By Princewill Ekwujuru
The  president of the Outdoor Advertisers Association of Nigeria (OAAN),  Mr. Charles Chijide has bemoaned the present  state of  insecurity in the country, describing it as a big disincentive to businesses, especially  the of Outdoor of Home (OOH) advertising.

Addressing the media on the just ended Annual General Meeting of the association, held in   Lagos on May 3&4,2012, the  OAAN boss stressed that members of the association were losing heavily as a result of the insecurity in the northern part of the country.

He noted that investors and brand owners were  increasingly losing interests in making use of billboards in those  vulnerable  parts of the country, a development he said had continued to result in huge revenue loss for members.

His words, “Investors are now very scared to use the billboards in these violent prone areas. As a result, quite a substantial number of billboards are going vacant. If this continues, some of our members may be pushed out of business,”  he said.

He however noted that the leadership of the association, in the past one year, had been able to bring some calmness into the sector, by employing  dialogue in resolving crisis between stakeholders in the sector.

‘For instance, we’ve been able to establish a better working   relationship between members and various regulators in the sector. Now,  no regulator would just pull down our members’ billboards without first reaching  out to us,’ he noted.

Chijide expressed the association’s resolve to take outdoor  advertising to the next level by going digital.

‘Through that, we would be able to empower locations,  lighten up the environment and, in consequence, fight crime,’ he added.

The outdoor advertising boss also disclosed that  a bye-election would he held at the  forthcoming AGM to fill some of the vacant posts that were not filled at the  last 2011 Annual General Meeting when the association’s elections were held.