Nigeria: FCTA to Stop Indiscriminate Posters in Abuja

 

The Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCTA) will soon commence the prosecution of people, businesses and organizations that indiscriminately paste posters within the capital city.


This warning was issued in Abuja by the Director of the FCTA's Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS), Mallam Ibrahim Yusuf, at the commissioning of GEMSROCK, a new ultramodern electronic billboard in the Abuja Wuse 2 district.

Yusuf told Daily Trust on Sunday that his department has already taken measures to control the rash of posters and billboards in the city, saying they had approached religious organisations, political parties and businesses to bring the situation under control.

"There is no way you can solve this problem without going to the source. So we have visited churches and other religious organisations, as well as business owners to talk to their members about pasting posters in Abuja," he said.

The director said that, for now, the Authority was giving offenders a period of grace after which it would take drastic measures to curtail the trend. "If they continue, we will soon start to prosecute them," he said.



Instead of defacing the city with posters, members of the public, Yusuf urged, should engage the services of owners of electronic billboards to showcase their products and services.

Commissioning the installation, the director commended the management of GEMS Communications Ltd for installing the ultramodern digital billboard, saying its quality was at par with what is obtainable in some of the world's foremost capitals.

The Managing Director of GEMS Communications, Mr. Atilola Odudare, said the company invested so much to install the electronic billboard "in an attempt to redefine outdoor advertising by blending emerging technology with the art which is environmentally friendly and enhances the look of Abuja."

Odudare said the electronic billboard, built in the shape of a rock and located in the Wuse 2 business hub, was designed to complement both the business and aesthetic angles of the capital city, and called on businesses to take advantage of this by having their products advertised on it.