FCT Signage Agency: Checkmating indiscriminate outdoor advertising structures, By Abdul Jelil Adebayo

There is no doubt that the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) signage agency, also known as the Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS), is making significant progress in regulating and managing outdoor advertising in Abuja.

The primary function of the department is expectedly to reposition and strengthen the FCT Outdoor Advertisement and Signage system and to reorganize, standardize and regulate the business and practice of outdoor advertisement in the FCT by curbing the proliferation of illegal and substandard advertisement structures as a vehicle for environmental beautification

DOAS has been working to reduce indiscriminate pasting of posters and banners that deface the city architecture.

The agency’s efforts’ to create a more organized and aesthetically pleasing environment in Abuja, while also generating revenue for the FCT.

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The laudable achievements of the agency under Tpl Akanimo Udoh, the Acting Director of DOAS in the FCTA could be seen in the
enforcement of Signage Fees Payment.

His efforts have been focused on enhancing revenue generation, regulatory compliance, and maintaining order in the FCT’s outdoor advertising sector.

It is on record that Udoh led an enforcement exercise against defaulting banks and filling stations that hadn’t paid signage fees, demonstrating his commitment to ensuring compliance with DOAS regulations.

On revenue generation, under his leadership, DOAS has continued to generate revenue for the FCT through the collection of signage fees, contributing to the city’s development.

Regulatory Compliance, Udoh has emphasized the importance of adhering to DOAS guidelines, ensuring that outdoor advertisements and signage in the FCT meet the required standards.

Early this year, a princely sum of over N1.2billion was realised for the DOAS, being proceeds from its regulatory activities in the FCT Out-Of-Home (OOH) advertisement and signage sector.

The billboards on the streets, the signage on hotels, shops, restaurants, filling stations, and others are being controlled, standardised and regulated for the safety of humans and property, a source at the agency said.

Beside the revenue generation, there was need for the agency to maintain the aesthetics of the Federal Capital City (FCC), ensure that the environment is protected and that billboards are not in substandard forms.

It is worthy to note that before the agency carries out enforcement actions -to compel erring business premises, personalities, or others to pay the officially stipulated fees-, a series of sensitization exercises are embarked upon to inform prospective clients of what the relevant statutes say concerning their responsibilities to government.

The sensitization is often carried out in a near-informal atmosphere, in an interactive manner with questions asked and responses given.

The enforcement stage only arrives when a business owner fails to imbibe the salutary effects of sensitization, viz compliance to payments.

The enforcement stage only arrives when a business owner fails to imbibe the salutary effects of sensitization, viz compliance to payments.

It is the failure to comply that triggers enforcement actions. Nonetheless, the period between the first communication and actual enforcement can take months, in many instances.

In order to guard against corruption, the director insisted that cash is never paid to any staff of DOAS, but through designated official bank accounts that belong to FCTA.

The agency’s clients are classified into three groups. One is the first party – that is, any signboard or signage within five metres of a property or rented place.

” ‘First Party Signage’ is a type of Signage that is situated in not more than five meters away from the business premises and which is also created and owned by a business owner for their own use, which include: building wall signs, free standing signs, projecting signs and others.”

Here, the client can be a hotel, mall, shop, filling station or other businesses. These deal directly with DOAS and pay into the designated FCTA official accounts.

“Under first party too are mobile advertisement; anything mobile that carries around any brand being promoted.”

Udoh explained that the second party, is mainly governmental: security agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGO) signage.

Then there is the third party. Here, a client engages a professional media practitioner who knows about marketing and advertisement to place the firm’s or individual’s adverts on billboards across streets. This aspect is outside five metres of business premises.

Ahead of placement, the media consultant visits the regulator, DOAS, as he/she (consultant) has big billboards of differing sizes, so that the agency can be apprised of the intended location, size and other details of the billboard while the consultant, in turn, gets information on costs, acceptability of the billboard(s) to the environment, and so on.

For instance, one cannot be allowed to place a purely pornographic billboard in FCT.

Outreach formats equally attract payments to government. Here, firms can advertise products by organising dancers and conducting some sort of one-off shop; it is similar to mobile advertisement.

It takes strongly efficient and technically effective leadership, in addition to other intrinsic qualities, to harness all these aspects together and wield them all into a winning bunch, as done in the agency, under the supervision of the acting director, Tpl Akanimo Udoh.

The procedure is carried out to duly capture the data of all firms operating in the nation’s capital and to eliminate firms operating illegitimately at the detriment of the residents and to ensure that firm operating systems is in consonance with global best practice.

The Director noted that with this exercise, the department will generate more revenue than the previous years; adding that the exercise will also enable the department recover outstanding debts owed by many business owners who ran advertisements on First Party Signages in FCT.

He advised business organizations to use the opportunity given by the ‘Demand Letters’ to pay for branding and advertisement for their companies, offices or stations operating across the six Area Councils of the nation’s capital.

His words: “Payment should be made in favour of the Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS) through FCTA TSA REMITA to avoid enforcement.”

The Director warned against payment to wrong persons; noting that any Outdoor Advertiser, Practitioner, group of individuals within the FCT who pays their Outdoor fees, bills or levies and so on, to any other organization, group or individual other than DOAS, does so at their risk and to their detriment as DOAS shall not be liable for any such illegal payment.

He solicited for business owners’ co-operation and compliance within the stipulated period of time which is designed to aid in smooth business operations in the Territory.

In the meantime, the agency has gazetted bye-laws in concurrence with the six Area Councils, delegating powers to control and regulate outdoor advertising and signage.

It is worth noting that DOAS has been working to standardize outdoor advertising activities, reducing indiscriminate pasting of posters and banners that deface the city architecture.

Also the agency has seen improved compliance from corporate organizations and first-party advertisers in paying their bills.

Indeed one can say without sounding immodest that DOAS under the leadership of Tpl Akanimo Udoh has not only changed the narrative about outdoor signage but another tool for FCTA to generate more IGR. Kudos to his leadership.

■ Abdul is Abuja based journalist and wrote in via abduljelil2001@gmail.com