30,000 outdoor advertisers may lose job in Lagos

Akin Adewakun, Lagos - 31.03.2008

An estimated 30,000 outdoor advertising practitioners in Lagos may lose their jobs when the Lagos State government eventually concludes its ongoing demolition of billboards within the metropolis.

Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that since the commencement of the demolition exercise in August last year, members of the Outdoor Advertisers’ Association of Nigeria (OAAN) have not been allowed to practise in the city, resulting in huge loss of revenue and a gradual laying off of staff of some of the outdoor advertising companies, especially their field workers.

According to a practitioner, who is also a top official of the OAAN, the demolition exercise would result in the laying off of more than half of over 60,000 outdoor practitioners. This, according to him, was because the billboards in the state would be reduced by about 67 per cent when the state government eventually allows them to resume operations.

However, the state government, through Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency(LASAA) had described what is going on in the state as a cleaning up exercise meant to give the environment a facelift befitting of a megacity.