Factions in marketing institute inch closer to settling rift

The two factions of the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (NIMN) are getting closer to settling their three-year-old squabble, a development that created confusion among marketing students in Nigeria.

Revealing the reconciliation efforts last week in Lagos, Ganiyu Koledoye, president of the NIMN, said talks were ongoing between the two groups – the breakaway faction and the bona fide NIMN – to sheath their swords in order to form a unified body in the interest of the economy.

He said early next month there will be holistic re-branding exercise of the institute, as “we have reviewed our past and we have looked at mission for the future and we have decided that there is something about the past that has been restricting our progress into the future.

“Even simple things could cost the institute; for instance, the presentation of the institute’s logo and how marketers have been presenting themselves. These are some of the issues that have been frustrating the institute because people have been fighting themselves.”

In this fight, two bodies are using the same logo and identity and “we have decided to put this to rest,” Koledoye said, saying further that his colleagues who were operating outside the institute were discussing with members of the NIMN to put the rift to rest.

“If that happens, we will have one logo, one vision and mission and one strategy. The most important aspect of the repositioning is over the years, the administration of the institute has found it difficult to move with the expectation of the country,” he said.

According to Koledoye, the unification will assist to reposition the institute as pan-African centric professional institute with professional reputation across Africa.

The institute was thrown into confusion in August 2010, when a faction led by Femi Odufowokan said Lugard Aimiuwu’s led NIMN Council had been dissolved and that a new nine-member Council headed by Odufowokan had been constituted.

The faction printed NIMN similar headlines and logos, a situation that deepened the crisis, but analysts said the resolution of the crisis would be a big boost for the institute and the fast growing Nigerian economy.

Daniel Obi