Practitioners decry Foreign Dominance in Outdoor Advertising, accuse JCDecaux over Job Losses

Tue, Dec 5, 2017 | By publisher


Business

 

PLAYERS in outdoor advertising industry have raised fresh alarm over foreign dominance in the nation’s advertising sector; saying it would impact negatively on Nigeria’s dwindling labour market if unchecked.

Already, a French advertisement firm, JCDecaux is said to have been engaged by Lagos state government to handle all outdoor advertising services in the state, heightening possibility of job losses.

Femi Ogala, general secretary, Outdoor Advertisers Association of Nigeria, OAAN, said quite a number of association members had petitioned authority concerned, urging them to intervene on sudden infiltration of foreign firms into indigenous  businesses.

According to Ogala, “By our findings, this outfit, which is not a member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, has been allocated some of the juicy spots by Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency, LASAA, which he said, is a breach of process.

He also said, ‘it is quite unfair that LASAA gave JCDecaux such job, leaving out indigenous practitioners’.

Already, an indigenous firm under OAAN, Moving Media has accused the French firm of what it described as a breach of advertising status, where the firm was allocated a site less than 200 meters from an existing site.

The aggrieved indigenous firm said a law on 400meter minimum distance allowed by advertising code must be enforced to sanitize the industry.

But JCDecaux in its reaction noted that the site in question was allocated upon the filing by Moving Media to LASAA that it was vacating the space soonest. This has been denied by Moving Media.

“OAAN had tried to mediate in this matter by trying to reach out to representatives of both parties, who had occupied the spot for over a decade without defaulting on payment of LASAA dues, but JCDecaux has not been responsive”, Ogala stated.

Insinuations are rife that Lagos state government has also signed exclusive advertising pact with JCDecaux on the ongoing Lagos Metro line project; ditto for the uncompleted traffic interchange in Oshodi.

“If all these allusions are anything to go by, then the state government has just handed over all outdoor advertising services to foreigners.

‘’It might be catastrophic and monumental misstep to kill the nation’s outdoor advertising sector”, he added.

 

– Dec. 5, 2017 @ 10:00 GMT

Tags: