By Frank Meke
I found myself frozen at one point—literally numb—running through the list again and again. What stared back at me was a clean sheet: a slate of failed institutions. Not categorised. Not ranked. Not even listed among the worst-performing agencies. They were simply absent.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Culture and Tourism and its agencies appeared to exist only on paper—nothing more.
According to the 2025 assessment by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and its agencies—including the National Commission for Museums and Monuments, National Troupe, National Theatre, Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), National Council for Arts and Culture, Nigeria Tourism Development Authority, National Institute for Cultural Orientation, and the National Gallery of Art, among others—were nowhere to be found on the Nigeria Business Environment Council portal.
They were not recognised as game changers. They were not acknowledged for instituting meaningful business practices. They failed to meet growth, development, efficiency, or service-delivery benchmarks. In essence, they were invisible.
This damning verdict by PEBEC on Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) for 2025 clearly exposes the deep rot within Nigeria’s cultural and tourism sector. It highlights the sector’s long-standing structural deficiencies—deficits that have continued to deny it adequate funding, strategic planning, and competent human resource support. What emerges is a roadmap to dysfunction: disorganised, chaotic, distressing, and fundamentally unsustainable.
By contrast, agencies that ranked highly on efficiency—based on compliance with key service delivery obligations—include the National Information Technology Development Agency (100%), Nigeria Customs Service (100%), Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigerian Communications Commission, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, and the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority—all scoring 100 percent. Even the lowest-performing agencies, though weak, were at least listed.
On overall performance rankings, the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board led with 90.6%, followed by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (89.3%), Nigeria Customs Service (86.6%), Nigerian Communications Commission (85.5%), Nigeria Ports Authority (79.47%), and NITDA (79.9%).
For emphasis: neither the parent Ministry of Culture and Tourism nor any of its numerous agencies appeared anywhere on the rankings—not at the top, not at the bottom. They could not be tracked.
None gained attention. None performed. None delivered. None was cited. None received a vote of confidence. None made a meaningful impression on Nigerians—or on a global audience closely watching Nigeria’s efforts to position itself as a viable destination for cultural tourism and ease of doing business.
We failed at home. How then can we project confidence on the global stage? Charity, after all, begins at home.
Barely two weeks after PEBEC released its verdict, the consequences became glaringly obvious. Nigeria lost a significant portion of its holiday market to better-structured and more visitor-friendly destinations. The Central Bank of Nigeria reportedly injected about $250 million to bridge foreign exchange demand as Nigerians rushed to spend the festive season abroad—desperate to escape a poorly regulated and chaotic domestic tourism environment.
This mass exodus is not accidental. It is the result of an absence of regulation, planning, and a coherent cultural tourism ecosystem.
When Hannatu Musa Musawa’s ministry cancelled the iconic National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), earlier slated for Enugu, citing the “mood of the nation,” it triggered a seismic shift. Tourism operators, holidaymakers, and industry stakeholders—both local and international—began looking beyond Nigeria for recreation and leisure.
That hasty decision effectively nailed Nigeria’s Christmas and New Year holiday market to the cross. It accelerated foreign exchange demand as citizens fled a dysfunctional cultural tourism economy plagued by exploitative aviation costs, unregulated hospitality practices, and poor road transport services.
While PEBEC painstakingly identified, analysed, and rewarded genuine economic growth enablers—including state governors, ministers, and agencies—the culture and tourism sector was busy with optics rather than substance, appearances rather than measurable deliverables.
Should anyone be surprised that culture and tourism failed to make the list? Should we be shocked that none of its agencies were mentioned? Those attempting to launder the image of Hannatu Musa Musawa must now confront the uncomfortable truth: the bet has been lost.
For those tempted to verify these claims, I advise caution. Visiting the PEBEC website may be emotionally taxing if your heart and mind are not prepared to face the stark reality of two consecutive years of institutional invisibility.
That, unfortunately, is how the cookie crumbles when failure is allowed to preside unchecked over a critical national sector.
