NIMN Takes AGM to Ibadan as Body Prepares for Fresh Election

 

By Raheem Akingbolu

All is now set for the conduct of another round of election as the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, NIMN goes to the poll to choose a new set of leaders that will steer the ship of the professional body. The election is billed to hold in Ibadan, Oyo state in November.

Speaking at a press briefing to announce members of the electoral committee, the President of the association, Mr. Ganiyu Koledoye said he is delighted that the association had been able to overcome its challenges which are now being manifested in its readiness to transmit powers from one administration to the other. Koledoye noted that he is happy that he will be leaving the association better than he met it stressing that there is now relative peace and stability with the institute.

He said: “I am glad that since I took over the reins of power, the institute has witnessed remarkable progress. One of the successes recorded by this administration is that the institute had overcome the challenges relating to its financial indebtedness. Before now, the institute had a tradition of incurring excessive losses. But since we assume office till date, we have been able to offset those losses. Of course, it is likely that we may not have profit but I am certain that we have been able to break even,”

He also stated that his team has been able to make the institute a truly national body, adding that it does not start and end in Lagos.

“We now have a spread. As we speak, virtually all parts of the country are involved in the activities of the institute. We now have offices in Enugu, Kano, and Sokoto among others. Beyond that, the administration has succeeded in bringing the academia on board as we now have them in strategic roles in the institute. However, if there is any I would call our greatest achievement, it is the fact that the administration had been able to put in place processes that will see to the smooth transition of power from one administration to another. We are happy that we now have an electoral process, which has been provided by the electoral committee, that has a responsibility to guarantee a smooth process devoid of the hooliganism and tantrum that characterized what obtained in the past”

Asked to comment on the challenges bedeviling the institute, Koledoye pointed that at the moment, the institute was faced with the task of increasing the number of enrolment as participations in examination seemed to have dropped.

According to him, the reduction in students’ participation for this year’s examination is a clear indication that the downturn in the economy has had huge effect. The president however maintained that the institute is working hard to encourage students to enroll for examination.

Speaking on the place of marketing in destination branding and policy implementation, he said it was unfortunate that both present and successive governments in the country had failed to appreciate the role of the profession stressing that none of them had considered marketing as an approach to be adopted in combating the myriads of its economic and social problems.

Meanwhile, the chairman of the electoral committee, Mr. AdeolaOladele, said the institute is adequately prepared to organise a peaceful poll urging interested member to indicate interest for the available positions. Oladele explained that going by the guidelines for the election; interested aspirants were expected to submit themselves to members of the committee for scrutiny as there are series of activities to be carried out. According to him, apart from the office of the president, four council members will also be elected. He disclosed that nomination had opened few days ago and is billed to close 21st September. He also added that the screening of the nominees comes up on 10th October while appeal and complaints will be entertained between 10 and 14 October.


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