ABUJA – Stakeholders in Nigeria’s political and advertising sectors have advocated the involvement of experts in the design and handling of all political campaigns ahead of the 2015 elections.
The stakeholders made the call at an international seminar on political advertising, perception building and voter education in Abuja on Friday.
They observed that Nigerians would continue to be inundated with provocative campaign messages unless advertising experts were engaged to formulate such messages.
The Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, stressed the importance of information in any genuine electioneering process, noting that politicians must take issues relating to advertising and perception building seriously.[pro_ad_display_adzone id=”70560″]
Maku said that emerging issues in the society and the growing sophistication of the Nigerian electorate had continued to pose serious challenges for the average politician in the country.
“The reality is that every politician in the country must take serious interest in political advertising and perception building.
“The kind of language that is contained in the campaign messages of some politicians and the lack of expert input in some of the messages should worry every stakeholder in this country.
“This is even more serious because of the emerging complexities in our society, the increasing interests in our political space especially during electioneering periods,’’ he stated.
The minister said the situation was made more difficult by the advent of new forms of communicating messages to the public.
He, however, noted that politicians could leverage on the seeming threats posed by the advancement in communication technologies to address critical communication gaps.
“What I have observed today, as far as formulating and designing campaign messages is concerned, is that professional thinking and input are required to limit the prevalence of foul language in some of the final copies,’’ he said.
On his part, the keynote speaker, Mr Craig Smith, said the success of any political process would largely depend on well formulated political messages that addressed issues and ideologies rather than personalities.
Sharing the experiences of his country, Britain and Europe generally, Smith said formulating clear cut messages that would address the needs of voters and their environment was paramount to electoral success.
He said that voter education, a well regulated political advertising and designed perception building plan, would guarantee the success of 2015 elections in Nigeria.
Mrs Bunmi Oke, the President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), said the association organised the seminar to enlighten stakeholders and correct the anomalies in the sector.
Oke said AAAN would move a step further by engaging clients in both the public and private sectors to find ways of liaising with it to patronise only certified practitioners to handle advertising campaigns.
Mrs Bunmi Cole, who represented the Director-General of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Mr Emeka Mba, said NBC was working round the clock to enforce codes on political advertising.
She said the commission would not compromise standards, stressing that its 18 offices nationwide had been directed to closely monitor broadcast stations for any violations.
Mr Chekwas Okorie, the National Chairman of United Progressive Party, said the forum was relevant to political parties, individual politicians, broadcast stations and other stakeholders.
Okorie stressed the need for stakeholders to adhere strictly to set guidelines and standards so as to check the consequences of bad political advertising campaigns.
Representatives of political parties, the INEC chairman, advertising organisations, media proprietors as well as relevant stakeholders, attended the forum. (NAN)