Mobolaji Sanusi: A bureaucrat in the twilight of an unexciting epoch
Recently, Adeoba Michaels, a Public Affairs Analyst published a column titled in an online media “Fashola To The Rescue In Lagos: Mobolaji Sanusi, The Loquacious Almajiri Journalist Should Hide Face In Shame”. The article was a fierce open rebuttal of the current Managing Director, Lagos State Advertisement And Signage Agency, LASAA Mr Bolaji Sanusi, for his failed campaign of calumny against the former Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola.
Adeoba brilliantly chronicled the many clandestine attempts by the embattled LASAA boss to drag Fashola’s name in the mud and tacitly set him up in political dog fight with the National Leader of All Progressives Congress Party (APC) Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to Adeoba, this was all done in a bid to rubbish the indelible legacies of the former Governor and erase his name from the good books of Lagosians. Apparently, the plot failed.
But perhaps the most significant aspect of the article was the last paragraph where he summarized in a few lines Sanusi’s performance as the chief regulator of the outdoor industry in Lagos State. “The outdoor advertising industry which was booming and thriving during the reign of George Noah is now in deep crisis courtesy of Sanusi’s gross incompetence and greed, “He said.
To get a clearer picture of what this means; the outdoor sector in Lagos as at 2014 accounted for about N50billion annual turnover, and it’s responsible for more than 60 percent of the out-of-home businesses in Nigeria. The sector used to be a crucial live-wire for growth in the entire advertising industry in Nigeria as it was responsible for a major chunk of the annual advertising budget for multinationals and indigenous companies in Nigeria.
This explains why there were doubts and skepticism amongst industry players in 2015 when Sanusi was appointed to head LASAA. The concerns were rooted in his inexperience and lack of any significant accomplishments whether in the advertising or media space. His inexperience began to show from his early days when he failed to assuage the grievances of the OAAN members. This inexperience was pointed out more poignantly by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) when its former registrar and Chief Executive Officer, Alhaji Gabir Bello Kankarofi raised the issue about Sanusi not being a registered APCON member.
It was APCON’s belief that Mobolaji Sanusi’s none-certification by the agency connotes that it will be an aberration to make him a regulator of the business where he has no idea, skills nor competence. Rather than accept the APCON criticism in good faith and do the needful, the new LASAA helmsman dismissed the argument, saying that he needed no skill to function in its new capacity as a political appointee of government.
This is quite unlike the case with his predecessors in office. Our checks revealed that all past heads of LASAA are registered APCON members. Though they might not have been APCON registered before their appointments which mostly come as political compensation and patronage, past LASAA heads used to go the extra mile by getting registered with the federal regulatory agency. The pioneer LASAA GM, Mr. Makanjuola Alabi set the pace when he assumed the mantle of leadership of the agency.
Makanjuola Alabi was not only registered with APCON, he made sure that all staffers of the advertisement agency were registered with APCON. It was a culture and tradition of capacity building that he established and his successors have since being building upon it. But a clear and unpleasant departure from the norm surfaced with the appointment of Mobolaji Sanusi. Rather than toe the path of decency and professionalism, the new LASAA boss went on a head on collision course with APCON by trying to checkmate the council on its hitherto areas of jurisdiction.
For APCON, the Sanusi move was seen as an affront and was promptly and fiercely resisted. Seeing the huge public outcry that heralded the failed attempt, Sanusi quietly and quickly beat a retreat. Even at that, it was clear to all industry players that a regime of a swashbuckling bureaucrat had been unleashed and no one appeared certain of how the future of partnership would turn. What happened thereafter and even up till now that Sanusi is at the twilight of his hegemonic hold of LASAA are like open book for all to see.
Even though the sector has had its fair share of challenges with the regulator from inception, things have gone from bad to worse since Sanusi mounted the saddle. One of the early major signs of bellingerence was his stubborn refusal to pay an outstanding financial obligation owed OAAN members for campaign duties carried out on behalf of the All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2014 political campaign season. This created a lot of bad blood between LASAA and OAAN, and set the pace for a rocky relationship that has undermined growth in the sector.
Instead of paying the debt or renegotiating a new payment term, Sanusi imposed more debt burden on the outdoor operators by insisting that OAAN members must pay a controversial N10billin debt for vacant billboards, within Lagos metropolis which accumulated over four years.
Many OAAN members were in shock as to how LASAA arrived at N10billion vacant billboard charges, because the law setting up the agency only mandates it to charge just 12.5% of earnings earned per billboard. Specifically, LASAA laws relating to rental fees charge on Page 262 Of A Law To Consolidate All Laws Relating To The Environment For The Management, Protection And Sustainable Development Of The Environment In Lagos State And For Connected Purposes states that only 12.5% of annual earnings on a billboards structure shall be charged the OAAN members on their hoardings.
But despite the clarity of the law, LASAA under Sanusi have continued to clamp-down on outdoor advertising shops who are supposedly in default, and in most cases disrupt ongoing clients campaigns, thereby jeopardizing possible payment plans and a renewal of billboard contracts by brand owners.
All efforts by various stakeholders within and outside the advertising sectoral groups urging the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency to seek the path of peace and reconciliation in resolving the matter in the interest of the overall wellbeing of the industry failed.
Rather than do a wholistic review or cancel the debts, as demanded by OAAN members, the out-of-home regulatory agency only offered a token rebate of 30% of some billboards products following Governor Ambode’s intervention. Despite the reduction which took effect first July 2018, the issue of the outstanding cumulative debts on vacant billboards over the years remained unresolved. In other words, the 30% reduction only affected the rates payable on certain OOH products which only took effect once the outstanding debt is paid.
“They tell people they gave us 70 percent discount. The discount does not come until you clear your debts. So is that a discount? You have not earned money and somebody is offering you a discount on this year’s bill, but before I can enjoy that discount I must clear what I owe. Then you don’t want to give him a discount,” General Secretary of OAAN and Managing Director of 21st Century Media Femi Ogala asked.
“If you want to give him a discount on vacant billboards, give it to him for the ones that are vacant this year, then you give him a payment plan for what he owes you,” OAAN secretary said.
Ogala says OAAN’s inability to pay up its backlogs of debts to LASAA is mainly as a result of the prevailing economic challenges which have forced clients to cut down on their marketing budgets. He therefore called on LASAA to agree to a restructuring of the backlogs. Of course, the call went unheeded.
Ogala is one of those that have been hardest hit by Sanusi’s controversial reign. The outspoken owner of 21st Century Media had his outdoor approval cancelled by LASAA.
The cancellation was communicated to him shortly after he took the agency to court to challenge the alleged arbitrariness of the regulator in the areas of rental fees. This includes alleged illegal imposition of fees and levies on the outdoor agency operators in Lagos, which has undermined the agencies’ ability to operate profitably and threatened the sustainability of the industry.
But Ogala is not the only one that has a pending court case against LASAA. Other plaintiffs include OAAN, Moving Media and Media Worth.
Sanusi’s inability to earn the trust of OAAN members and foster an enabling environment for growth in the industry has created an atmosphere of uncertainty that destabilized businesses within the outdoor sector, pushing it deeper into the abyss. Reports from some Out-of-Home operators indicate that this is one of the major reasons why outdoor advertising budget in the last couple of years have hit an all-time low, as advertisers are wary of getting their brands entangled in the quagmire.
Sanusi has also been accused of double dealing and instigating division within the rank and file of members of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN). Unlike in the past, the rate increment regime by LASAA has become a major source of worry and concern to all advertisers and outdoor advertising practitioners. “Since Mobolaji Sanusi resumed work at the agency, he has been battling with advertising practitioners and the entire Nigerian advertising community who remain disgruntled and unhappy with his alleged high-handedness, uncare attitude and a brazen power arrogance”, said a top industry player.
Not even the corporate organisations have been spared. Recall that Nigerian Breweries was last year slammed with excessive signage charge amounting to One Hundred and Sixty-Eight Million Naira (N168,000,000) for Nigerian Breweries billboards at its outlets.
Concerted efforts by the officials of Nigerian Breweries to make LASAA see reason and cut down on the charge fell on deaf hears. Sensing high-handedness, undue display of power and ego-trip, the management of Nigerian Breweries Ltd approached the state governor, whom it believed has a listening ears and a friend of the business community for an intervention. This approach worked as Governor Ambode promptly directed that the charges be reduced to Fifty Million Naira by LASAA so as to encourage Nigerian Breweries Ltd to do its business without too much of suffocation.
“The governor wasn’t too happy with LASAA for the charges and the fact that the helmsman was unyielding to all the company’s pleas, hence he had to overrule the decision by asking Nigerian Breweries Ltd to pay something far lower than earlier charged,” a source close to the Lagos Sate Governor said.
Sadly enough, Sanusi’s arbitrary charges to Nigerian Breweries came against the background of the fact that the brewery company have been supporting the Lagos State government efforts with a whopping sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Million naira (N250m) on a yearly basis in promotion of its annual Lagos Countdown Festival that holds every December.
This gesture, a most salutary CSR initiative by NBL has been greatly treasured by successive state governments, but Sanusi came on board and decided to put a wedge between the state government and the beer giant. Sources close to Governor Akinwumi Ambode disclosed that the governor did not take it kindly with Mobolaji Sanusi over such abrasive attitude which never enjoyed his approval abinitio.
As the stalemate persisted, a good number of outdoor agencies were driven to the edge, with mountains of debts running into hundreds of millions. Some of the agencies practically became comatose as they could no longer operate their billboards and thus could not meet their obligations to their clients and staff.
But it seems like Sanusi’s sins are fast catching up with him as he seems to have lost the support of the Lagos State Government. There are strong indications that with Fashola back in the mainstream of Lagos politics and poised to play an influential role in the next dispensation, Sanusi’s days as LASAA boss may have been numbered, thereby bringing to an end one of the most challenging and crisis-proned epoch in the annals of outdoor advertising in Nigeria. Already, gists making the rounds amongst the close pals of the new guys on the block have it that LASAA will witness a radical shake-up as soon as a new government assumed the mantle in Lagos state. Although Sanusi was said to have played some yeo-man’s games in a desperate be in appeasing the Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu during his electioneering campaign, our ever reliable contact within BOS campaign council said the new government in Lagos state come May 2019 will not like to continue with undue corporate baggage that LASAA leadership has become.
According to the source which pleaded anonymity, “our boss, the Governor-elect, His Excellency, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu is a highly cerebral manager. He is not only a seasoned bureaucrat, he is a distinguished politician that knows his onions. He also does not suffer fools gladly”.
Pointing out that there is no doubting the fact that Babajide Sanwo-Olu would run a government of continuity in Lagos State, the source said “running a government of continuity does not mean allowing passengers and baggages in the train”.
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