Heads of Advertising Sectoral Group (HASG) have decried the move by the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) to concession seven major roads in the state to bidders, who will own and operate franchises on the roads for a period of 10 years.
The roads to be concessioned are Obafemi Awolowo Way, Ikeja; Oshodi/Apapa Expressway, Ikorodu road; Mobolaji Bank Anthony road; Western Avenue; LASU/Isheri road; and Lagos Badagry Expressway.
The move to concession these roads, according to the HASG, portends grave danger.
They are therefore calling on Governor Sanwo-Olu to prevail on the agency to shelve its plan, which they said was without regard to their members who have their billboard structures on the roads.
HASG is a sectoral group made up of integrated marketing communications professionals including Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), and Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN).
Speaking on behalf of the group, president of OAAN, Chief Emmanuel Ajufo, stated that concession of the roads will not stimulate growth of the advertising industry, but lead to monopoly and ultimately increase in the cost of engaging out-of-home media platforms by advertisers.
The backlash of such action, he also said, would include the loss of businesses and the means of livelihoods of those who currently operate along those corridors as there is the certainty of unemployment.
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