The Out-of-Home Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN) has stated that it seeks a professional body to improve excellence and develop human capital, not to replace government regulatory functions.
OAAN President, Sola Akinsiku, said that members, out-of-home media owners, are sponsoring a bill at the National Assembly to gain professional status to advance their profession to higher heights.
“The bill before the National Assembly is requesting the legal body with the statutory mandate to confer a professional status on any group of practitioners,” Akinsiku said.
“We are looking at a bill to confer that status on out-of-home media owners. Out-of-home media owners, including the radio and television.
“As a profession evolves, there is a need to advance professionalism and excellence, the need to advance to higher heights, and the need to develop human capital. So that at the end of the day, you are adding value to the group of patrons, the individuals, the audiences.”
Akinsiku reckoned that the practice of owning media used in outdoor advertising has an expanded history in the country and has matured to bring orderliness to the industry, noting, “Out-of-home advertising practice started in 1928 in Nigeria.
Over the years, it has gone through a number of stages to get to where we are today. So, development is an ongoing thing.”
He affirmed earlier attempts at bringing professionalism to the practice, explaining, “Before 1988, everybody that knew to do any form of advertising claimed to be an advertiser or an advertising practitioner, including people who were dancing in marketplaces and market squares. They claimed that they were doing advertising.
“But there were professionals who studied marketing, marketing communication, and advertising. They were also creating advertisements and placing them on the relevant media platforms.
“There came a time when the leading practitioners came together and said, ‘Sorry, this practice deserves to become a profession.’ They took steps that culminated in the establishment of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria. Over time, APCON gave way to the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria.”
Akinsiku explained that OAAN has sustained its promotion of a professional over many years, eventually getting its bill to pass the second reading in 2024.
