By Ugochukwu Ibezim
Some Nigerian professionals just love to congregate and form groups or bodies and then seek formal legislation, to wear the group or body a robe of officialdom and thereby erect barriers to entry by other people. In so doing the initiators create a professional “fiefdom” of their own.
This, in some sense, explains the reason for the public hearing held by the Senate, to deliberate on the proposed “Chartered Out-of-Home Media Practitioners of Nigeria Bill, 2024 (SB 448)”, the aim of which is to put another layer of regulation on the members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria. Fortunately, the public hearing got a good dose of the fury, concern and opposition of many stakeholders, who strongly feel that the proposed bill (as conceived) if passed into law could disrupt the industry’s progress and set the clock backwards.
The bill, sponsored by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, seeks to establish a regulatory body to oversee and professionalize the OOH media sector. While the public hearing held on November 20, 2024, had strong opposition from the government through the Federal Ministry of Information, the Nigerian Press Council, and the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), letters from the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON), the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and the Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), reveal a strong opposition from industry stakeholders.
However, questions have risen about the transparency and inclusiveness of the public hearing process, as critical stakeholders were neither invited nor informed. For instance, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON)—the umbrella body for all Local Governments and Area Councils in Nigeria — was conspicuously absent, despite its vested interest in outdoor advertising through local government regulations and the Nigerian Constitution. Aside Advertisers Association of Nigeria (ADVAN), all other critical industry stakeholders are not invited by the senate committee.
An anonymous industry insider expressed skepticism about the intentions behind the hearing. “How do you leave out stakeholders like ALGON and State Signage Agency who have a direct stake in outdoor advertising regulations? Yet, you invite COREN, an engineering body with little to no knowledge of advertising to the discussion?” the source said.
In a letter dated November 25, 2024, signed by Dr. Yemisi Bamgbose, Executive Secretary, the Broadcasting Organisations of Nigeria (BON) urged the Senate Committee to reject the proposed bill. BON argued that creating a separate regulatory body would result in a chaotic overlap of functions already covered by ARCON under the Advertising Regulatory Council Act of 2022.
“We discovered that the entire functions of the proposed new regulatory body are similar to those of the existing Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria,” the letter noted. BON emphasized that the ARCON Act sufficiently governs all advertising sub-sectors, including OOH media, making the proposed bill an attempt to over regulate a sub-sector.
The Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN), in a letter signed by its President, Lanre Adisa, echoed similar sentiments. Addressing the Senate Committee, AAAN described the proposed bill as “unnecessary duplication.” Adisa pointed out that the advertising ecosystem is already regulated by ARCON and state-level agencies which manage outdoor advertising structures.
“The creation of another regulator would disrupt the progress made in building a unified and globally competitive advertising industry under ARCON,” the letter stated.
The Experiential Marketers Association of Nigeria (EXMAN), in its letter signed by President Tolulope Medebem, firmly opposed the bill. Dated November 20, 2024, EXMAN’s submission emphasized that ARCON’s regulatory framework already promotes professionalism, ethics, and standards across the advertising industry, including OOH media.
“Creating another body would fragment the industry’s laws and disrupt an ecosystem that thrives on integration,” the letter warned.
EXMAN appealed to the Senate Committee to encourage collaboration within the existing regulatory framework to address concerns without establishing a new council.
In its letter dated November 20, 2024, Media Independent Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MIPAN), signed by President Dozie Okafor, chose to stand on the fence, in its letter. While acknowledging the bill’s intent to professionalize the OOH sector and protect physical advertising assets, MIPAN highlighted ARCON’s valid concerns about potential conflicts and duplication.
There is a clear and present need for the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service to deliberate further on this bill, weighing these submissions alongside the testimonies given during the November 20 public hearing. For now, doubts linger over the credibility of the public hearing process and the intention of the promoters, with many questioning whether the bill is being pushed through for personal agenda rather than a genuine attempt to improve the advertising ecosystem as the proposed body expected to perform same functions with ARCON is expected to coexist with ARCON meaning that two regulatory bodies will regulate and control the sub-sector.
Economists have expressed concerns on the implication of passing the bill when the Federal Government is merging or scrapping off Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with overlapping or duplicate mandate, as par its implementation of the Orosanye Report. This question must necessarily be asked: If the government is going to create a new agency, fund this agency and all the other logistics that this requires, will the agency generate revenue for the government? Is this not taking one step forward and several steps back?
The needful thing that should be done is for the Senate Committee on Establishment and Public Service go through the motions of evaluating the merits and demerits of the proposed bill and then consign it to the dustbin of history, where it properly belongs.
Ibezim, a media, marketing and advertising services professional, writes from Lagos.