ANJET CONFERENCE: MATTERS ARISING
*By Frank Meke
The calls were stringent, and like a gentle breeze, only the spiritually discerning could feel and hear them.
Medical doctors and nurses will tell you that disinfectants do not hurt, but apply them to an open wound, and the pain becomes unmistakable. Truth, when spoken in an atmosphere devoid of hypocrisy, has a way of unsettling people, flushing them out like cockroaches driven from their hiding places.
In Nigeria today, one of the lies we tell ourselves is that we can individually emerge as solution drivers on the journey to the promised land of tourism. We dance and clap our hands while institutional gaps and inadequate funding continue to undermine the sector.
We ignore the truth staring us in the face amid organised confusion and deceitfully dress it up as tourism metrics. We rush to the courts, armed with litigation papers, and proudly beat our chests as champions of growth and development.
We become aggrieved and agitated when others express views and opinions different from ours, yet we readily canvass ideas and positions that we expect everyone else to swallow without question.
We forget too soon that Leah and Rachel had the same father, yet their experiences were different. Scripture tells us that Leah was fruitful while Rachel initially struggled with barrenness. We also remember Joseph, whose brothers sold him into slavery, unaware of what God had in store for him and, ultimately, for them.
They eventually bowed before Joseph, the very brother they had tried to crush, without knowing that the truth they sought to bury would, in time, become their means of survival.
People love to measure their popularity by numbers and majority support. But a person who walks with God understands that numbers do not necessarily determine the strength of a cause. Men and women who constantly seek validation often mistake numbers for genuine acceptance and respect. Yet, deep in the silence of the night, away from the praises of sycophants and the schemes of conspirators, a discerning person knows that, ultimately, he stands before his Maker.
IMMIGRATION AS A TOURISM GAIN
At Friday’s ANJET conference on immigration, discussions centred on one of the potentially significant tourism gains of the present administration: the opportunity to reposition immigration services as an instrument of national security and economic development.
Globally, immigration management has evolved into a strategic tool through which governments protect their borders while facilitating legitimate travel, trade, cultural exchange and tourism. At the conference, knowledgeable industry voices expressed the view that the government should not be dismissed as having failed, particularly in the area of facilitating travel into Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Visa on Arrival facility has become more accessible, while passport acquisition has, in many instances, become easier. The government appears to have recognised that simplifying access to travel documents can stimulate tourism, create employment and expand opportunities for tour operators, travel agents and logistics service providers.
That is responsibility reimagined, with economic multiplier effects extending to domestic airlines, hospitality businesses and rural cultural tourism destinations.
However, what happens if the government fails to sustain this ease of access and instead constricts visitor entry through restrictive visa procedures and other administrative bottlenecks? What becomes of our tourism ambitions, and where does the industry turn if the only recourse is litigation?
Courts exist to dispense justice, and anyone who feels aggrieved has every right to seek legal redress. Nevertheless, experienced lawyers understand that dialogue, negotiation and mutually acceptable solutions can sometimes deliver more enduring peace than protracted courtroom battles.
- THE 2013 SUPREME COURT JUDGEMENT
The 2013 Supreme Court judgement in favour of the Lagos State Government on issues relating to hospitality registration and the cultural tourism economy remains one of the most consequential judicial interventions in Nigeria’s tourism sector.
The matter was revisited by Nkereuwem Onung, immediate past President of the Federation of Tourism Associations of Nigeria (FTAN) and a successful industry operator. He argued that the judgement had set the industry back in its quest to establish a nationally coordinated framework for professional development and certification.
A day will come when I will, in the fullness of time, disclose what transpired and contributed to that bitter ruling thirteen years ago.
I personally delivered a letter from the Federal Government to a law firm on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, seeking its representation on behalf of the government. Unfortunately, inadequate funding for tourism-related legal matters reportedly hindered the possibility of a more robust representation.
Litigation is expensive; so is the sustained funding required to develop tourism and its allied sectors. Those who blamed the leadership of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC) at the time may not have been fully informed of the circumstances surrounding the case. I recall sharing some of these facts with Sally Mbanefo when she assumed office at the NTDC.
I apologise for this apparent digression, but the inconsistency and lack of operational sustainability at the NTDC, now the Nigerian Tourism Development Authority (NTDA), following Segun Runsewe’s departure from office in 2013, have, in my view, hampered the sector’s growth and development.
The 2013 Supreme Court judgement deserves renewed consideration as part of a broader effort to reform Nigeria’s tourism industry. One of the issues underpinning the dispute concerned hotel grading and classification. Thirteen years later, the absence of a comprehensive and consistently implemented classification framework for hospitality and tourism operators in Lagos raises important questions about regulatory capacity, funding and security.
These are not trivial concerns. Nigeria is grappling with growing anxieties over food safety and reported cases of food and beverage contamination, despite the existence of regulatory institutions such as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Lagos State Consumer Protection Agency.
If the Federal Government were to adopt more restrictive immigration measures or intensify scrutiny of foreign nationals working in aviation and hospitality establishments, the implications would extend beyond border security to tourism operations, investment and the country’s international image. Such developments would also underscore the importance of a coherent regulatory framework that balances security imperatives with economic openness.
Personally, I remain concerned about security. No individual, private operator or state government can address all the country’s security challenges in isolation from the Federal Government. This makes collaboration indispensable. It should not be reduced to rhetoric or dismissed as some whimsical theological proposition.
Our industry must embrace a culture of give-and-take, where dialogue, mutual understanding and institutional cooperation take precedence over endless confrontation.
Recent judicial interventions in disputes concerning the interpretation and application of laws enacted by the National Assembly demonstrate that legal and institutional frameworks can be reviewed as circumstances evolve. Such processes are part of how nations strengthen their institutions, deepen economic competitiveness and advance towards greater prominence.
Tourism-related issues that require progress must be approached through the lens of constructive reform. The present administration has initiated efforts that deserve scrutiny, engagement and, where appropriate, support to ensure that the benefits are realised and distributed across the industry.
We cannot afford to remain permanently trapped in one position, behaving like crabs in a basket, pulling one another down and attempting to silence voices calling for reason, dialogue and progress.
GANI ADAMS’ WARNING
Gani Adams, the Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland and an iconic promoter of Yoruba culture, warned at the ANJET conference that the industry’s frequent verbal confrontations and public exchanges of accusations send negative signals to foreign visitors and Nigerians in the diaspora.
His warning deserves serious reflection.
If we must disagree, let us do so on the strength of facts, reason and constructive argument. We must be mindful of our language and avoid name-calling that diminishes the very industry we claim to defend.
Nigeria belongs to all of us, and no individual possesses a monopoly on wisdom.
The 2013 Supreme Court judgement should be revisited through appropriate legal and institutional channels to determine whether further clarification, reform or a more coordinated regulatory framework is necessary to address the challenges of professional standards and regulatory fragmentation in the tourism sector.
Every country has its unique security and economic realities, and Nigeria is no exception. With careful, patriotic and forward-looking policies, supported by collaboration among federal and state authorities and private-sector stakeholders, Nigeria can reposition its cultural tourism assets, strengthen confidence in the industry and restore its standing as an attractive destination.
The task before us is not to win arguments at the expense of the industry. It is to build a tourism ecosystem in which institutions work, professionals are protected, businesses thrive, visitors feel welcome and Nigerians reap the economic and cultural benefits of their heritage.
That is the path to meaningful reform. And it is a journey we must undertake together.
Footnote: Coming Soon — How ANJET Took Back Its Rightful Place.
