NAN-DS-7
Billboards
By Harrison Arubu
Abuja, March 30, 2017 (NAN) The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) says the indiscriminate siting of billboards in the FCT is causing road safety concerns.
The Sector Commander of the corps in the FCT, Mr Sunday Oghenekaro, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday that some of the billboards block road traffic signs.
Cue in audio 1 (Oghenekaro)
“ What we have found is that some of the billboards placed by these outdoor advertisers do not take road users’ interest into consideration.
“ You have some of them where the billboards have been mounted in places to obliterate traffic signs on the bridges.
“If you go round from Dei Dei up till AYA, almost all the bridges have one billboard or the other.
“ Like the pedestrian bride for instance, some will completely block the pedestrians from being seen by other road users.
“Miscreants could just wait on top of the bridge knowing that they cannot be seen from the ground by anybody and cause mayhem on lawful motorists and pedestrians on the bridges.
“ Then there are some of the billboards, particularly electronic ones. In the night, the illumination coming from the billboard completely obscures the vision of motorists.’’
Cue out audio 1
The sector commander condemned the poor quality of materials used for erection of some giant billboards by advertisers.
He noted that some of the billboards were suspended by weak poles or pillars that could easily collapse in windy weather conditions.
Oghenekaro said after a recent meeting with executives of the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OOAN) and the officials of the FCT administration on the issue, they promised to correct the anomaly.
The General Secretary of OOAN, Mr Femi Ogala, who confirmed the meeting with the FRSC official, said the association was already taking steps to address problem.
Cue in audio 2 (Ogala)
“He called us for a meeting and we went, and we made him also realise that we have a lot of quacks out there who are not members of OOAN, who are practising there because they know somebody.
“As I am speaking to you now all members have been informed and the man is also coming to speak to us, to enlighten us on all these things that we don’t know.’’
Cue out audio 2
On his part, Mr Ibrahim Yusuf, the Director of Outdoor Advertising in the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), said his department had notified OOAN on the illegal placement of billboards in the FCT.
Yusuf said the department had not been able to properly enforce appropriate standards due to funding constraints.
Cue in audio 3 (Yusuf)
“Sometimes, the OOAN goes beyond what was approved for it. That was the problem.
“But now we are going to ensure enforcement and compliance with the standards that we gave them.’’ (NAN)
Cue in audio 3
ARU/LAB/HAS/YEE
Edited by Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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