THE BUSINESS OF OUT-OF-HOME (OOH) ADVERTISING is under threat. Practitioners in the industry are constantly worried about losing their main source of livelihood over issues that are beyond their control. They are groaning at excessive control and multiple taxation from governments at all levels. Although Section 7(1) and (5) Paragraph item (k) of the Fourth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution vested the control of outdoor advertising on local governments, federal and state government agencies still jostle with LGs for the control of the sector. The impression being created is that outdoor is the hen that lays the golden egg and there is a rush to partake in the feast by government at all levels.

However, going by grievances of operators in the sector, the hen is in danger of exhaustion in the nearest future if urgent steps are not taken to restore it to good health. Outdoor practitioners also complain about other threats such as insecurity, high-cost of doing business and delay in payment by clients for jobs done. Indeed, at a point in time, the President of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Mr. Charles Chijide was nearly turning into a broken record as he used every available opportunity to raise the alarm on perceived imminent demise of the industry. While it will be impossible to envisage a future without OOH advertising in the Nigerian economy, the current state of affairs in the sector fails to inspire anybody to think otherwise. Outdoor advertising is attractive and strategic to mass communication. It also plays a major role in the beautification of the environment; hence governments’ close attention to the medium. Nonetheless, though it has been said that the OOH in an economy is a pointer to the health of that economy, it has become clear that if issues in contention in the sector remain unresolved, professionals may be forced to find their livelihoods elsewhere and leave the business for quacks who will only be interested in it for the gains they can make. Obviously, the Nigerian economy will be the loser at the end of the day. But is this outcome desirable? If 70 per cent of billboards across the country are vacant and practitioners are being forced to lay off more than 50 per cent of their workforce, as Chijide has repeatedly voiced out, where then is the future in OOH in Nigeria? Yet, it is generally known that outdoor advertising propels the growth of trade and commerce in ways that have endeared it to highly successful brands as a must-use medium in every country across the world. It is heartening that the challenges faced by the sector have been receiving attention at the highest possible levels in recent times through the unrelenting effort of the OAAN. For instance, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) recently organized a forum under the theme of “Outdoor Advertising Regulation and Control in Nigeria” to x-ray regulatory and operational issues facing the industry. The forum which drew speakers and participants from the National Assembly, the legal profession and marketing stakeholders agreed that there is need for regulation in the industry. But Mr. Anthony Idigbe (SAN), in a paper delivered by him at the forum, aptly summarized the problem at hand with a quote from former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill saying “if you have ten thousand regulation, you destroy all respect for the law.”

Indeed, the nagging incidence of overlapping legislation and uncertainty over which level of government has the right to control the sector have given rise to a chaotic situation which require speedy resolution in the interest of growth in the sector. Currently, federal, state and local government agencies and even army formations lay claim on the right to control and regulate the sector – in many cases relying on valid laws. And as if the burden of payment of one fee or the other to the government agencies was not enough headache for outdoor practitioners, it is now an established practice that touts – otherwise known as area boys – must also collect their own ‘fees’ from practitioners anytime they are on site to erect a billboard or change material on the boards. This explains why an obviously exasperated Chijide likened outdoor practice in Nigeria today to “swimming in sharks-infested, highly troubled water.” Operators in the sector, under the aegis of OAAN, have done a lot of self regulation and advocacy for the emergence of a well-structured and regulated outdoor industry. They have engaged in dialogue with agencies of government at state and federal levels. But as soon as they finish settling nagging issues or still in the process of agreeing terms in one state, another state will embark on demolition of billboards under the guise of environmental sanitation which usually turns out to be a cover for revenue generation.

The latest onslaught on billboards is ongoing in Kano State. Of course, outdoor practitioners are up in arms against the development. By the time this is resolved, the battle ground would have moved on to another state. But the question that truly arises is: Who wants to kill outdoor advertising in Nigeria? Is overlapping or unclear legislation? Or could it be the imprudent drive for internally generated revenue (IGR) by state governments? The truth lies between the actions of ignorant government officials who are eager to improve on the IGR profile in their respective states and to line their pockets with filthy lucre in the process, on the one hand, and outdoor operators who provide the excuses for harassment and extortion by the officials through unprofessional acts, on the other. The uproar over demolition of billboards in Kano should, however, help to significantly move the process of correcting anomalies in the closer to resolution. Perhaps, the major gain from the forum was the realization that whenever government agencies embark on demolition of billboards in an effort to sanitize the environment, owners of the boards ought to be compensated. The forum therefore agreed to seek redress for the absence of compensation for arbitrary regulatory intervention through the amendment of current legislation on the regulation and control of the sector. Besides, there is a blur between regulation of outdoor practice and revenue generation which needs to be addressed. In addition, there are unresolved constitutional, environmental and tax law issues and the attendant high cost of regulation in outdoor advertising. Fortunately, National Assembly members including Chairman of Senate Committee on Information and Chairman of forum Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe and Senator Ayogu Eze who spoke extensively at the forum committed themselves to ensuring that the necessary amendments to relevant laws sail through in the parliament. Elsewhere in this edition, papers delivered at the 2012 Advertising have been published for your reading delight. Also included is the communiqué issued at the end of the forum.