Nigerian Federal Government: The Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, during the Advertising Industry Colloquium 2023 organized by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) in Lagos, has once again said that the implementation of the policy which ensures that 75% of local content is integrated into all advertisement, advertising, and marketing communication materials.
The 500,000 jobs annually
Remember that this policy was supposed to take effect from January 1, 2023. The Nigerian Federal Government has always been optimistic that this policy will create a minimum of 500,000 jobs annually.
Mr Mohammed also believes that the convergence of the academia and core business practitioners will profitably motivate an industry like advertising and marketing communications, especially the young generation whose talents and skills are at the early stage mixing what was taught in preparation for practice and the actual practice holds. The challenges could be audacious and the potential enormous.
Nigeria’s Unemployment Rate Prediction
This comes as many international organizations as well as local bodies such as the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) have predicted that Nigeria’s unemployment rate will likely hit 37 percent in 2023. Remember that in the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) Outlook report titled “Nigeria in Transition: Recipes for Shared Prosperity”, the body revealed that unemployment to job ratio will likely increase to 37% and the poverty headcount might hit 45% due to weak performance in the job-elastic sectors and low labor absorption of sectors that will drive growth.
Massive surveys have shown that students and young graduates now understand the routine business concepts and factual practical challenges experienced in different industries and this includes the advertising sector.
Why the Advertising Sector
Alhaji Lai Mohammed on behalf of the Nigerian Federal Government, added that this policy would also save Nigeria hundreds of millions of Naira in capital flight usually lost during the production of advertisements outside the country.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed on behalf of the Nigerian Federal Government, acknowledged that the advertising sector has come a very long way and contributed to Nigeria’s economy massively. The role of advertising in academics and in the daily business activities of Nigerians cannot be neglected or underestimated by any economy that genuinely seeks to develop and sustain the development of its economic progress.
The New Nigerian Federal Government Policy
The new policy tagged, “the Advertising Industry Standard of Practice, AISOP”, is meant to provide a minimum expectation of business practices among stakeholders and eradicate unethical activities that are inimical to the general interest of the advertising industry in Nigeria is one of the high points of the Council.
It is believed that this new policy will do better than the now-repealed “Advertising Practitioners (Registration) Act”, which inhibited the erstwhile Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) from achieving its full potential in regulating the business and practice of advertising in Nigeria. The circumstances led to the diligent task of ensuring that the Council is, through the appropriate Act of the National Assembly, adequately empowered to carry out its functions.
