Stakeholders Caution on Globalisation of Advertising
By Tunmise Adekunle
The Federal Govern-ment and stakeholders in the advertising industry have been enjoined to come up with policies and culture that will promote traditional values of Nigerians through all forms of advertising campaigns run within the country.
The was the position at the gathering of advertising egg-heads and various stakeholders of advertising in Nigeria held on June 1, 2004 at the Abuja Sheraton Hotel and Towers during a public forum put together by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) which was sponsored by the Society for Family Health (SFH).
Setting the tone for the discussion with the theme: "Globalisation and Social Issues in Advertising" was APCON's registrar Dr. Joseph Bel-Molokwu who said the essence of the gathering is to look at the issue of globalisation and how to march the concept with Nigeria's local values.
In his keynote address the minister of information and national orientation, Chief Chukwuemeka Chikelu commended APCON which he described as 'a very active regulatory body' for coming up with the timely theme for the forum. While promising the federal government implementation of recommendations reached by the gathering, Chief Chikelu charged the gathering to reach a conclusion on how to march the global trend with Nigeria's local values.
APCON's chair, Mr. May Nzeribe commented on how heavy bureaucratic overhead and infrastructure and limited "buy-in" by the broad-based marketing, advertising and media industry of imposed legislation with regulation constant challenge and conflict Industry elects to accept it's social responsibilities and to control it's own activities
He said the consequences of unethical behaviours, sharp practices, and unbridled artistic license which is the order in our society will be so negatively impactful to the extent that 'when the money is made, it might not be enough to cure the ills of the society'.
Presenting the paper on the theme: Cross Border Broadcast and Advertising Dr. Tom Adaba, pioneer director general of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) gave a picture of how globalisation has 'with the press of a button', able to bring live coverage of unfolding developments that are changing the world into one's living room. He stated that the "The transmission of these events not only exposes us to happenings around and in distant places but also affects our sentiment and inform our decision-making. "In other words, the exposure to this amalgam of information impact positively or negatively on our view of the world, which is sometimes, manifest in our reactions," he posited . He opined that as laudable as this may be, it has its good, bad and ugly sides which advertising could aid .
Citing the dynamics of broad border broadcast, he cited the example of the Iraqi war which the global media, especially the CNN present as a movement of merit.
The former NBC boss also referred to the often-orchestrated cause of the gay rights movement which seems to give credence to this abnormal and unnatural development in human evolution in the name of freedom of choice in many cultures like Africa where the issue is unimaginable but also undiscussable. "It is a taboo that the globalisation is bringing to our doorsteps," he stressed.
On news front, Dr. Adaba stated that by global standard it is not really helping in the promotions of our values as Africans. " The news that is worthy of transmission about Africa is war, conflicts, famine, drought, corruption, disasters, coups, etc. Developmental news is no news and does not deserve any mention in the global media. It distorts the Western expectations and image of Africa. Even where it is given attention, it is treated with the slant of the reporter's background," he submitted
According to him, "this same awesome impact of the radio was even further compounded by radio licenses in Nigeria that were hooking up to these networks for news and other programmes on their licensed Frequency Modulated (FM) stations. This reason is said is why the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) recently barred such stations from this act, having contravened the Nation's broadcasting code on trans-border Direct Transmission and Reception in Nigeria
He further submitted that 'the legal implication for Nigeria is implicit in the reference made to trans-border transmission which law exists in practice, that the global media have reduced to ridicule and have invaded the developing countries with concepts, products and values which conflict with the original ones of the local people.'
In his own paper on Rhetorics and Realities of Health Reforms; Advertising and Global Reproductive Health, Mr. Bright Ekweremadu, deputy managing director , Society for Family Health said that what drives change in public health rhetorics and realities of health are among other factors, advertising of health services which influences human behaviours
He stated that the aim of health advertising in Nigeria is to objectively influence behavioral change, use social marketing approach, target poor and the vulnerable, and promotes discuss on health issues like the scourge of HIV among other diseases. He said so far the campaigns have had tremendous impact on the behaviours of the target public with the aid of the mass media of communication. He summed up that for advertising that has, and can have major impact on public health, and influence the public directly and indirectly, it must be used professionally. He urged APCON to use and disseminate of research to advocate to gatekeepers on the conviction of advertising with respect to local values.
On the sub theme: Globalisation of Advertising and its Impact on Religious and Politics, Mrs. Boma Kalaiwo, who represented Dr. Eddie Iroh of the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) challenged advertisers not to in their bid of making monies, embrace the globalisation philosophy, thereby abandoning the promotion of our cultural value. In her words, " Our society will pay the supreme price"
Lending support to Mrs. Kalaiwo's position was Dr. Hubert Charles, the country representative for the United Nation's Education Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in Nigeria. In his paper titled : Communicating Modernity, Cultural Dimensions of Globalisation, he said that it t seems unlikely, that the proponents of globalisation could have missed the characterisation of culture as the "theatre" of contending ideas. He argued that the degree of provenance allowed for goods and services, to modes of communicating and to relating which was culturally determined, are now globally determined. This to him will hamper the development young nations whose value are different from the global picture.
Other discussants at the gathering which include Mr. Taiwo Alimi of the Voice of Nigeria, Professor Idowu Sobowale of the Lagos State University, Dr. Silas Isa of the NBC and other members of the public commented on the need to do everything as towards salvaging the Nigerian cultural values from the globalisation trend.
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