As part of the build-up to the 2015 nationwide elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) has partnered with the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria
(AAAN) and the Advertising Practitioners’ Council of Nigeria (APCON) to hold an
international seminar on political advertising, perception building, and voter
education.
Aimed at setting
the standards for the coming electioneering period in terms of advertising as
well as equipping voters with the needed information, the seminar which is slated
for Friday, July 11, 2014, at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre, Abuja is expected
to have in attendance key stakeholders in the electoral process, all registered political parties,
regulatory agencies, marketing communication industry players, security
agencies, the Judiciary, CSOs/NGOs concerned with election monitoring as well
as the media.
The seminar, which will be
chaired by INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, will feature a keynote address
to set the tone, which will then be followed by brief commentaries by all
registered political parties present. This will dovetail into a panel discussion
on the keynote address as well as the issues raised by the political parties.
The
keynote speaker for the seminar is Mr. Craig Smith; a former Campaign Adviser
for President Bill Clinton’s 1992 election, later appointed White House
Political Director, and played a prominent role in Clinton’s 1996
re-election. Currently, he is busy with
“I’m Ready for Hillary, a pro-Senator Hillary Clinton-for-President grassroots mobilization
group. He sure has stories to tell on running a successful election campaign.
The panel
of discussants is drawn from government regulators in election and
communication as well as bodies involved in electioneering process in Nigeria.
They are the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian
Broadcasting Commission (NBC), the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria
(APCON), Broadcasting Organization of Nigeria (BON) and Association of
Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) as well as a representative of civil
society groups.
Speaking on the upcoming
event, President, AAAN, Mrs. Bunmi Oke said: “political parties are the primary
participants of this discourse focusing on electioneering process towards 2015. For us at the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, we are
desirous of promoting voter education and political advertising and this informed
our involvement in the putting together the international seminar.”
“In the
face of the present realities, it is our firm belief that that all hands most
be on deck to help our nation achieve an enviable election that Nigerians will
be proud of. To this end, it is our responsibility to educate the citizenry as
well as redefine parameters for electioneering advertising. The only way to
attain this level of professionalism and memorable campaign concepts is to
involve registered AAAN practitioners/members in the planning, development and
execution of advertising for election”, She added
While inviting political
parties and other delegates to the seminar, the Registrar/CEO, APCON, Alhaji Bello Kakanrofi said: “ours is an effort at voters’ education and a knowledge-based
electioneering that ought to translate to informed voting which will benefit the
political parties greatly in their quest to delivered the right messages about
their manifestoes to the electorates. Therefore, as a regulator we advocate
decent advertising which can be guaranteed by vetting of all political campaign
materials
by APCON. Hopefully, we look forward to a situation where the
political parties will commit to this pledge at the end of the seminar” he
concluded.
It is a possibility that the apathy displayed by many
Nigerians in the past elections is due to inadequate information and education
about electioneering in Nigeria, which has undermined the political
participation of a vast majority of people in the past. Although, there is a
clamor for more political participation among the people in governance, it
cannot happen in a vacuum, as most people need to be well informed about the
political processes before taking action. It is undeniably a step in the right
direction even as Nigerians seek to elect credible leaders into offices and
forge a new path to greatness.
About Association of Advertising Agencies of
Nigeria (AAAN)
Founded
in 1973 as a sectoral body within the Nigerian marketing communications
landscape and has become a force to be reckoned with both locally and
internationally. Formerly known as Association of Advertising Practitioners of
Nigeria (AAPN), the Association formally changed its name from Association of
Advertising Practitioners of Nigeria (AAPN) to Association of Advertising
Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) on Saturday May 1st, 2004 during its 31st
AGM/Congress. AAAN is the umbrella body that coordinates and promotes the
interest of Advertising Agencies in Nigeria. Visit www.aaan-nigeria.org
About The Advertising Practitioners Council of
Nigeria (APCON)
Established
by the Advertising Practitioners Act No. 55 of 1988, as amended by Act No. 93
of 1992 and Act No. 116 of 1993 (now advertising Practitioners Registration Act
Cap A7 of 2004). The
adoption of a broad national mass communication policy by the National Council
of Ministers in January 1988 was a milestone in the establishment of the
Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON). The various discussions
that followed the adoption of the national mass communication policy
articulated the relevance and the leadership role of advertising to the
nation’s social, political and economic development as well as the need for
official recognition and regulation of the practice. APCON maintains a
strong focus on its vision of promoting responsible and ethical advertising
practice, acts as the conscience of society in matters of commercial
communications and as a watchdog for consumers. It also manages the need and
interests of stakeholders in Nigeria’s advertising industry. Visit www.apcon.gov.ng
About The Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC)
Established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria to among other things organize elections into various
political offices in the country.The
functions of INEC as contained in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of
the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2010 (As
Amended) also includes the registration of political parties in
accordance with the provisions of the constitution and Act of the National
Assembly as well as promote knowledge of sound democratic election processes. Visit www.inecnigeria.org/
No comments:
Post a Comment