For the nation’s outdoor advertisers, especially those under the aegis of the Out- of -Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), this year’s Asaba Annual General Meeting (AGM), of the association, continues to resonate.
Besides being one of the few that would be held outside the South West in recent times, it also saw the leadership baton of the association changing hands.
Interestingly, while the immediate past administration led by the Delta-born Chief Emma Ajufo will always thump its chest and reel out significant milestones it was able to achieve in four years, not a few stakeholders, however, believe the hurdles before the newly-sworn in administration, led by Sola Akinsiku, are still quite huge.
While the immediate past administration may have ‘softened the ground’ for the incumbent, many stakeholders believe there are still humongous tasks ahead.
Of late, out-of-home advertising has become an endangered business. And one of the reasons for this is the hostile regulatory environment.
For instance, the issue of payment on vacant billboards has continued to be contentious. While practitioners have always expressed their readiness to cooperate with states’ outdoor ad regulatory agencies and play by the rules, they are, however, of the opinion that being charged on vacant billboards is one of the several injustices being meted out to them by government, especially in Lagos.
“I think it is immoral for the state agency to ask us to pay on vacant billboards, unfortunately that is what we’ve been contending with in the past years. We believe since a vacant billboard is not bringing any revenue, we shouldn’t be asked to pay for them,” argued the association’s immediate past president, in his chat with the media recently.
Brands & Marketing learnt that a huge portion of the debt being touted as owed by practitioners in the sector, was actually bills from vacant billboards that never generated any income for the agency.
Another of such challenges is the issue of concession of spaces.
Of late, practitioners alleged government’s penchant for making concession of juicy spaces to its cronies and ‘favoured ones’ in the industry. One of the fallouts of such development, they argue, is that many businesses in the sector may be compelled to close shop.
“When you begin to give all those spaces that should have been open to every practitioner to one or two, then what happens to the others that are in the majority? It simply means they will be forced to shut down; since there will be little or no space to operate in; the spaces that can engender business have been given out to a few,” argued a practitioner, who does not want his name in print.
It has also become imperative for the Sola Akinsiku-led administration to smoothen the rough edges in the relationship between the association and the government’s regulatory agencies. For instance, it is a common knowledge that the relationship existing between government regulatory agencies and the association can be likened to that of cat and mouse; full of mutual suspicion; a development, many believe, has continued to hinder the growth of the industry. For instance, this came to a head few years ago, when OAAN almost missed out at the exhibition and conference organised by Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA).
What about the issue of industry debt? While many of the states’ regulatory agencies are busy flaunting debt figures, purportedly owed by operators in the sector, practitioners are however quick to counter that most of the debts are consequences of unfair billings such as those done on vacant billboards.
Repositioning the association is another issue that the new administration must quickly settle down to tackle headlong.
Interestingly, the immediate past administration had kick-started this when it announced a name change, and unveiled a new logo for the association.
It however described this as the commencement of a process, of repositioning, which it believes the succeeding administration will continue. Not a few in the industry will be keen on how the process is driven by the new executive council of the association.
Fortunately the new administration is not oblivious of all these challenges. For instance, the new helmsman, Akinsiku has been in the association’s corridors of power for some time, and, as a result, knows where the shoe pinches. Industry watchers, however, believe the earlier he settles down and begins to address those numerous challenges, the better for the sector.
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