It is no longer news that Dozie Okafor, PHD Nigeria boss and marketing communication expert, has emerged as the new President of the Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN) at the association’s 25th Annual General Meeting. This followed the completion and subsequent dissolution of the Femi Adelusi-led administration at the Lakowe Golf Resort in Lagos.
According to HRM Ayodele Kupoluyi, chairman of the electoral committee responsible for ushering in the new leadership, the election was one of the fiercest contested in the history of the association. Deploying technology to enable members to vote online, the chairman expressed satisfaction over the active participation from association members, revealing that it signals significant growth, considering the lack of such widespread engagement in the past.
Voted in to serve as Vice President alongside Dozie Okafor is Brenda Nwagwu, a seasoned entrepreneur and communications specialist with over two decades of experience across the Marketing Communications, Financial, and Technology sectors. Brenda, who spearheads operations at QVT Media as the Managing Director, has had extensive experience leading media investment strategy for prominent brands from companies like Guinness, Reckitt Benckiser, British American Tobacco, Standard Chartered Bank, and PepsiCo, while working with global media agencies such as OMD and All Seasons Zenith Nigeria, before establishing her own agency.
Brenda is a past President of AIESEC ALUMNI Nigeria, Chairperson of the MIPAN Technical Committee, and serves on the boards of several companies and organizations, including AIESEC Nigeria Board of Advisors, ICapTechnologies Limited, FlowPlay Media Limited (based in Nairobi, Kenya), and AMPZ, a grassroots sports development tech startup.
Henry Ononiwu, a business growth strategist and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of PHD Nigeria, was elected as the Publicity Secretary of the association. With experience working at various organizations, including Advanta Interactive, Matrixvtrack Nigeria, and Emzor Pharmaceutical, Ononiwu is expected to act as the liaison between the internal and external publics of the association, among other responsibilities.
Other elected Executive Committee members for MIPAN include Olufunmilola Bamgboye, who was elected Assistant Secretary; Ijeoma Okafor, Secretary; and Olufunmi Fajusigbe, Assistant Publicity Secretary.
The Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria is the umbrella body representing all media agencies in Nigeria. The association has been at the forefront of advertising and marketing communications, established with an agenda to develop and improve the media advertising function in Nigeria. MIPAN pays close attention to the discipline, aiming to offer quantitative value to the industry and encourage the entrenchment of merit-based reward systems in the media advertising function, ensuring continuous improvement and facilitating the advertising industry’s growth in Nigeria.