ARCON Is Poised To Make All Social Media Advertising In Nigeria Legal, Truthful, Decent – Fadolapo

The recent parley the Director-General of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, had with selected Journalists started as an informal interaction. What many would call a meet-and-greet session. In the end, it became an encounter loaded with vital insights. It started with discussions on Nigeria’s digital boom and the concomitant rise in violations of regulatory standards. He revealed that the council’s last legal victory has revitalized his Council’s commitment to stricter oversight of advertising content posted on digital media platforms. He also hinted that the council, in partnership with the National Orientation Agency (NOA), is ‘cooking’ a national campaign that will recruit all stakeholders as ARCON Ambassadors, to sanitize the country’s advertising landscape.

 He decried what he described as selective compliance by international tech brands operating in Nigeria who will comply with advertising regulations in countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), only to flout similar standards in Nigeria. He pledged to check the “porous” state of Nigeria’s online ad ecosystem and prosecute offenders to the fullest extent of the law. It was vintage Fadolapo in his best elements, poised to tackle impunity as well as other ‘dark’ sides existing in Nigeria’s advertising eco-system. Excerpts.

Renewed Vigour provided by our recent victory in court

The Federal High Court judgment in favour of ARCON in the legal battle with Digibay Limited is clearly a significant victory for regulatory sanity and Nigeria’s advertising ecosystem.

The judgment reaffirms ARCON’s statutory powers to regulate and vet advertising content in Nigeria, setting a new precedent for compliance across the integrated marketing communications industry.

In terms of the constitutionality of our regulatory powers, the court held that the National Assembly is empowered by the Constitution to enact laws concerning professional practices, and the law also gives the National Assembly exclusive authority to determine trade and trading activities.

The judgment confirms that ARCON’s regulatory functions are in line with the legislative powers of the National Assembly, reaffirming our authority over advertising and marketing communication in Nigeria.

We have consistently emphasised the need for advertising practitioners to operate with professionalism, ethical compliance, and a clear understanding of regulatory boundaries. This victory communicates to local and international players in Nigeria’s advertising sector that impunity has no place anymore in a market that is striving for global relevance and credibility.

The court’s decision also comes at a crucial time, as ARCON works to sanitise the industry through various strategic reforms. These include the establishment of the Advertising Offences Tribunal, the categorisation of agencies, local content protection policies, and a renewed focus on professional development and institutional collaboration.

This ruling is particularly critical given the proliferation of digital content in Nigeria, much of which currently operates in a grey area. By upholding ARCON’s right to regulate all advertising, including digital and online campaigns, the court has essentially brought clarity to the scope of lawful practice, eliminating the ambiguity that some stakeholders had previously exploited.

Beyond the legal implications, the court’s judgment validates the importance of ARCON’s role in protecting consumers, brands, and public interest. With an industry valued at several billion Naira, unchecked advertising can lead to misinformation, brand erosion, and even national security concerns.

The court’s declaration was unambiguous- the virtual space is not a lawless domain, and digital companies must play by Nigeria’s advertising rules. 

The implications of ARCON’s victories stretch far beyond regulatory technicalities. Limited oversight had allowed harmful narratives to thrive. Fake testimonials for beauty products, fraudulent forex investment schemes, and manipulated political campaigns flood the Nigerian digital space daily. 

ARCON’s court victories are not just legal wins; they’re ethical wins. They draw a line in the sand to tell the digital world that Nigeria’s cyberspace cannot continue to be a dumping ground for exploitative and misleading content.

Challenges From Nigeria’s Online Eco–System

Our social media space has become so porous that people now freely post fake adverts, some of which claim outrageous and bogus benefits. From miraculous cures to guaranteed returns without any credible data or verifiable sources to back them. Imagine an advert claiming that a single herbal drug could cure HIV, cancer, and more than 200 other diseases.

Such misleading advertisements not only jeopardize public health—by luring vulnerable individuals into purchasing untested or harmful products—but also undermine consumer confidence in legitimate businesses operating within advertising guidelines.

Unlike traditional broadcast or print media—where advertisements must pass through editorial or legal vetting—online platforms can be manipulated with minimal oversight.

Creating an ad using AI-powered design and voice generators, takes only minutes, making it difficult for regulators to identify the original perpetrators.

The CBEX case is a painful reminder of what can happen when digital platforms are left unchecked, the scheme purportedly defrauded unsuspecting Nigerians of nearly $2 trillion through slick, unregulated social media promotions.

I’ve seen somebody, a retired military officer who invested his entire retirement in the forex trade. He has been in the military service for about 30 years.  And you can imagine all that he worked for disappearing in 24 hours. So, somebody needs to protect the country from these nefarious beings, and that is where ARCON comes in.

Our Readiness To Pick Up The Challenge

Now, in terms of capacity, we can look at two areas.  We have the technology and we have the human capital.  As of today, we now have offices in 32 states of the federation. So we have the wherewithal to do this job. If not, you wouldn’t be seeing the things I was showing you on videos earlier.

Apart from that; we have made a detailed submission to the honorable minister, who has also consented to escalating to the presidency those urgent needs in terms of software infrastructure acquisition. 

The federal government is looking in our direction. Our staff will soon be exposed to both local and international training.

We did some research recently.  Most online advertisers, don’t have any contact address. The fraud that is happening in that space is huge. Ads with bogus claims, and bogus promises that are unverified. So, should we just fold our hands and allow this to continue?  If the answer is No, somebody needs to do the job.  And that is where our mandate is in advertising, advertisement, and marketing communications space. We are eager to tackle this issue head-on speedily.

Shocking double standards of global platforms

Sometimes, I am tempted to ask if we are wired differently in this part of the world. Some of us are privileged to go to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

In Dubai, you can’t run adverts with women in bikinis. The same tech owners who follow such strict rules in Dubai come to Nigeria and claim that their platforms are governed by American laws as if we don’t have our own rules  

They will not do funny ad or expose women as sex objects in Dubai, they will not advertise smoking in Dubai, they will not advertise forex trade in Dubai but here in Nigeria anybody will do anything.

The same tech owners who follow very strict rules in Dubai come to Nigeria and claim that their platforms are governed by foreign laws as if we are lawless.

 

Making  Advertising Regulation A Collective Responsibility.

We’ve had industry stakeholders alerting us to non-compliant ads. That’s the kind of vigilance we need from all well-meaning stakeholders. As we go into this space, everybody must be a part of it, when we see an advert, we monitor it. So, we need the support of everybody.  It is a continuous thing.

As you know, digital media monitoring cannot be done easily on your phone because, in that space, we have the primary digital media and the secondary digital media with the primary digital media being the big tech.

We are already talking to them and, I am sure, in the next few weeks, we will conclude on how to get this done, as well as some technical support from these primary digital media owners and because, all these things are beyond just sitting down and discussing.

We really need quality support because digital media regulation goes beyond casual phone monitoring. So we hope to reach a conclusion soon.

Coming! A Nationwide Campaign In Collaboration With NOA, Others

While speaking on ARCON’s relationship with other Agencies, he described the National Orientation Agency (NOA) as ARCON’s first cousin, highlighting their shared mandate under

We are currently working on a major campaign that will align with the social responsibility that everybody is an ambassador of ARCON. The campaign is being cooked now. Thereafter, we will send it for vetting.

Then we will get the approval of the director of regulation and ASP. So be rest assured, we are working on that.  We are partnering with sister agencies like The National Orientation Agency You know, we are in the same family, Indeed, we are first cousins.