By Frank Meke.
By March 31st,, next month, my brother and good friend, Folarin Coker, would have spent eight good years as Director General, Nigeria Tourism Development Authority ( NTDA), aka Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation ( NTDC).
It’s a historic feat to survive eight years in office in Nigeria, and I congratulate him. Those who want to ask Coker his achievements in office should wait for him on the day of his official handover and exit.
Looking back, Coker’ finest moments for me were during his days in lagos state as commissioner for tourism, and his footprints still looms large in most of the established tourism activities and calendars in lagos state. Coker gave lagos his best experience as an entertainment influencer. He discovered and gave young budding artists and all the creatives’ opportunities to flourish.
Unfortunately, the toxic Lagos politics visited him when he was on his way to the kitchen of the entertainment and hospitality economy and grounded his growing influence. His love for tourism is genuine. Coker has a way with ideas, and we cooked many of such ideas together. He loves to consult and share ideas. Coker is a Nostradamus that was not allowed to redefine the true prosperous tourism landscape in Lagos state.
To date, no commissioner of tourism, appointed in lagos after Coker left office almost a decade ago, has fared us with such productive delivery. I have no apologies to offer anyone.
From the days of Franklin Adejuwon as Home affairs commissioner and tourism running the dream, Senator Afikuyomi, and many others, I am yet to be convinced that Lagos state intentionally wish to make the industry a people centric business. Again, this is not a day for those types of reflections.
I know of some game-changing permanent secretaries who also held forth in the tourism portfolio in Lagos, but again, my business is to ask Coker, where and what next?
His days at ntda to many people in and outside the industry are opportunities missed, but I worry cos that’s is not the Coker that I know and worked closely with in lagos.
Coker has a heart for tourism and is a lover of people, and once he warms up to you, he will share his many escapades with you. Fearless , outspoken, and friendly, Coker is not stingy to issues that meet his intervention. Highly connected but certainly careful to process those access and connections, Coker is still useful to the industry.
I won’t pretend to prompt him on his next move, but i believe and know that a great leaders must know those who should take over from them, not merely to keep the sugar safe in the cupboard but to ensure that certain mistakes were corrected.
In the past few months, I have seen the reflection of the old boisterous and progressive Coker. He wants to make up for the lost opportunities, but the system he didn’t service failed him. My encounter with him after a peace meeting brokered by ftan president, Nkereweum onung left me deep down, weeping for a patriotic Nigerian clearly misunderstood.
His Lagos pain robbed off negatively on him in ntda. Coker operated under the shadow of pain, bitterness, and unforgiveness. He just simply gave up, even though the call at the centre was more challenging and a legacy project.
Coker fought everything in sight. Nobody was willing to provide succour and shoulder to the pain Lagos gave him. His political father, President Ahmed Tinubu, who made it possible to relocate him from lagos to the centre, thought Coker being at ntda would erase and ease the pain governor Ambode inflicted on him.
I still believe President Bola Ahmed Tinubu loves Coker, but when a man has many children, it’s usually not easy to understand why each of such kids needs a father sympathetic shoulder.
Coker is a mixer, naturally loving, outspoken but could be generiously heady, to which many people dismiss as arrogance and pride. I differ.
Coker is a leveller, hates tribalism and conspiracies, but would throw a party to celebrate even the poor. He’s a moving train of conviviality and peace among men. He’s also a rebel against perceived weakness among people. Coker is not a pretender to tourism, and culture matters. He’s impatient, yes, highly opinionated, but progressive.
The president should bring him close. We need a knowledgeable bridge to keep our industry focused. Hannatu Musa Musawa is handicapped at our ministry, which she is running with strangers to our economy, and the development is having a serious negative impact on the culture, tourism, and creative space.
We need a tourism and culture technical adviser to the president, who is fearless and tells it as it’s. A person who has seen the good and tough side of the sector and would be able to bring all shades of opinion to the table. Coker can do the job. He has a gift with words and people. Despite his gragra ( stubbornness) when provoked, Coker is like a fragrance spread to arrest bad odour in a room.
Time actually has come for Coker to walk the tourism showbiz. He needs to get back into his groove and rebuild his larger than life image in tourism , entertainment, and hospitality.
Coker is made for positive impact, but sometimes, the environment matters. As we approach the month of March, I look forward to a helping hand for the culture and tourism minister in the office of the president, and Coker is more than qualified.
My take? Let us forgive Coker’s indiscretion and perceived shortcomings in ntda. Apostle Paul hinted at us that he wished to do the right things but was worried about the wrong things he chose to do . No wonder he proclaimed that he would wish to know the sufferings and power of Christ resurrection. In Africa, we need the mind of God and His dear son, christ Jesus, to succeed in governance. I pray that my brother and friend, Folarin Coker, make peace with God and seek his help.
Coker, I want to ask again, what and where are thou heading to?