The newly-established Oyo State Signage and Advertising Agency has commenced the demolition of dilapidated and broken down billboards as well as removal of torn posters on major roads across Ibadan, the state capital.
The demolition exercise, which commenced on the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway, according to the agency, will take it to other areas within the metropolis such as Toll Gate, Challenge, Dugbe, Mokola, Bodija, Apata, Total Garden, Iwo-Road, Gate, Ife Road, Sango, Bere, Eleyele, Molete, Odinjo and Idi Arere.
The Director-General of the agency, Mr. Yinka Adepoju, told newsmen shortly after carrying out the exercise on the Ibadan-Lagos Expressway on Wednesday that the exercise would last for five days.
Adepoju said that his agency would leave no stone unturned in its determination of ridding the state of dilapidated and broken down billboards.
“We are set to rebrand Oyo State through the improvement of the outdoor life of the state,” Adepoju said, lamenting that the deplorable state of many billboards on the highways had become worrisome.
He expressed displeasure over situations where billboard structures continued to display faded posters, thereby having negative impact on the aesthetic situation of major streets and highways in the state.
“We cannot continue with this situation again,” the director-general said, describing the establishment of the agency as a new dawn in the state.
He said that the outdoor space would be re-planned and re-engineered for mutual profitability as, according to him, there would no longer be room for massive display of billboards at road junctions and roundabouts.
Adepoju called on advertising agencies to ensure that they were duly registered with his agency, warning that any billboard erected by any unregistered agency would be removed and such agency prosecuted.
He said that with the ongoing exercise, his agency would get rid of clustered billboards and that there would be proper re-grading and re-allocation of outdoor space for practitioners and advertisers to enhance orderliness, decency, beauty and friendly business environment.