NIPR, ARCON and NIMN fight quackery, insist on professionalism — News — The Guardian Nigeria News

As part of efforts to rid the marketing and communications sector of quackery, the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) and the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) signed a memorandum of understanding. (MoU) to promote professionalism in the industry.

The MoU, signed by the President and Chairman of the Council of NIPR, Dr. Ike Neliaku, the Director General of ARCON, Olalekan Fadolapo, and the President of NIMN, Idorenyen Enang, also aims to promote ethical standards and best practices in the industry.

Speaking at the event held on Friday at the ARCON headquarters in Abuja, Neliaku said the MoU is an important step towards cleaning up the industry and protecting the public from the activities of charlatans and unscrupulous practitioners.

The NIRR Chairman emphasized that the decision to partner with NIMN and ARCON would have a positive impact on the industry and benefit all members.

He revealed that NIPR associate members can now seamlessly transition to NIMN and ARCON members without going through a lengthy process and vice versa.

He said instead they would follow a specialized program covering four modules to grasp the fundamentals.

Neliaku said: “This means that when we make a decision in the interest of the industry, it will affect everyone. For example, an associate member of NIPR can actually apply to NIMN for membership directly and literally. You no longer need to go through all the rigorous processes.

“You will only follow what we now call a special program based on about four modules, just so you know the basics. So, for example, if an NIPR member also wants to join ARCON, you would take basic advertising courses. If it’s marketing, it’s the same.

“If it’s an CAN member who wants to join NIPR, you just do basic things, just to know PR, to be strong enough for now and practice it. We say that our job is practically the same. It’s just that we have individual specializations and we are coming together now.

“We come together to work to contribute to the development of the industry. And then the second aspect is that as partners, what affects one affects the other two. And that’s why we have to work hard to look out for each other.

The NIPR boss argued the partnership would simplify the regulatory process for practitioners, saying “if you are already regulated by ARCON, you will not need to undergo separate regulation by NIPR.

“Instead, a certification or letter from ARCON confirming your membership will give you access to the benefits and privileges of NIPR and NIMN and vice versa,” he said.

Fadolapo, for his part, stressed the need for collaboration and cooperation among industry players to promote ethical standards and best practices.

He said: “This event is very important for professional bodies as we work cooperatively in the marketing and communication system. Before arriving at the signing of this memorandum of understanding, we conducted a series of discussions.

“We have had discussions with the NIPR. We looked at areas of interest. It is very important that professional institutions that share ideas and perform overlapping functions can work together. We are confident that this MoU will strengthen both the NIPR regulatory and commercialization framework.

Speaking, the NIMN President noted that the MoU would also facilitate the sharing of knowledge, expertise and resources among the three organizations, and would also lead to better professional development.