War against Indiscriminate pasting of posters, can LASAA go the whole hog?

THE nation’s outdoor advertising space is unique in many ways. Besides being one of the most regulated, in the integrated marketing communications space, it is also the sector that bears the ‘brunt’, the most, especially at unusual periods, such as seasons of civil unrests and electioneering campaigns.

For instance, in the past few months, as the long and torturous preparations for primaries of the nation’s political parties gather momentum, the space is, again, under siege.

Posters, banners and unverified signages that had long been consigned to the garbage of history, outlawed, are gradually finding their ways back to the nation’s outdoor space, courtesy of politicians, desirous of marketing themselves to the electorate, even if it means flouting the rules guiding outdoor ad practices in the country.

Shockingly, this is not unusual for many in the multi-billion naira sector!

“What would have been unusual is if those campaigns had come and gone without the politicians stepping on such advertising legislations,” argued an outdoor practitioner, who would not want his name in print.

According to the Lagos-based practitioner, since the history of electioneering campaigns in the country, no regulator had been able to successfully prosecute the war against indiscriminate pasting of political campaign posters, and bring any erring ‘campaigner’ to book.

“We thought LASAA would be able to do that, when it was established in 2006, and came baring its fangs in 2007, demolishing billboards and removing posters, on the city streets, for not complying with the rules. Curiously, it was able to do that to signages with corporate clients, not politicians; since it is obvious that this class of Nigerians are simply above the law. It’s an open secret that the same amount of energy is never dissipated by this regulator, when it has do with campaign posters,” the operator stated.

He therefore sees LASAA as not being willing to enforce the rule, at election times, even when it is obvious that the rules guiding outdoor ad a placements are being assaulted.

Also speaking on the issue, recently, the President of the Outdoor Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (OAAN), the umbrella body of the nation’s outdoor ad practitioners, Chief Emma Ajufo, expressed his misgivings on the issue. He however believes the issue is beyond the purview of the association.

“What we can only do is to support the regulators in the respective states, to ensure that such aberrations are checked. We don’t have the power to stop that; since most of these things are not coming from our members,” he added.

But, the management of the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) will want whoever cares to listen that it is not going to be business as usual, regarding 2023 elections. It insists that signages that fail to comply with advertising rules will be removed.

For instance, in its bid to achieve this, the agency recently issued a statement, warning against indiscriminate pasting of posters, while issuing guidelines that should help in the deployment of such posters.

The agency’s Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Prince Adedamola Docemo explained that the guidelines represent acceptable standards for the use of political materials before and during the election.

According to him, the guidelines revealed the various categories of posters, and the rules guiding their deployments in the public space.

For instance, the agency insisted that A-Frame signages, which must not exceed a size of 2×1 meter (big size), should only be placed on road verges, medians on inner streets, with the distance not less than 100 meters between each signage deployed.

The agency also warns on the quality of the signage, which it says must be ‘of standard and sturdy materials’, to ensure they could withstand the vagaries of the weather.

While the state’s outdoor ad regulator allows for banners to be displayed on inner roads and streets, it will, however, want posters to be pasted on designated surfaces on inner streets only, and not be highways, major streets and roads.

Interestingly, in spite of the guidelines and assurances from LASAA, skeptics still abound. They argue those guidelines were given in the past, but were never followed. But the general consensus is that the coming elections, and their attendant campaigns will either confirm or prove wrong skepticism, about the willingness of the agency to go the whole hog.

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