The sack of Mobolaji Sanusi, erstwhile Managing Director of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA), on Monday, December 9, this year, by the State government, no doubt, caught stakeholders in the nation’s integrated marketing communication industry, especially the outdoor advertising sector, unawares.
Besides being the anointed ‘candidate’ of the powers- that- be in the state, not a few had seen the continued stay of Mobolaji Sanusi, former boss of the outdoor advertising regulatory agency, after the expiration of his term on September 13, this year, as a tacit approval of another term by the state government for the former LASAA boss.
But the statement, from the state’s Head of Service, Mr. Hakeem Muri-Okunola, announcing the appointment of Prince Adedamola Docemo, as new Managing Director of the Lagos State Advertising and Signage Agency (LASAA), put paid to such optimism.
Prior to his appointment, Docemo was the CEO of Viadotech Limited, a frontline player in the Outdoor Advertising, Telecommunications and Engineering sectors in Nigeria.
A graduate of Mechanical Engineering from Yaba College of Technology, Lagos with a Postgraduate Diploma from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Osun State, Docemo had also worked at various times with Bell & Bell Telecommunications Limited, Private Networks Nigeria Limited and Emotion Advertising Limited.
The announcement, which had seen the new LASAA boss resume at his duty post since the 9th of December, this year, has, expectedly continued to elicit reactions from stakeholders, especially practitioners in the sector, who are apparently unanimous in their call for a much ‘friendlier’ regulation of the sector.
Perhaps of major concern to practitioners is the need for Docemo to quickly settle down and begin to take steps at ‘righting’ the wrongs of the past, so as to bring back the lost glory of a sector, once considered the juiciest among the four media channels of advertising.
For instance, the issues of debts being owed members by the agency and the ‘vacant site regime’ top the list of some of the demands, stakeholders would want the new helmsman given utmost priority.
Not a few believe that it has not been a jolly ride for the nation’s outdoor advertising sector in recent times. For instance, since year 2016, when it attracted a spend of N28.8billion, representing a 35 percent spend of the N91billion of the total advertising spend for the year, it has been a steady decline in fortune for this once boisterous sector.
According to a recent report, published by Mediafact, in 2017, the revenue for the sector dropped from N28.8 billion, recorded in the previous year, to N24.6 billion; representing a 28 percent of the N88 billion of the total ad spend of that year. This was to drop further in 2018, to N20.7 billion, representing 26 percent of the total N81 billion spend, an indication of a sector, going through trying times.
Interestingly, stakeholders, especially practitioners believe some of the challenges are induced by hostile business environment and the not-too-friendly policies of the state.
Congratulating the new LASAA boss, the president of the Outdoor Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Mr. Emma Ajufo, expressed the readiness of members of the association to work with him.
Ajufo however expressed shock at the announcement, terminating the appointment of the erstwhile LASAA boss, arguing that he had thought the former LASAA boss had been given a second term, having been allowed to stay that long, after the expiration of his tenure.
The OAAN boss also expressed regrets that the leadership of the association was not able to implement some of the agreements, brokered with the former LASAA chief executive before the sack.
One of such agreements, Ajufo stated, was the vacant site regime, which the former LASAA boss promised to commence since July, this year.
“In fact the day before the news broke out, I sent him a text message reminding him about his promise to start the vacant site regime that he promised to do since about July or so this year, when I led my executive team to visit him.
“Mr. Sanusi will be remembered for giving the Industry the best rate discount in the history of LASAA. The icing would have been the vacant site regime which we all agreed to, but has not been officially implemented,” he added.
He also expressed regrets that the former LASAA boss never upheld the agreement the association had with his predecessor in office over the campaign its members ran in the build- up to 2015 elections.
Ajufo, however expressed the hope that the issue would be resolved by the agency’s new helmsman.
The OAAN boss also believes the appointment of Docemo, an advertising practitioner, no doubt, put him in good stead to understand the industry better.
The association’s Vice President, Mr. Babatunde Ogala would want the new LASAA boss to hit the ground running.
According to him, there is the need to revisit some of the policies of the last regime, which, he argued, had constituted some form of encumbrance to the growth of the sector in Lagos.
“There is that need to make outdoor advertising services affordable. The way things are now, apart from moving such services beyond the reach of small and medium scale businesses, a lot of brands, that used to spend so much on outdoor signages are beginning to look for much cheaper alternatives.
“Meanwhile all these are induced by government regulations that insist practitioners should be paying for their vacant billboards. And the question we’ve been asking is, how can one be paying for a billboard that is generating revenue for you. I think what you pay to government should be from the money you’ve made from that site, and if the site is vacant, it will be unfair to ask people to begin to pay,” he stated.
Ogala also dismissed the claim that attributed the failing fortunes of the sector to the advent of digital platforms.
“The fact remains that despite the existence of these platforms in other climes, such as the United States of America, outdoor ad is still experiencing a steady growth. This is because it is affordable, even for small businesses to patronise,” he added.
The OAAN’s number two man believes, if quickly addressed, it would go a long in benefitting the industry and the state government. The coming of Docemo, a practitioner, no doubt, brings with it expectations and hopes from the industry. Interestingly, many industry analysts are seeing it as another opportunity to address some of the grey areas his predecessors left unattended to. The next few months will however show if these hopes and expectations are actually founded.