By Princewill Ekwujuru

The Outdoor Advertising Agencies of Nigeria, OAAN, has decried proliferation of  approving agencies of government in the outdoor segment of the advertising industry. Mr. Emmanuel Ajufo, Secretary of the Association who also is the secretary of the West African Outdoor Advertising Association in a chat with Vanguard  bemoaned  the proliferation of outdoor approving agencies.

He said members of the outdoor industry have to contend with so many state agencies like the Town Planning Authorities, Ministries of  the environment and Information, commerce and at times the Special Duties Commissioners  who will also stop their members from erecting billboards. The secretary who said different states throw up different challenges when it comes to outdoor advertising practice described the situation as frustrating.

According to him, “we are talking to those states that do not have a one-stop-shop, for us to work with them on these issues.” Ajufo who spoke on other issues concerning the industry observed that other challenges the industry have  is the issue of  measurement, however confirmed that the industry has long been confronted with how to justify what the industry  what the industry claims to deliver.

His words, “even if we know that we deliver a whole lot, we need to also justify our claim with scientific evidence.” To correct this, he continued, “we have hired a reputable international organisation tom help us out in this regard and a research is already being carried out. I can confirm to you that it will be presented to the industry soon by the Association’s president. I think that the result of that research will put paid to issue of what we offer in terms of real value.

Speaking on the contribution of the industry to the Nigerian economy, he said, “we feel that we have  contributed so much to the growth of our economy. And it is not hard for you to feel it. In any major city that you have gone to, you will see billboards positioned in strategic places to help in projecting our clients’ messages and also adding to the beauty of the environment.”

Continuing,  “apart from being major employers of labour, as we get paid for our services we pay the relevant state agencies for giving permits to build and maintain our structures. The government pay their  workers, and the workers patronize our clients’ products.

Ajufo went on to say, “this makes our clients produce and sell more. They patronize us further and we pay more to government. You see that is the chain reaction and everybody is happy. However, some state governments have turned us into a major  internally generated resources, IGR source. A state recently claimed that it made about N2billion annually from our industry.”