ABUJA – The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has issued a stark ultimatum to the Federal Capital Territory Administration, threatening widespread protests over what it describes as systemic corruption, intimidation, and abuse of regulatory power within the Department of Outdoor Advertisement and Signage (DOAS).
In a strongly-worded statement signed by National Secretary General Comrade Anzaku Shedrack Ovye, the student body accused DOAS officials of operating like a “cabal” targeting young entrepreneurs in the advertising sector.
The association specifically cited the case of Comrade Dr. Donald Amagbo, a NANS ambassador and licensed advertising practitioner, who they claim has faced repeated harassment through security operatives, enforcement teams, and media allies of the department.
“This is a classic case of civil servants enriching themselves at the expense of young professionals,” the statement read. “DOAS-FCTA has become a rogue department, acting against the Constitution and court orders granting autonomy to local governments.”
NANS leveled particularly serious allegations against an Assistant Director at DOAS, Engr. Akintunde Babadiya, accusing him of simultaneously running private advertising operations through Media Outcome Ltd while wielding regulatory power to suppress competitors.
The student organization demanded immediate structural reforms, including the scrapping of DOAS and creation of a new regulatory agency headed by licensed practitioners from either the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria or the Outdoor Advertising Association of Nigeria.
They also called for the Code of Conduct Bureau to investigate the assistant director for alleged violations of public service rules regarding private business interests.
Warning of imminent mobilization, NANS declared that any further harassment of Comrade Amagbo would trigger mass student protests at both DOAS and FCTA secretariats.
The ultimatum signals escalating tensions between youth groups and regulatory authorities in the capital, with students vowing that “aluta continua” – the struggle continues – until substantive reforms are implemented in Abuja’s outdoor advertising sector.
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