, when APCON faced serious challenges. These eminent practitioners have made tremendous contributions to the development of advertising in particular and marketing communications in general through their worthy roles as CEOs of APCON.
Reminiscence
On a happy occasion like this, it is healthy and very useful to reminisce about the past. I therefore intend to highlight a few areas and events.
The First APCON Council: Inauguration.
I wish to recall the historic occasion when the Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh, inaugurated the very first APCON Council on November 13, 1989. It was an excited assembly, made up of mainly young Advertising practitioners, mostly gentlemen and a few ladies at the NATIONAL Arts Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. All of them were young, bright and loudly enthusiastic. Only a few of those present on that special day wore grey hair (with due respect to Mr. I. S. Moemeke). Today I look around and I am proud to see senior citizens who are members of the Advertising profession. That is a mark to confirm that Advertising, as a profession, has stabilised and matured. The profession can today boast of a good number of retirees who have done very well for the profession and for themselves.
The Making of APCON
At the 1986 AAAN (AAPN) AGM held at the Sheraton Hotel, Lagos, a motion proposed by my agency, was unanimously adopted. The motion was to the effect that all efforts must be earnestly made to ensure that Advertising was accorded legal recognition as a Profession. At that same AGM, I had the honour of being elected the President of AAAN. With me on the new executive Committee were Akin Odunsi (the Vice President), Raymond Kester, Chief Olu Adekoya, Dupe Ayinde, Gab Solarin, Segun Adedipe, May Nzeribe, Oliver Johnson, and others.
The issue of professionalism was kept on the front burner of our agenda at AAAN. To actualise this vision, we briefed a legal practitioner to draft the content and structure of a legal framework for an Institute of Advertising. This was debated extensively, distilled and finally refined to reflect the interest of the Advertising profession, the practice and the nation.
The next step was the submission of this draft decree to the Justice Ministry, which had Prince Bola Ajibola as minister, who granted immediate audience to the AAAN delegation led by me as President. Prince Bola Ajibola bought into our vision and idea.
The next destination of the AAAN delegation was the office of the Secretary to the Federal government headed by Chief Olu Falae. Chief Olu Falae was all ears to our plea and request. He offered the delegation some useful tips on how best to package our request to government.
I must also publicly acknowledge the role played by Prince Tony Momoh in ensuring that the law establishing Advertising as a profession became a reality. In September 1986, I led the AAAN delegation on a courtesy visit to the newly appointed Minister of Information, Prince Tony Momoh. I believe that our delegation represented the first set of professionals to welcome the Minister in office. We were there not for the handshakes but to sell to him our vision that Advertising deserves to be legally recognised as a profession. With me on that delegation were Mr. Akin Odunsi, (the VP), Mr. Chris Doghudje, Chief Olu Adekoya, Mr. Raymond Kester, Mr. May Nzeribe and Chief Layi Odukoya. Prince Tony Momoh bought into our vision with robust enthusiasm and assured us of the support of his ministry.
Our draft provided the raw materials for the legal draughtsmen at the Ministry of Justice which came up with the APCON Act in December 1988. However the Justice Ministry, in refining our draft, created a Council rather than an Institute. The explanation was clear. The Council will have the dual role as a practice regulatory body as well as a professional body. And so the President of the Federation, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida signed into law the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) decree no. 55 in December 1988. That decree was the father of all Xmas gifts for us all! The promulgated decree 55 captured the essence of our vision. The journey took two years.
Today we are celebrating twenty years of the birth of APCON. I wish to quote from Prince Tony Momoh on his description of the spirit behind the establishment of APCON. He once said: inter alia “My argument was simple: you cannot walk into a bank and be a bank manager. You cannot go into a company and claim to be an accountant. Why would any drop-out from school claim to be a journalist? Why would any journalist who had retired from a life-time of para-dey-go, go into advertising? Why would any free woman who is asked what her profession is claim to be a public relations consultant? Why would anyone who had written a letter to the editor claim to be a journalist or an author?”
The Early Challenges
1. Secretariat
The National Arts Theatre hosted the secretariat of APCON until the Anthony Village office was secured. It was an ad-hoc arrangement facilitated by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture which was our common supervisory ministry. The early Council meetings were held in different meeting rooms available at the National Arts Theatre which were not often quite conducive. The first real challenge was to get a suitable space to host the APCON secretariat. It is therefore not an irony of history that APCON House is today located within the National Arts Theatre expanse. The present APCON House actually represents the first phase of a structure meant to be more expansive and designed to offer more facilities.
I pray that the ultimate structure as conceived by the Council then will eventually evolve. I recall, as the chairman of the building project committee, it was a frightening experience for members working on the very hostile water-logged topography! On many occasions visits to the site meant turning up in your rain boots in order to walk the water-logged terrain! The rest is history.
