By Rose Oranye
The Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Value Reformation, Dr Law Mefor, has called on advertising practitioners to join the state government’s value reformation project aimed at reclaiming lost moral values.
Dr Mefor, who made the call when the executive members of the Advertising Practitioners Association, Anambra Chapter (APAACH), paid him a courtesy visit in Awka, stated that no government is sufficient anywhere in the world, adding that government controls less than 5% of Anambra’s economy, while over 95% is in private hands, making partnership imperative.
The commissioner said the visit was timely as the ministry is launching a comprehensive value reformation campaign, explaining that Governor Chukwuma Soludo modified the Ministry to include value reformation because youths have abandoned the core Igbo values of hard work and embraced wealth without work, which fuels Oke Ite, cultism, Yahoo Yahoo, drug abuse and other vices.
He lamented that “Anambra is experiencing unprecedented quest for wealth, manifesting in adulterated foods and drugs, fake palm wine, and criminality perpetrated by fake native doctors who sell false hope of bullet-proof charms”, warning that if the value crisis is not addressed, all infrastructural achievements of the Soludo administration could be destroyed.
He disclosed that the ministry will soon launch a syndicated radio programme on five major stations in the state to drive conversations on lost values and has already developed a blueprint with stakeholders for a moral and ethical revolution, targeting especially primary and secondary school pupils.
Earlier, Chairman of APAACH, Ambassador Numac O. Kalu, said the association, a professional body of certified practitioners existing for over three years, seeks official recognition as a key stakeholder, government guidance, and consistent engagement with the ministry for industrial harmony. He said APAACH aims to promote professional standards, close the gap between academia and industry practice, and sensitise practitioners on ethics.
He added that the association proposes quarterly consultations with the ministry, joint sensitisation programmes for Mass Communication and Marketing students, and solicited the Ministry’s support for its upcoming formal conference, assuring that APAACH has come to complement and not compete with government agencies.
