By Stanley Onyekwere
The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has issued a scathing condemnation of the Federal Capital Territory Administration’s Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS) over alleged intimidation, unethical practices, and a brazen conflict of interest targeting young entrepreneurs, including one of its ambassadors, Comrade Dr. Donald Amagbo, a licensed advertising practitioner and former NANS Zone C Public Relations Officer.
In a fiery press release signed by its National Secretary General, Comrade Anzaku Shedrack Ovye, NANS lambasted DOAS for allegedly deploying security agencies, enforcement teams, and media proxies to harass Amagbo and other technical partners of the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
Also, the student body warned of imminent mass protests at the DOAS and FCTA secretariats if what it describes as “cabalistic” activities persist.
NANS particularly alleges that DOAS officials, led by one Assistant Director, Engr. Akintunde Babadiya, who doubles as the Managing Director of Media Outcome Ltd, are exploiting their positions to monopolize the outdoor advertising industry in the nation’s capital.
According to the statement, these civil servants,-own private advertising firms, controlling a significant portion of billboards across Abuja while stifling competition through intimidation and regulatory abuse.
The statement reads in part: “This is a classic case of civil servants moonlighting as entrepreneurs to enrich themselves at the expense of young professionals.
“DOAS-FCTA has become a rogue department, operating against the spirit of the Constitution and the recent court order granting autonomy to local governments.”
NANS, while demanding scrapping of DOAS and robbing of its corrupt officials, called on the FCTA and the National Assembly to establish a new regulatory agency to be headed by a licensed practitioner from the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) or Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria (OAAN), not a civil servant, to ensure fairness and professionalism.
Also calling for the full implementation of ARCON Act, the student body insists that only qualified professionals should regulate advertising in the
NANS also charges Code of Conduct Bureau to immediately investigate the assistant director, accusing him of dabling into private advertising, saying it is an abuse of office.
The statement took a defiant tone, warning that any further harassment of Comrade Amagbo, described as a man of “integrity and self-esteem”, would be met with fierce resistance.”
With NANS threatening to mobilize students for a major protest, pressure appears to be mounting on the FCTA to address the allegations.
“If the authorities fail to act, the streets of Abuja may soon witness another wave of youth-led demonstrations -this time, targeting what NANS calls the DOAS cabal”, it added.
