By Frank Meke
Nigeria is at Madrid, Spain at fitur, a top rated global tourism market , without an exhibition space and our national flag.
Team Nigeria is led our irrepressible Minister of Information and Culture, lai Mohammed with two core sectoral regulators, Foluronsho Coker and Alhaji Nura Kangiwa, both, heads, Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation ( ntdc) and National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism Studies ( NIHOTOUR) respectively.
From Fitur, Madrid, where Unwto is headquartered, the Nigerian tourism first eleven, may in February, visit Germany, Berlin for ITB, another critical global tourism market window, again without any cultural tourism products to promote and showcase to the world.
The global valedictory tour to these events, is the first by Nigeria in seven years of this outgoing administration, with tongues wagging back home over the wasteful jamboree.
Close sources in the Ministry, says that the team, is on a thank you mission to Unwto in Madrid, for the opportunity given to Nigeria to host its event in Nigeria, November last year and to which was successfully boycotted by members of the private sector tourism body, Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria.
The unsettled grouse of the private sector tourism practitioners in Nigeria over that event, not withstanding, and seen to be highly injurious to the reputation of a rattled Ministry, the latest global junketing , sadly proves that the Ministry and its named agencies which were at the pivot of the November, 2022 wasteful uwto conference in Nigeria, are on a camouflage trip.
For instance, DG Coker of Ntdc vowed on the resumption of office, in 2015, seven and half years ago, that he would reinvent a local tourism exhibition hybrid, and invite the world to tour Nigeria, which never happened but suddenly, just three months to account and tell of his scorecard, strangely dusted his passport and headed to Spain, with nothing to tell about Nigeria as chief promoter of its diverse cultural tourism economy.
Nura Kangiwa, Director General of National Institute For Hospitality and Tourism Studies is new on the beat but heads Nigeria’s biggest tourism and hospitality vocational training intervention, clearly targeting the private sector and to which this trip to the world tourism competitive event, could be likened to a dance of the naked and of no gain to the private sector vocational training development.
Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria President, Nkereweum Onung could not be reached for comments but a top industry player, who would not want to mentioned, says the visit to Madrid by the ministry and its select parastatals heads, speaks volumes of the kind of uncaring leadership by government.
” it is simply a show of shame and there’s nothing patriotic about this visit but rather shows how our leaders short change the industry and practitioners. This is very sad and at a time, when should sit down and rethink our efforts and strategies, these guysare night clubbing in Europe. Let us ask, where are the tourism gains of this sector in seven years of this outgoing administration?” the source fumed.
Top industry reporter, Okorie Uguru, says he is in doubt if the minister and the industry regulators heads were actually on global tourism visits, and wondered why at a time like this?
” I should think these guys are on holidays after putting together the failed untwo show in lagos last year November but if actually, they are in Madrid for fitur and Nigeria has no exhibition space, they must come back and return the estacode collected back to the treasury. Just less three months to wind down, and this charade?.
Another industry big wheeler who craved anonymity, says tourism is unlucky to have this minister and his failed team. He angrily waved off their global tourism visits, no matter the motives as self serving.
” Na who dem help? The source quipped in street slang, adding that while the minister takes pleasure to host scorecard engagements of this government on roads infrastructure and other critical areas of the economy, what has he shown to Nigerians about cultural tourism achievements under this administration in eightyears.
” it’s despicable in all ramifications and no wonder ftan boycotted the rubbish Unwto thing. It is just about their pockets, their selfishness and see Nigeria down the floor in global tourism market. Can anyone ignore what the Conservative Arab nations are doing to their tourism, using sports as window to attract visitors?. What have we done, even ordinary bail out fund for the industry players, this minister and his tourism joy killers team, couldn’t do jark” the visibly angry industry player noted.
Indeed and significant, the Minister lai Mohammed could not deliver any noticeable helpline to the sector battered by Covid 19 pandemic even when his other cabinet ministers colleagues in charge of Trade, and Aviation, brought succour to operators and businesses in their areas of jurisdiction, mr lai Mohammed went to sleep.
His bail out fund committee, headed by Otunba Segun Runsewe, DG, National Council for Arts and Culture, ran into troubled waters after handing over detailed master plan on how to help the culutral tourism industry players to rebound and retool their businesses.
It is believed in the industry rumour mill circles, that the tourism bail out fund, allegedly must have grown wings
. and crashed in the Indian ocean, bouyed by harmattan magic.
In eight years, tourism issues under lai Mohammed were off the shelf and only comes into public space as a mere jamboree, with the agencies, squandering allocations on freebies and gloating in corruption. No doubt, with three months to exist, lai Mohammed, may end up as Nigeria’s worst Tourism Minister, ditto his man Friday, Mr foluronsho Coker of Ntdc, who came and left empty shells.
Apart from failed unwto conference rightly boycotted by ftan and its members, 2022, recorded no significant tourism activity by any of the ministry’s over nine agencies except ncac and Nico, which excited through impactful cultural tourism opportunities for the private sector.