The National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) has called out to the leadership of the House of Representatives on the need to lend their legislative support to the institute’s quest towards securing a review of provisions of the 2003 National Marketing Act.
The institute said it has commenced already, processes leading to review of certain provisions of the Act with a view to formally presenting it to the National Assembly. To this end, it has called on the leadership of the House to lend its support to ensure quick and easy passage of the law.
Presenting the institute’s proposals to the House recently was President of the Institute, Tony Agenmonmen, who led executive council members of the institute on a courtesy visit to Speaker of House of Representatives, Honourable, Femi Gbajabiamila in Abuja, the FCT.
According to him, since the enactment of the NIMN Act in 2003, there had been so many developments in the marketing profession, and therefore some provisions of the current Act do not fully meet requirements of a modern institute when benchmarked against similar Marketing Institutes in other parts of the world.
He noted that one core part of the institute’s mandate was the enforcement of marketing professionalism, as the law requires that all marketing practitioners be registered with the institute in order that they can be held to the best marketing standards.
He, however, regretted that while many have continued to practice without the requisite registration, many companies continued to harbour unregistered marketing professionals in clear violation of the NIMN act hence he said the House must lead its support toward ensuring professionalism and sanitise the industry.
“We would like to draw your attention to a few specific areas where we would most appreciate your support and that of the House and indeed the National Assembly.
“Since the enactment of the NIMN ACT in 2003, there have been so many developments in the marketing profession. Therefore, some provisions of the current ACT do not fully meet the requirements of a modern Institute when benchmarked against similar Marketing Institutes in other parts of the world,” he said.
He continued: “We are currently working on some amendments to the ACT to be presented to the National Assembly. We, therefore, solicit your support when it is presented to the National Assembly for smooth and quick passage.”
He added that the institute believed it was important to respect laws of the country which was validly made by the National Assembly; hence the institute had commenced the process of prosecuting unregistered marketing practitioners who were doing so illegally.
He further solicited the House of Representatives’ support in the effort to sanitise the industry and make it fully professional.
“We wish to state that the effort by the Institute to promote marketing professionalism in the public sector and ensure professional development and career advancement of our members within the public service is being hampered by the non-listing of our certificate in the scheme of service.
“We will very much appreciate the intervention of the House of Representatives in addressing this situation. This is because the resolution of the issue will serve as a motivation to our teeming members in the public service to deliver excellent service in their respective places of work. This will go a long way in improving productivity and job satisfaction,” he concluded.
