Nigeria’s Out of Home advertising industry is passing through one of its most demanding phases as rising operational expenses, worsening infrastructure challenges and the increasing presence of quacks continue to reshape the sector’s business environment.

For OAAN President, Sola Akinsiku, the biggest threat facing the industry remains the rise of charlatans operating without technical knowledge, professional training or ethical standards.

According to him, outdoor advertising has wrongly become perceived as an all comers business simply because individuals possess welding equipment or access to vacant land.

He stressed that spending years around billboards does not automatically make someone a professional practitioner, just as staying around a hospital does not qualify an individual as a medical doctor.

This growing disorder partly explains OAAN’s continued push for the proposed Chartered Out of Home Media Practitioners Bill aimed at strengthening professionalism, technical standards and operational structure within the sector.

Importantly, Akinsiku has repeatedly clarified that the bill is not designed to undermine ARCON’s authority but to complement existing structures by professionalizing the infrastructure side of outdoor advertising, while ARCON continues regulating advertising content and messages.

Rather, he explained that OAAN members remain fully committed to ARCON and other professional bodies within Nigeria’s Integrated Marketing Communications industry, stressing that the association only seeks to support ethical practice, industry order and stronger professionalism within the Out of Home media space.

According to him, the objective is to establish clearer standards for practitioners while also encouraging discipline, competence and accountability among operators.

Across Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt, Kano and other major cities, billboard operators now battle multiple financial pressures ranging from engineering costs and site installation expenses to diesel consumption and the heavy burden of powering digital structures amid Nigeria’s persistent electricity crisis.

For many operators, sustaining billboard investments has gradually become more difficult as operational costs continue to rise faster than returns on investment.

Consequently, several practitioners insist that the business environment has become increasingly tougher, especially for companies making huge investments in modern outdoor advertising infrastructure.

Industry stakeholders explain that installing and maintaining billboard structures now involves enormous financial commitments covering steel fabrication, engineering integrity, lighting systems, transportation, permits, generators and round the clock power supply for digital screens.

In addition, the absence of stable electricity across the country has further compounded the situation, forcing many operators to depend heavily on diesel powered generators to keep billboard structures functional and visible.

However, beyond the rising costs, many professionals believe the industry’s biggest challenge remains the growing activities of charlatans and unqualified operators entering the business without technical knowledge, ethical standards or professional training.

According to stakeholders, outdoor advertising has gradually become vulnerable to indiscriminate participation simply because many people assume the business revolves only around erecting structures or securing vacant spaces.

Over and over again, OAAN President, Sola Akinsiku, has maintained that the sector urgently requires stronger professionalism and structured entry processes capable of protecting investments, public safety and industry credibility.

According to him, billboard operations involve far more than mounting advertising structures because issues relating to engineering standards, environmental compliance, structural integrity and urban safety remain critical components of the practice.

Meanwhile, some professionals in the sector,  have continued to acknowledge ongoing improvements within the industry, particularly the digital transformation initiatives introduced by the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency.

Industry players especially commended LASAA’s deployment of its Digital Directory Portal and LASAA One App, describing the initiative as a major step toward improving transparency, verification processes and operational efficiency across Lagos’ outdoor advertising landscape.

Stakeholders also praised LASAA Managing Director, Prince Fatiu Akiolu, for driving reforms aimed at modernising outdoor advertising operations while improving accountability and industry structure.

However, despite commending LASAA’s performance and ongoing reforms, practitioners are also appealing to the agency to further review some of the financial burdens confronting operators, particularly charges imposed on empty billboard structures that remain without advertising messages for extended periods.

According to stakeholders, such charges continue to place enormous pressure on operators already grappling with high operational costs, declining margins and difficult economic realities. Consequently, many practitioners are urging the agency to consider more business friendly measures capable of supporting sustainability and long term survival within the sector.

They argued that easing some of these pressures would not only encourage investment but would also help operators maintain structures, preserve jobs and support the continued growth of the outdoor advertising industry.

Despite the growing concerns, operators remain optimistic that stronger collaboration among practitioners, regulators and government institutions can still reposition Nigeria’s Out of Home advertising sector for sustainable growth.

But across Nigeria’s Out of Home advertising landscape, one message continues to resonate strongly among practitioners and stakeholders, the growing clamour to see the proposed Media Charter Bill take full shape as a transformative tool capable of restoring professionalism, strengthening standards, discouraging quackery and repositioning the industry for greater credibility, sustainability and pride

For many operators, the bill represents not conflict or division within the advertising ecosystem, but a long anticipated framework expected to deepen structure, protect investments and promote a more organised, respected and professionally driven OOH sector.

Nevertheless, many insist that unless the industry successfully tackles quackery, rising operational costs and weak professional standards, the long term sustainability of the sector may remain under increasing pressure.