THE Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) has advised the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to review the national communication architecture as part of his efforts to re-ignite the national spirit and positively project brand Nigeria.
The association’s president, Mr. Kelechi Nwosu, who said this, congratulated Gen. Buhari for winning the presidential election and praised President Goodluck Jonathan for honourably conceding defeat in a manner that doused tensions.
He noted that as a “neutral but patriotic body”, the AAAN had actively promoted a professional agenda for issue-based, ethical and smear-free campaigning among the political parties.
He said with the election over, it would be ideal for the incoming government to engage certified professionals in the task of projecting the immense potentials of the Nigerian brand.
Nwosu called on the president-elect to re-configure the national communication architecture “to give impetus to a robust economy, promote national re-orientation, inspire innovation, as well as enable entrepreneurship and create choice”.
The AAAN president recommended that the new government should also pursue local content, affirmation policy and allow experienced professionals to run government communication to avoid the lack of public support and buy-in that trailed certain policies introduced during the current tenure as a result of poor communication and engagement.
Nwosu said: “The AAAN would wish to propose nation-building initiatives to the incoming government such as National Re-orientation Project. Nigeria needs a re-orientation project that will build civic pride, promote ethical values and get Nigerians believing in Nigeria and her assets.
“A corollary to this is to ensure that Nigerians begin to appreciate and support Made in Nigeria products and brands.”
The association suggested that the incoming government should create a plan to inspire innovation, enable industry and reward productivity to make Nigeria a progressive and competitive economy.
“This will provide the opportunity to grow many dynamic and respected Nigerian brands. Advertising is a critical tool in this regard because we help create choices that fuel the economy and even the polity,” the association’s president stated.
On local content and affirmation policy, the AAAN president advised: “We will also strongly recommend a local content and affirmative policy that allows Nigerian professionals to do better business in Nigeria. We should moderate our consumerism, which drives importation and stop fueling other economies.”