The Director General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo and 37 others were at a ceremony held in Sheraton Hotels, Lagos at the weekend, conferred the fellowship of the Advertising profession which is the highest status of membership of the profession.
The thirty-seven practitioners conferred with fellowship status at the ceremony added to the 162 practitioners who had been conferred with fellowship earlier.
Welcoming guests to the event, Dr. Fadolapo said the fellowship category of membership of the profession is a privilege category and not just because the beneficiaries have been there for some number of years but there is still the need to look at the contribution of that person, look at the disciplinary record; his ethical records among others before they can be elevated to the category of fellowship.
On expectation from the new fellows, the DG said it is just a call to duty and they need to rededicate themselves to what they have been doing.
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“Now, they are more responsible for leadership, they are responsible for mentorship, so they have to take the leadership role to the extent that the younger ones that are coming up will look up to them.
“This is not a free for all category, it is a reserved category. So if you are inducted into fellowship of any profession, it’s a special category and you are expected to take leadership responsibility,” he explained.
He therefore urged them to take out time to also mentor others so that they will get to where they are today becoming fellows.
“The marketing industry needs your support to continue to expand and improve to make greater impact not only to the marketing communications industry but to the country at large.”, he said.
The Chairman of the fellowship selection committee, Chief Emmanuel Ajufo in his remarks stated that advertising profession like any other has different levels of membership and the ARCON Act 2022 provides for Student membership, Associate members, Full membership and Fellowship which is the ultimate.
“Fellowship of the profession is the highest status confer on those who have been found to be worthy both in their contributions to the growth of the advertising profession and in character.
He explained that the committee received 45 applications and 38 were recommended for conferment with the prestigious fellowship status for which we screened their applications in line with terms of reference.
“We are grateful to the DG and management of ARCON for finding us worthy for this assignment,” he added.
Responding on behalf of the fellows, Mr. Adeyinka Adetunji assured that the fellows who carry the flag of the profession very high in practice, in ethics and in mentoring the next generation will not disappoint in their endeavours to make the profession a great one.
In his charge, a senior fellow of the profession, Prof Bel Molokwu said having the privilege to have seen advertising grown as an organized profession from the scratch and you can see how happy I am to be part of this event.
He disclosed that initially there were complains on the criteria to be members in any of the categories but today it has changed.
He congratulated the new fellows and urged them to be more responsible to take the profession to the next level.
The new fellows like the ones before them are expected to conduct themselves and their marketing communications practice with appropriate dignity and distinction as well as serve as pillars of support and leading lights for the profession.
They will subsequently be admitted to the Body of Fellows which is proposed for reactivation and formal inauguration during the 2023 National Advertising Conference in December.
BV.
