The Minister of Information and Culture and Tourism, Lai Mohammed, said the country’s advertising industry will save around 500,000 jobs by codifying a 70 per cent mandate for local content.
Mohammed, who stated this on Thursday, at the 2023 advertising industry colloquium, organised by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria in Lagos also said the move would save the country hundred of millions in capital flight.
The colloquium was themed “Changing trends in advertising education and practice in the era of globalisation.
A representative of the minister, Sunday Baba, Director of Communications at the Ministry of Information and Culture and Tourism, said the colloquium would motivate industry players, especially young people, who would rehash what they had learned in school and learn about industry best practices.
He said advertising had come a long way in advancing the economy, and that the role of advertising cannot be ignored by any economy that wants to develop.
Mohammed also appreciated ARCON for its reforms since the commission evolved from the defunct Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, noting that the council’s strides were consistent with the dynamic demands of the sector.
He said, “The convergence of the academia and all business practitioners will profitably motivate an industry like advertising and marketing communications, especially the young ones whose talents and skills are at this stage, mixing what they were taught in school in preparation for practice and the actual practice itself.
“I am delighted to see the progress that ARCON has been making to ensure that the advertising and marketing industry in Nigeria is professionally practiced as it should be. The industry has seriously witnessed a series of reforms and other developmental strides.”
According to the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria, Olalekan Fadolapo, said there is a gap between what is thought in schools and what the job market requires, which is what necessitated the colloquium.
Fadolapo said, “In the industry, we have things to unbundle as skills. Last year, NUC came up with unbundling of Mass Communication. We have a situation where students that leave the university are not employable or are not good at what they do. So, there is a gap between what they are taught and what the industry wants. So, we need to have a finishing school so that when these students leave the university they can pass through it before they can start working.”
Source: The Punch
