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By Frank Meke
I heard it sound and clear. It was 4 a.m., and I sprang up to write. “Your room is Who you are’, a tiny voice, very gracious, reflectively and referencing, spoke to my Samuel ears. Where is Nigeria heading in its cultural tourism expectations, its road map, the deliveries?
The Talk arena is cacophonious. The entrapment is confusing, and the hawks are legging around. It is our way, so much noise, mountains of curriculum vitae, padded, many with fake testimonials, ritualistic and undeserving.
Rumours in the air on who to come, messiah without pedigree of responsibility and confusingly irresponsible, soulless.
In 2015, the same rash of sweeping broom failed to sweep out the cobwebs in tourism cupboards. We were entrapped and bewitched. We lost our stand-alone Ministry of Tourism . There was neither a volcanic or tiny voice to speak for us.
Those whom we trusted failed us. They could not hold forth, neither do they hear the voice. They deviated from the road to our tourism promised land, and we are paying hard for their mistakes while Nigerians still struggle to stand up in gap, testifying for other nations.
Now Bola Ahmed Tinubu has come, and his vision is on governance with men of competence. So far , the President is swift, carefully navigating the Jordan, the Nigerian waterway to the promised land. But has the president looked our way? Does he have cultural tourism in his noah’s ark? Will the tourism dove fly out of the president ark and soar?
What is the status and state of our tourism room of opportunities? Can we hear the cockcrow at dawn? Which voice do we hear now, and what have we seen? Men as trees, power seekers for self and not nation. Their mentors, men who stole us blind yesterday, for eight speaking in deceptive tongues, no achievement.
Just recently, back from Namibia, I sat back and wept for my country. In South Africa, recently too, a road trip from Johannesburg to Durban left in me in a sad mood, wondering if we are meant to stay in biblical kadesh Barnea, in a tourism desert, wandering around sheepishly, in a bewitched and confounding spot, usually bearing on persons and nations not caring for their future.
On those trips to the two African countries, Namibia is a nightingale, gracious, proud, building tourism infrastructure and economy with its youngsters trending in the culture tourism economy.
I won’t speak too much of South Africa, neither of Kenya, which has consistently cornered all the global cultural tourism and biosphere help agencies to sustain its tourism traffic.
Ghana is the same and steady. Yet I am surprised these countries and many more still look up to Nigeria to lead the way. The little kids I met in Namibia knew so much more about Nigeria than some of our leaders who are pranting about and paying lip service to our cultural tourism today and tomorrow.
Fortunately, we have few competent Nigerians who have remained consistent and unshakeable about where we should be and have shown us what we shall gain. Their passport of achievements are verifiable, and their passion and love for Nigeria tourism future, undeniable, deeply rooted.
They behold our cultural tourism voice in deep reverence and navigate us across the waters of uncertainty. These few leaders are the structures, the pillars and priests of tourism we need to revive, and sustain our tourism space.
Go to Gudu, a suburb in Abuja, and see the future of Nigerian cultural tourism prowess unveiled. It is magical, a sign in the air that Nigeria tourism can rise again, a one-stop shop of Nigeria cultural tourism ecosystem, carefully marshalled and proudly showcasing the content in our tourism room
Here, I must proudly mention that Olusegun Mattew Runsewe is our tourism enigma, the Tourism Chief Priest. This is no sentiment of the current political situation but a detailed and consistent evaluation of this Nigerian who has become the face of Nigeria tourism situation room. He is alone for tourism for tomorrow. Don’t envy or speak ill of him, Runsewe is changing man for tourism. He’s towering in achievements and futuristic dreams to where we must be. If you don’t reckon with him, maybe your eyes are green with envy and typical of the Nigerian street slang of “Pull him down syndrome.” Runsewe is the tourism priest, and God sent him to us.
The Nigerian Culture House is the statement this government must leverage to define our cultural tourism future. It’s deliberately thought through and majestic.
It is instinctively attractive, adds beauty to the skyline of Abuja, and it’s a positive practical money spinner for Nigeria. It’s a gigantic six floor, each floor , telling a distinct history of our people . The walls drapped in ancient mosiac paintings, reflecting the diverse artistic gifts of our progenitors. The lift showcases a library of Nigeria diverse cultural heritage history landscape. It’s picturesque and captivating.
It is a place this administration and Nigerians should retreat to take inventories of our cultural tourism realities and values. The Nigerian Culture House is a vote for our tourism tomorrow , for a stand alone Ministry, an opportunity to start well and afresh and a competent testimony that we have the right persons to carry us responsibly across the Jordan to the tourism promised land.
Now, I can sleep well because that voice, which spoke to me about our room being whom we are, can be clearly defined. Are you in doubt, go to Gudu, Abuja, go see our Culture House, and there will be no denying how great Nigeria is. Can you imagine the gains of Nigeria being linked through a culture electronic library to 157 countries, with multi-billion dollars, as tourism expenditure and traffic, desirous of virgin cultural festivals, landscapes as destination as Nigeria?
I have done my bit, do yours, and to the new government, watch the portfolio non achievers, beware of the notorious international tourism consultants and local collaborators, the deal men and women, failed tourism opportunists, the sloths and the noise makers. Tourism is a serious business, and we need those who have shown capacity and competence to deliver.
We lost eight years to demagogues, men and women whose only competence is to attend international tourism conferences, speak of digital ecosystem as if Artificial intelligence, is not disruptive to the global tourism industry. To add, they misapplied and misappropriated our tourism funds. Mr. President, over to you, sir.